Google’s Blogger Adds Privacy Options

Google’s Blogger Adds Privacy Options – Forbes.com:

Google Inc. has released a new version of its Blogger service, adding privacy settings that restrict readership to a predetermined audience. Users can choose to have blogs accessible to anyone or just to themselves. Or they can list the e-mail addresses of the people they want to let in. Those readers would need to register for a free Google (nasdaq: GOOG – news – people ) account – the same used for its Gmail and other services – and would sign in with their regular Google passwords.

Might this development make Blogger more attractive to schools?

13 thoughts on “Google’s Blogger Adds Privacy Options”

  1. It will make it more appealing for schools (yay!) and I just migrated mine over yesterday with little problem from the old Blogger.

    If you can get FTP access, it is easy to teach teachers to use the Blogger interface to edit the blog, but it can be hosted on a local server. That’s the way I do it, because so many schools block “blogspot”, in the URL although we do not.

    In addition, if you host the blog on your own server, the Blogger terms of service allows you to remove the “dreader” nav bar…it shows up as an option to turn off on the template page.

    Kathy Schrock

  2. It will definitely be more attractive to schools that are hesitant to dip their toes in the water, especially at the elementary and probably middle school level (at least based on the conversations I’ve had with folks at those levels in my district).

    But, for me, the best feature of the new Blogger that will make it more appealing to schools is RSS Comment Feeds. Before, if you wanted your students to have their own blog (as opposed to just using the teacher’s class blog), you could subscribe to RSS feeds for their posts, but not their comments. That made it very difficult to “monitor” their comments for inappropriate stuff (whether that’s just other kids being inappropriate or whether that’s “predator” inappropriate). In today’s climate, that was a deal killer for a lot of teachers, because there was just no way to monitor the comments on possibly hundreds of students’ blogs. Even with RSS feeds, that can be daunting, but you can at least skim them in your aggregator. That doesn’t mean, of course, that we shouldn’t be teaching our students how to deal with those kinds of comments, but the reality is that teachers have to keep an eye on their student bloggers – and having an RSS feed for the comments in addition to the posts will make that much easier.

  3. Hadn’t heard about that. Unfortunately, school districts always err on the side of caution when it comes to exchanging info outside a controlled environment. maybe for the High School kids, but this will not be used much below that level. (I teach 3rd grade)

  4. We’ve been using Blogger (hosted on our server via FTP) without the Navbar for both homework/admin blogs and student centered blogs for a couple of years. Unfortunately, our tech people are “discouraging” FTP due to the security issues with providing network login and passwords to blogger for access to our server. We would love to be able to use blogspot hosted blogs but the Navbar – in particular the random “Next Blog” link – are a concern.

    We are not particularily concerned with public access – in fact, in many ays it makes the experience more authentic for students – but we do insist that students be members and only use first names, last initial and no students photos be posted. Teachers monitor closely to ensure student identities are not compromised.

    If Google would only recognize the special environments that schools must operate in and allow us to elect to remove the “next blog” button easily, it would be a great service. We have altered several of our student blogs to remove the NavBar with a small (and suprisingly easy to add) HTML code addition, but we are not sure as to what Blogger would think of this.

    We have recently begun to use Classblogmeister as well for some classes. The largest challenge for non-tech inclined teachers seems to be with it’s lack of space to upload pictures and other photos, but it does provide a nice alternative.

    We have suggested to our Dept of Ed to provide a dedicated server for blogs, wikis and other w2.0 tools, but I think we are still a ways off on that one.

  5. I haven’t investigated this further, but according to Kathy Schrock, you can use blogger.com (blogspot) but opt to host on your own server, thus eliminating that risky “Next Blog” link seen on blogger.com.

    I also feel Google is more in tune with educators than most, and if enough of us complain, they may listen and give us a portal that doesn’t include that option. So “bang” the google site. I did.

  6. Regarding Cathy Nelson\’s comment, the Infinite Thinking Machine blog is an example of this (http://infinitethinking.org). Sponsored by Google and WestEd, it\’s hosted by WestEd using Blogger. I am a contributor to this blog. My impression also is that Google is well aware of the next blog button being problematic for educators and I would not be surprised if a solution was forthcoming at some point.

  7. 1. I heard that canada friends and their classmates have been using Blogger (hosted on our server via FTP) without the Navbar for both homework/admin blogs and student centered blogs for a couple of years. Unfortunately, their tech people were “discouraging” FTP due to the security issues with providing network login and passwords to blogger for access to our server. He said “We would love to be able to use blogspot hosted blogs but the Navbar – in particular the random “Next Blog” link – are a concern.”
    2. They are not particularily concerned with public access – in fact, it makes the experience more authentic for students – but they do insist that students be members and only use first names, last initial and no students photos be posted. Teachers monitored closely to ensure student identities were not compromised.
    3. Conclusion,I think if Google would only recognize the special environments that schools must operate in and allow us to elect to remove the “next blog” button easily, it would be a great service. They have altered several of our student blogs to remove the NavBar with a small (and suprisingly easy to add) HTML code addition, but they are not sure as to what Blogger would think of this.
    4. They have recently begun to use Classblogmeister as well for some classes. The largest challenge for non-tech inclined teachers seems to be with it’s lack of space to upload pictures and other photos, but it does provide a nice alternative.

  8. A great company, based out of Bangalore, India called TutorVista (www.tutorvista.com) is making waves in Education as a personalized, affordable asset to students in a variety of subjects (K-12, and Masters program). They started offering their services in the United States in 2005, and are beginning to gain some traction. They have recently partnered with Microsoft’s MSN/Encarta educational portal as their primary elearning partner. Here are some FAQ’s from their website that you will find quite informative.

    This time article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1226166,00.html

    discusses how the failure of tutoring programs offered under the No Child Left Act was one of the inspirations for TutorVista. I’m sure they will receive market traction in the near future. The cost per tutoring session with a degreed tutor can cost as much as a cup of coffee if you take advantage of the service. It cost 99.99 a month for unlimited tutoring!!

    How hard is it to use?

    TutorVista is as easy to use as Skype, Yahoo Messenger with Voice or Google Talk. The student logs in, initiates a tutoring session and talks naturally with the tutor using a headphone with an attached microphone. Both student and tutor communicate using a whiteboard that is easy and intuitive to use – they can write or draw on it, with both seeing what is being written or drawn.

    How good are the tutors?

    TutorVista only hires experienced tutors – all have graduate degrees and teaching credentials. The tutors undergo weeks of intensive training and pass stringent certification exams. Our tutors adhere to national and state academic standards and curricula. Our competitive exam tutors for SAT, GRE, GMAT and other exams are all top scorers in that exam.

    Is the instruction personalized for every student?

    Absolutely! TutorVista’s tutoring process begins with the student taking an assessment test that calibrates the student’s proficiency in various topics. We then develop a comprehensive learning plan for the student focusing on the topics that need more attention, to help the student achieve his or her academic goals. One student per tutor ensures that every student receives 100% attention of the tutor. The student typically uses the same tutor every time thus ensuring continuity.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *