03.+Choosing+the+Right+Tool

=Choosing the Right Tool=

For today, we recommend setting up an edublogs account if you do not already have an account. Here is a video on how to create your account.

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If edublogs does not suit your needs, there are many different blogs you could use. Below is a table that summarizes some of the main ones.

- ABEL can add your student accounts || - limited storage - cannot embed video, voicethreads - limited themes || Free (for ABEL members) || @http://blogs.abel.yorku.ca/jcalder_2-jac/ || Great place to start when testing out and playing with blog. || - free version has limited space, you cannot embed video/flash || - can create student accounts on a class blog - can link to 50 other blogs (students?) and take the ads off of them || - cost || $39/year || http://mswift.edublogs.org || *best option with most flexibility with themes, design, embed, plugins, etc. || - can update with purchased add ons (like more storage, premium themes) - can embed videos (ex. youtube) || - cannot embed flash (ex. voicethreads) || Free ||  || Not bad for free, but note that you cannot embed flash (things like voicethreads) || - can create student accounts - easy for very young students || - limited themes - no widget || Free || @http://kidblog.org/MissDsClass2/ || Good for young bloggers if you don't need flexibility in design and widgets. || - you can embed video and flash (everything seems to work) - you can create "autoposts" so that posts you make get automatically posted to facebook or to another blog or other social site - works great with free iPod/iPhone app called Audioboo (create audio recordings that get autoposted to posterous) || - need email addresses to make student accounts || Free || @http://jaccalder.posterous.com || Easy if you are doing your own blog for your class (and want your posts to go to other sites like faceook or twitter or images to flickr), less functional if you are getting students blogging (might work with high school). || - easy to use - can embed video || - limited function (compared to Edublog pro) || Free ||  || Many folks love blogger. ||
 * **Type of blog** || **Pros** || **Cons** || **Cost** || **Samples** || **Notes** ||
 * ABEL || - get support through ABEL
 * Edublogs free || - cost || - cannot embed video, voicethreads || Free ||  || - not a bad starting place, especially if you think you may upgrade to pro account later on
 * Edublogs pro || - can embed anything you need to
 * Wordpress || - cost
 * Kidblog || - can embed anything you need to
 * Posterous || - you can email posts and they get automatically posted
 * Blogger || - free