The statistics around school closures due to COVID-19/Coronavirus are nothing short of staggering.

In mid-February, China was the only country in the world with school closures. Today, there are 188 countries experiencing nationwide school closures and almost 90% of the world’s students are affected.

Millions of teachers have been thrown into teaching remotely from home. This is drastically different from working in a classroom. It’s different physically, socially, and psychologically. And this change has come with almost no warning or preparation.

In this post, we are sharing our top tips for working remotely from home.

This is a collaborative post from Sue Waters and Kathleen Morris.

Sue is a former lecturer who has been working remotely since 2008. In recent years she has provided palliative care full-time for her mother while also overseeing the care of her disabled sister. All while managing full-time work from home and running a household.

Kathleen is a primary school teacher who has transitioned to working from home over the last few years. Kathleen’s 6-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia 10 months ago so she has plenty of tips about juggling responsibilities — work, medical treatment, homeschooling, and parenting young children.

Onto the tips! We’ll go through:

• Work Environment
• Tools for Working
  • Communication
  • Collaboration
• Working With Young Children at Home
• Daily And Weekly Structure
• Staying Active
• Dealing With Stress

Work Environment

In the classroom, you’re probably sitting, standing, walking, bending down, and generally engaging in a whole range of natural movements.

Teaching remotely means you’re more likely to sit longer working at a computer so there’s a greater risk of injury. It’s important to make sure your work area is set up properly so you can maintain good posture.

Some teachers are starting to get into the habit of working from the couch or a poorly set up kitchen table. Not only is it better psychologically to have a dedicate work area, you really need to look after your posture.

If you can, consider investing in a supportive chair.

Here are some tips to ensure you’re sitting correctly at your computer:

Sue has had bursitis in her shoulder from bad posture and knows other remote workers that have had similar issues. Don’t let yourself get injured due to a poor work environment! You have enough going on already.

Any prolonged time spent in one position can cause problems. Ideally, every hour you should get up from the computer and walk around for 5 minutes; every 3 hours have a break for 15 minutes minimum.

Switching to a standing desk won’t necessarily help. Extended periods in similar postures can lead to fatigue or injuries. Moving and changing positions throughout the day is key.

Here are some key tips for staying healthy when working on a computer. You might like to share these with students as well.

Download a PDF version of the tips.

Tools For Working

Working remotely is different from working within a school or office environment, and finding tools that help improve work efficiency in a remote environment makes a big difference.

The key is to focus on what you’re wanting to achieve and then work out the best tool(s) to achieve your outcomes most efficiently.

Here are just some of the tools we use to improve work efficiency in our team that might help you too.

Communication Tools

As a teacher working remotely, you’ll need to stay in regular communication with your team. You no doubt have year level or subject area teams, perhaps special project groups, as well as your whole staff team.

We find it very helpful to use tools that reduce email exchanges where possible. Emails can quickly get out of hand!

When our team was smaller we used Google Chat with our Gmail accounts (now called Google Hangouts/Meet) and nowadays we use Slack.

Very few emails are sent internally within our team because we’re now able to more efficiently manage it using Slack. Decreased emails mean less time spent replying to emails or losing track of conversations in email threads.

The key features and benefits of Slack include:

• Free for small teams (no advertising or time limits)
• Useful search function to look for previous conversations, keywords, or files (the free plan just allows you to search the last 10,000 messages as opposed to an unlimited search)
• Real-time OR asynchronous messaging (if a colleague is offline, they can get back to you later)
• Different channels can be set up for different groups (for example, you could be in a whole staff channel, year six teachers channel, and team leader channel)
• Communication via text or voice/video call
• Channels can be public (any staff member can join) or private (invitation only)
• Direct messages allow you to communicate privately with one or more colleagues

Slack is ideal for our team as we have over 100 staff at Edublogs, CampusPress, and WPMU-DEV.

Nowadays, our meetings are held using a Slack call or Google Hangouts. Some teachers find Google Hangouts is a good way to stay in touch as well. It has the added benefit of being linked to your Gmail account so you can easily search for conversations.

Collaboration Tools

Look for tools that allow you to easily collaborate with others.

We use Google Docs and Google Sheets because these enable us to work collaboratively and add comments for feedback.

We try to encourage all clients to use shared Google Docs and Google Sheets rather than attached documents and spreadsheets to email because it is too easy to lose track of the latest version. If you’re not already making the most of Google Docs and Sheets in your school teams, give them a try!

You’ll find it’s more time-efficient to edit Google Docs and Google Sheets online than constantly download attachments as they’re updated.

Any files we want to share are uploaded to Google Drive. Many teachers and schools are embracing Google Drive which is a place to store your files securely and open/edit them from any device.

Here’s a quick Getting Started with Google Drive video to get you on your way

For managing tasks and projects we use Asana. It allows you to map out each step of tasks you’re working towards, and assign tasks to others. The free version is available for teams of up to 15 people so it might be worth looking at if you want to manage projects in small school teams.

Some students also use Asana themselves to keep track of school work and deadlines.

Working With Young Children At Home

You may find yourself now trying to teach while simultaneously looking after your children. It’s a new and challenging dilemma!

Kathleen has two young children and works from home a lot. Here are some tips that might work for you:

• Create a Flexible Schedule: Set a plan so the children know what’s on for the day. While you might not like the idea of a rigid schedule, having a basic routine can be a good idea because, during times of uncertainty, patterns bring comfort. I have included my sample schedule in my post with 10 Tips For Homeschooling Children.
• Avoid Multitasking: Set time in the day when you will be doing activities with your own children, and time when you will be working. Trying to do both at the same time will leave you all frazzled!
• Use Focussed Screen Time: Save screen time for when you really need it (for example, if you’re doing a video conference with your class). No matter what your beliefs on how much screen time you want your children to have, using leisure screen time sparingly makes it a more powerful and effective tool.
• Set Aside Fun Activities: Help your children decide what they are going to do independently while you’re working. You might have things you only get out during these times — for example, a certain toy box, play dough, craft supplies, etc.
• Tag Team If Possible: If you have a partner who is also working from home, consider making a schedule so you can tag the team. For example, one of you could get up early and work until lunchtime then switch. Or, you can negotiate times when you really need an uninterrupted block (for example, during video conferences, phone calls, or your “office hours” when you need to be on call).
• Be Creative With Your Work Hours: Make the most of the early hours of the day or the hours after your children go to bed at night. You might not want to work during both of these blocks so you don’t burn out, however, working a bit earlier or later in the day can really free up hours during the middle of the day when your children need you most.
• Set Boundaries and Expectations: Explain to your children that you must work and have them help come up with the family rules. For example, you might want to close your door when you can’t be interrupted. Then you can train your children to stay away if your office door is closed (I actually have a sign on my door that I made together with my children). If they interrupt you (and it’s not an emergency), calmly remind them of the rules. Running through emergency/important scenarios is always a good idea, e.g. someone is hurt, something is broken, there’s a knock at the door etc.
• Prioritize and Use Your Time Wisely: I quickly learned that when I have dedicated work time, I must put my head down and work! A quick check of emails or social media can waste precious time. When your time is limited, write down what you want to achieve and make yourself stick to that list. Prioritize your most important goals for the day.

Working from home with children can be messy. Give yourself some time to figure out what works for you and your family. It won’t always be perfect but with some creative scheduling and routines, it can work!

Daily And Weekly Structure

While it’s easier said than done at times, work-life balance is very important.

Sue and Kathleen work as part of a global team supporting a global community and work hours are very flexible. We could work 24 hours a day and there would always be more to do.

Teaching has always been a never-ending job as well; there is always something to do even when you don’t have students in front of you. Now that you’re working from home, you might be feeling the pressure to work long hours even more.

Time tracking can be a powerful tool. If you aren’t required to track hours then we suggest you keep a simple spreadsheet to record start and finish times of blocks of work. You can include a simple record of what you’ve done to help identify how long tasks take. This helps identify ways you can improve work efficiency while also helping to keep focus on work-life balance.

Sue tries to make her weekends different from her weekdays as it’s too easy with her work, and personality, to end up working 7 days a week.

Obviously, this is harder if you are now in lockdown, however, setting goals of things you want to achieve in your personal life and working on these on the weekend helps. Why not try making a list of non-work activities you’d like to conquer? It could be anything from cleaning out your closet to starting a new art project.

Staying Active

Do you have a Fitbit or other step counter? Kathleen has noticed a big difference in the number of steps you can rack up during a day in the classroom compared to a day working from home.

We all know being sedentary isn’t healthy and it’s important to think of ways to stay active while you’re at home.

Sue is an avid walker and Kathleen enjoys jogging, however, there are times when you can’t get out of the house.

Kathleen has some favourite online workouts which you might like to check out:

• Les Mills On Demand: These are popular gym classes that you can stream at home. There are all sorts of workouts — aerobics, weights, yoga, spin etc. It’s like a Netflix of workouts. This is a paid service but they currently have a 30 day free trial. Might as well make the most of that while you’re home. Just don’t forget to cancel your trial.
• POPSUGAR Fitness: This YouTube channel has been running for years and offers very professional workouts for free! There is so much variety! There are long and short workouts and everything from dance, HIIT, barre, weights and more.
• Heather Robertson: These free YouTube videos are around 30-40 minutes long and offer you a really solid workout with fairly simple routines. Kathleen likes the way you can see what move is coming up and next and there are no audio cues, so she often listens to a podcast or her own music while following along.
• MadFit: This free YouTube channel is simple and effective. There are lots of workouts around 20 minutes long as well as quick videos where the routine is choreographed to a popular song. A fun work break!

There are lots of apps available as well. For example, many people like the free workouts on Nike Training Club. The “7 minute workouts” are very popular as well as they provide you with bang for your buck in a short amount of time. You could try one like this at the end of every hour of work.

If digital workouts aren’t your thing, think of other things you can schedule into your day to ensure you’re getting regular physical activity. A few hours of gardening is a good workout, as is giving your house a deep clean.

We’d love to hear about your favourite at-home workouts in a comment.

Dealing With Stress

Sue has been dealing with high stress since 2017 when she became responsible for the full-time care of her mother who had life-limiting motor neurone disease (ALS). Sue also oversees the care of her disabled older sister. Kathleen’s been on a stressful rollercoaster since her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 at 5 years old.

Maybe you felt a little blindsided by the pandemic? Suddenly your entire life’s turned upside down. What was normal no longer exists; and you’re having to adapt to a rapidly evolving new normal on a daily, or if you are lucky, weekly basis.

Maybe, like us, you’re dealing with not only the pandemic but serious personal issues as well? Not to mention work, homeschooling, isolation, and all the other challenges of this crazy new world.

We’ve both learned how important it is to know our own symptoms of stress and what strategies help us reduce the impact stress has on us.

Did you know there are many signs and symptoms of stress?

We all react to stress differently. Learning strategies to deal with stress helps reduce its mental, physical and emotional impact.

Like our reactions, our coping strategies are personal. What works for some people might be boring or stressful for others but here’s what helps us:

1. Focus on the NOW

When you’re dealing with a life-limiting disease or cancer, you can’t afford to focus on the past or spend time trying to predict the future — you need to focus on the present. Grieving the loss of the normal you had in the past or worrying about what the future holds means you miss out on the magic happening in the present.

COVID-19 is proving to be a rapidly evolving situation and you can’t tell what will happen from one day to the next.

The best approach is to focus on each day; try not to look too far ahead and just think about what you need to do for the current day or week.

2. Accept what you can CHANGE

Don’t waste time worrying about things that are out of your control that you can’t change, or planning for the worst. Identify what you can change and what’s worth fighting for; let go of the things that you can’t change.

Here’s a great graphic from The Counseling Teacher:

3. Look for JOY

After Sue’s mum died she organized her house as part of her way of dealing with the trauma, part of which included some of Marie Kondo’s methods. The most important lesson she learnt from Marie Kondo was joy.

Whatever you do in life, whatever your situation, keep looking each day for what gives you joy.

Sue’s house mightn’t be spotless, and her husband might continually try to sabotage her lovely KonMari folding of clothes (she’s still working on letting go of how her hubby folds), but she ends each day reflecting on the things that gave her joy during that day and the positive things that were achieved.

4. Do something relaxing

The best way to reduce stress is to do things that you find relaxing. However, it’s very challenging when your favourite forms of relaxation may no longer be options (catching up with friends, cafes, movies, gym classes, concerts and so on).

Sue spent 17 months caring full-time for her mum. Her mum was connected 24/7 to a machine that assisted her breathing which meant someone needed to be in the house at all times. Sue could only leave the house if someone was available which meant there were only a few hours a week where she was able to go out. Kathleen’s situation has been similarly intense and she’s had many months of isolation due to her daughter’s compromised immune system.

The key is, if you can’t do what you normally do for relaxation, look for alternatives.

Sue finds setting goals she wants to achieve helped her. She created a list of 100+ Crime and Mystery novels of all time and has been working through the list. Currently, she’s back to her goal of walking for at least 45 minutes daily and has set up a daily eating plan with an emphasis on healthier eating.

There are lots of ways to relax, even in isolation. Here are some more ideas from The Counseling Teacher (ignore the spa example for now! ).

5. Have a Routine

Sue and Kathleen both find having routines helpful. We both have a rough outline of our daily routine for our weekdays and our weekends while ensuring it’s flexible to adapt to our changing circumstances.

Our routines include time for exercise, work, family commitments and relaxation. We both have “to do lists” of things we want to achieve.

Keeping ourselves organized helps us manage our time in the most efficient way. It’s far from perfect but we find it works much better than having a “let’s see what happens” approach!

6. Say No

Sue and Kathleen have both been called workaholics and can be quick to take on more than they can handle. We’ve both learnt it’s okay to say no.

If you don’t want to do it, or it’s taking away from what you really want to be doing, don’t feel guilty saying no.

Saying yes when you don’t want to do something is saying no to yourself. Put yourself first. Especially during times of high stress.

7. Laugh!

Laughter really is the best medicine. It helps keep you relaxed and happy while relieving tension.

A small silver lining emerging from the trauma of COVID-19 is the humour. The jokes and memes that are being thrown around social media on a daily basis show that humour is a coping strategy for so many of us around the globe!

What Tips Can You Add?

Although it probably feels like you have more work to do than ever before, there’s never been a better time to focus on your own health, wellbeing, and routines.

Teaching remotely is a brave new world and you need to look after yourself. You’re an essential worker and the world needs you!

We’d love to hear how you’re approaching working from home. Please scroll down to find the comment box.

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It has never been easier to publish online or consume digital content. This comes with many advantages and can make teaching and learning so much more targeted and impactful. Living in a digital world also brings up many questions — one issue that is very important to understand is copyright.

Whether you’re an educator, student, or blogger, copyright is a topic that is often overlooked as it can be confusing or just not considered important.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of myths about copyright circulating amongst the education community. Maybe you’ve heard that you can use any images or texts you find online if you’re using them for education? Or perhaps you’ve heard that you can use any songs in your videos as long as you use less than 30 seconds? Yep, both not true.

Copyright is important for all teachers, students, and bloggers to know about. And it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think. We’re here to break down the basics of copyright and other related topics like fair use, public domain, and Creative Commons.

There’s a lot to learn in this post so remember to bookmark it and use the menu below to navigate.

Copyright Rules To Remember

What Is Copyright?

What Is Fair Use

What Is Public Domain?

What Is Creative Commons

Finding Creative Commons Images

Copyright And Music

Copyright And Video

Copyright Text Or Curriculum Materials

Copyright Infringement

Copyright Considerations When Publishing Online

Using Quotes In Blog Posts

Adding Your Own Creative License

Conclusion And Summary Slideshow

Let’s get started with the basics.

Copyright Rules To Remember

Let’s begin with the 5 main rules you need to remember about copyright.

1) Just because you found it online, doesn’t mean it’s free to use (even if you’re a teacher or student).

2) There are a lot of resources you can use freely including work that has a Creative Commons license or is in the public domain.

3) You have a right as a creator to have your work protected from copying and you can also give your own content a Creative Commons license.

4) If in doubt about using content, ask the creator for permission, find a free alternative, make your own material, or purchase an alternative that has the usage rights you’re after.

5) Instead of looking for loopholes, consider whether you’re being the most responsible and ethical digital citizen you can be.

Want a poster for your classroom or staffroom? Download a letter-sized poster of the 5 rules to remember here.

What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of legal protection offered to creators by default. That means, in many countries (like the USA and Australia), you don’t have to register your work to have it protected by copyright.

Some creators do register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office (or the equivalent in their own country). Usually, this is to provide strong evidence to a court that the creator is the copyright holder if there is ever an infringement case. You don’t need to have registered your work with the Copyright Office in order to pursue a copyright infringement case.

It’s a myth that you have to display a copyright symbol © to protect your work.

Can Others Use Your Copyrighted Work?

If you’re a copyright owner, someone else can’t copy your work without your permission. They also can’t perform the work, distribute copies of the work, display the work publicly, or create derivatives.

If someone does use work that’s protected by copyright without permission, that’s called copyright infringement. We’ll cover this later.

Who Owns The Copyright?

Usually, the creator of a work is the copyright owner but the copyright can also be sold, traded, or inherited.

What Does Copyright Cover?

Copyright covers both published and unpublished works that are tangible in format. So, all tangible original work is protected by copyright whether it’s a blog post, music, artwork, photo, play, poem, novel, dance choreography, movie, software, architecture, or more.

Copyright does not protect works that are not tangible, like facts or ideas. Copyright only protects the tangible expression of your ideas. So you might have a great idea for a blog post about teaching 5th grade math but unless you actually write the post, you can’t protect the idea that’s floating around in your head. And you can’t stop others from writing about the same idea.

You can read more about the basics of copyright on the U.S. Copyright Office website (or on your own country’s official site). There are some variations between countries.

What Is Fair Use?

So now you understand that most of the work you’re accessing online or in books is going to be protected by copyright (images, text, videos, music, and more). This means you can’t necessarily use these materials freely on your class blog, website, or with your students in your classroom.

“But fair use applies here doesn’t it”, I hear you ask? Because you’re using images, text, videos, or music for educational purposes, that’s okay, right? Teachers and students don’t have to worry?

Not necessarily.

The more you dig in to the topic of fair use, the more you come to realize it is a gray area.

As the U.S. Copyright Office explains, The Classroom Use Exemption 17 U.S.C. §110(1) allows you to use copyrighted material when you meet certain criteria.

If you’re teaching online or wanting to hand out copies of work, then you may not be covered by this exemption. Furthermore, these fair use laws are specific to the U.S. so if you’re in another country, you may not be covered. Some countries don’t have a fair use law or they may be more specific or broad than the U.S.

For example, in Australia, there is “Fair Dealing” which is an exception to copyright infringement that’s a little more specific than in the U.S. You may be able to use portions of copyright material without permission for the purpose of:

• research or study
• criticism or review
• parody or satire
• reporting news, or
• enabling a person with a disability to access the material

Overall, fair use isn’t as simple as it seems, right? Instead of trying to find loopholes with fair use, a better approach is to look for materials that you can use freely.

The best place to start is with public domain or Creative Commons materials. So let’s dig into that.

What Is The Public Domain?

In general, in the U.S., copyright lasts for the life of the author plus seventy years after the author’s death.

What happens to work after the copyright expires? Well, it becomes part of the public domain. Works can also enter the public domain if they are factual (e.g. charts or calendars), they are published before a certain date, or a creator has assigned their work to the public domain.

When something is in the public domain it means the work is owned by the public and you don’t have to get permission to use it. This is great for educators looking for materials they can freely use with their students.

Example Public Domain Resources

There are many places online where you can find books, images, audio, and videos that are in the public domain.

Some popular choices for public domain materials include:

• Project Gutenberg: 60,000+ eBooks that can be downloaded (most are older works with expired copyright). 
• Faded Page: 5,000+ eBooks that are in the public domain in Canada.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art: includes more than 400,000 images from The Met collection.
• Smithsonian Institution Public Domain Images: a collection of 3,000+ images housed on Flickr.
• Librivox: public domain audiobooks that are read by volunteers from around the world.
• Prelinger Archives: thousands of public domain films (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur).

What Is Creative Commons?

Sometimes creators (copyright holders) are happy for others to use their work, as long as they meet certain conditions.

A creator can place a Creative Commons license on their work which describes the terms of using, modifying, and sharing the works. A simple license removes the hassle of others having to ask the creator for permission.

Creative Commons is an international organization that made this system possible. The mission of the Creative Commons organization is clear,

By helping people and organizations share knowledge and creativity, we aim to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world.

If a creator decides to attach a Creative Commons license to their work, there are six Creative Commons licenses to choose from.

I have written a post on my own blog about copyright and Creative Commons that includes a poster to simplify the licenses.

The poster includes a Creative Commons license so you’re welcome to use the poster in your classroom or share it with your colleagues (a poster about Creative Commons licenses that includes a Creative Commons license — meta, right?). There is a PDF version of the poster on my blog.

If you’d like to learn more about Creative Commons licenses, the video below by McLaughlin Library is a good place to start. You can learn more about Creative Commons Licenses on the official website of the organization as well.

Finding Creative Commons Images

If you need images for your blog, website, videos, or other projects, Creative Commons images are a good choice. As long as you’re using the image according to the license with attribution, you won’t be infringing copyright.

If you’re looking for images that have a Creative Commons license, there are an increasing number of options out there. We’ll show you some of the more popular options, but first, it’s important to understand attribution.

All Creative Commons resources require attribution unless they’re licensed with the least restrictive Creative Commons Zero license. That means no attribution is required and you can use the resource however you like.

Let’s take a look at how to attribute Creative Commons images. The same instructions apply to other works (text, videos, etc.).

How To Attribute Creative Commons Images

When you use a resource with a Creative Commons license, you have to attribute it in a particular way. Attributing means sharing the details of the work and giving credit.

The acronym TASL can help us remember what to include.

• Title of the image or material (don’t worry if there is no title)
• Author  or creator of the image/material
• Source of the image/material. Where is it from? Include a link if possible so others can find it
• License — include which of the six Creative Commons licenses applies to the work

Here’s a photo I found on Wikimedia Commons of a bridge in Western Australia. You can see I included the attribution below the image.

If you use images from Wikimedia Commons, getting the attribution information is easy. As you go to download the image, you’re prompted to copy the attribution information.

You can copy the attribution information either in plain text format (as in caption above), or as HTML as shown below.

If you insert HTML into your blog post, it’ll become hyperlinked. Learn more about inserting custom HTML in Edublogs/CampusPress/WordPress block editor here.

If you’d like to learn more about attribution and explore some examples of ideal, acceptable, and unacceptable attributions, check out this page on the Creative Commons wiki. There’s also a handy PDF about attribution on the Australian Creative Commons website.

Now you know the basics of attribution. Let’s take a look at where you can find images and music that have a Creative Commons license. We’ll begin with images that don’t require attribution.

Creative Commons Zero Images

(No Attribution Required)

There are a number of websites where you can find images that are free to use without attribution (Creative Commons Zero).

I’ve written a post on my blog about the best websites to find Creative Commons images that either don’t require attribution or the attribution is included within the image like the example below from Photos For Class:

The sites reviewed in my post and the summary diagram below are:

• Pixabay
• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Photos for Class*
• Openclipart
• Pics4Learning

* Photos For Class currently has fewer options than it used to. The team has told us they aim to improve this in mid-2020.

Here’s a summary poster that you’re free to use in your own teaching.

The one issue that a lot of educators overlook is that a lot of these free image sites are age-restricted. So if you teach younger students, many sites are not going to be suitable.

Another thing to consider is that even though the images from these sites don’t need to be attributed (or they include the attribution information within the image) it’s still a good idea to teach students about copyright, Creative Commons, and attribution. As producers and consumers on the web, these are really vital understandings for students and all internet users. Just remember, even if attribution isn’t required, it’s always appreciated by the creator.

Creative Commons Images That Require Attribution

Apart from the sites listed above with images that don’t require attribution, there are other places to find images with one of the six Creative Commons licenses that do require attribution.

Creative Commons Search Engine

The first place you might want to look is the search engine on the official Creative Commons website. This is an excellent tool that was updated in 2019. It allows you to search through millions of CC images from more than 20 different sites.

When using the search engine, you can easily filter the search results — for example, you can filter by file type, use, or license.

There’s also a Creative Commons search browser extension that allows you to look for Creative Commons images on the go.

Wikimedia Commons

We already mentioned Wikimedia Commons above in the section about attribution. Wikimedia Commons has a large collection of images, audio, and videos that are free to use. Most require attribution.

Wikimedia Commons collections are included in the Creative Commons search engine so that tool really is a one-stop shop.

Search For Creative Commons Images On Google

Sadly, it is common practice for many teachers, students, and bloggers to take images straight from Google. Most images on Google are protected by copyright and using these images is illegal and unethical.

You may know that you can do an advanced search on Google to find Creative Commons images, although it does require a few steps. First, you need to filter your search results to find images that can be reused.

This video from Jurupa School District explains how to do that.

Then the next step, that is not shown in the video, is you have to click through to the site the image is from, look for the Creative Commons license, and attribute your image correctly.

As we saw above, using the Creative Commons search engine or Wikimedia Commons makes it really simple to attribute your chosen image. All you really have to do is copy/paste. Using Google search doesn’t make it easy to attribute Creative Commons images. So this is not the way we’d recommend finding Creative Commons images online.

Copyright And Music

No doubt there have been many times when you want to use music on your blog, in your content, or in class. When you’re creating a video it can be extremely tempting to use popular music that reflects the mood and emotion of the footage. Or maybe you want students to play popular music at a performance or public event.

As you probably know, most music is protected by copyright. It doesn’t matter if you paid for a song or not, it’s still protected by copyright. It doesn’t matter if you’re only using 30 seconds or less of a song, it’s still protected by copyright.

Let’s take a look at some specific examples of music and copyright.

Using Music In Projects Like Videos

Normally, you can’t just use any music you like in your projects or videos.

However, in many countries, there are exceptions. For example, in the U.S. and Australia, you are allowed to copy music to add to a video if:

a) it’s for educational purposes and
b) you’re not sharing your video publicly (or selling it!)

So, if you make a video with music that’s protected by copyright, it’s not okay to publish this on a public blog, social media, YouTube, and so on. And you couldn’t show your video at a public event. However, it’s okay if the video is just being shown privately to teachers, students, and families at home/school.

It’s also important to note that background music is not considered “educational use”.

Paying For Music And Streaming

There are popular sites and apps where you can pay to download or stream music legally — for example, Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify.

You can listen to your downloaded music yourself, but can’t upload the music to your blog or to a video or other project you’re working on.

It’s fine to stream music videos on sites like YouTube too but it’s not usually legal to download the audio from a YouTube video as explained in this article.

Also, streaming music is meant for personal use — not for a public broadcast.

As Spotify says,

…it’s not possible to use Spotify in public places (such as bars, restaurants, stores, schools, etc.). You may only make personal, non-commercial, entertainment use of the content.

Most streaming services are similar.

Embedding Music Videos

Embedding a music video from a site like YouTube or Vimeo into your blog is usually allowed.

As Richard Byrne says,

If the host provides an embed and you embed it using their code according to their rules (usually that means not trying to hide branding), you can embed it without violating copyright.

You can also link to music files or videos that are publicly available on the web.

Using Purchased CDs

Some people still listen to music by buying a CD or borrowing one from the library, although, of course, digital music is becoming a lot more popular than CDs in many parts of the world.

Again, you can’t copy the music from a CD and use it for another public project (e.g. upload it to your blog or add it to a public video). It doesn’t matter if you have purchased the CD legitimately.

If you’d like to learn more about using music in education for other purposes including school concerts and online learning, check out this fact sheet from the National Association of Music Education.

Creative Commons Or Copyright Free Music

Even though most music out there is protected by copyright, there are many places online to find Creative Commons or other copyright free music options.

You might first like to check if your district has any subscriptions you can make the most of. For example, Soundzabound.

If this isn’t an option, there are lots of other sources of free music online.

Three options for free music and audio are:

• Dig CC Mixter
• YouTube Audio Library
• BBC Sound Effects

Let’s take a look at how these three sites work.

Dig CC Mixter

Dig CC Mixter offers thousands of hours of free music.

The music on this site has different Creative Commons licenses so you need to check whether you need to attribute the music or not.

Educational Blogger Richard Byrne explains in a video how to use Dig CC Mixter and filter by license.

YouTube Audio Library

YouTube has a great library of music you can use. Visit the Audio Library on YouTube to browse the selections.

If you click on Attribution, you can filter your results to find music that does or doesn’t require attribution.

You can preview the music to see what it sounds like and download the music you want to use.

Here’s an example called Sunshine in my Heart by Jingle Punks.

BBC Sound Effects

During 2018, the BBC made over 16,000 sound effects available to use. These sound effects are not actually Creative Commons — they’re protected by copyright but the BBC gives permission for the sound effects be used for personal, educational, or research purposes.

You can browse by category to find the sort of sound effect you’re after for your project.

You should put a link in your project or blog post to say that your sound effects are from the BBC and link to their site.

Here is an example of a sound clip. This is the sound of the surf at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.

Surf – Bondi Beach, bbc.co.uk, copyright 2020

Copyright And Videos

Where would we be without all the awesome video content we now have at our fingertips on the web? In the education world, extensive video libraries like YouTube are becoming priceless.

Video copyright can be complicated as video can draw together multiple elements — video footage, images, music, sound effects, and so on. When using, sharing, or creating video, you need to make sure all of these elements are not protected by copyright.

Can You Link Or Embed Videos?

You are free to embed any video from sites like YouTube, Vimeo,TeacherTube, TedED etc. on your blog or website as long as it gives you the embed option. It’s a good idea to add a link to the video as well.

Linking or embedding from YouTube or other sites on the web is not considered copying. Just make sure the videos aren’t violating copyright. If they are, they’ll probably be taken down by the site eventually but some content gets through.

Can You Download Videos From Sites Like YouTube?

While linking and embedding videos is okay, you shouldn’t download videos from YouTube. Sometimes this is tempting for teachers especially if they have unreliable internet connectivity, they’re worried about a video being removed in future, or they want to add a video to a learning management system. However, downloading videos raises many legal questions and generally violates copyright.

Additionally, you can’t necessarily use parts of videos from YouTube (or other sources) to make mashups or remixes. If you want to cut or remix videos, it is better to use Creative Commons content, public domain content, or request permission from the copyright holder.

Uploading Your Own Videos To YouTube

If you want to upload your videos to a site like YouTube remember to respect copyright. You should only upload videos that you made or that you have permission to upload. Make sure there aren’t copyrighted elements (e.g. music or images) in your videos. Of course, get permission from your school or district if these videos are being used professionally.

Educators should be especially careful about permission if using footage of students. Some teachers use the blurring tools available in YouTube to blur student faces and identifying objects. Richard Byrne shares a demonstration of how to do this on his website.

If you’re a creator and would like to learn more about videos and copyright, YouTube has a useful playlist of eight videos on their YouTube Creators channel.

Showing Videos To Students

Teachers can show videos in class for educational reasons, such as videos legally uploaded to YouTube (however, some districts don’t allow YouTube to be used in schools).

If you have a legitimate copy of an offline video (e.g. DVD), you’re allowed to use this in class for face-to-face teaching as long as it’s for educational purposes (not for entertainment or a reward).

Remember, this would be in line with the U.S. fair use policies we described above, so check your own country’s guidelines if in doubt. If you’re in Australia, a useful website for all things copyright is https://www.smartcopying.edu.au

Copyright And Text Or Curriculum Materials

Say you’ve purchased a textbook or other teaching materials. You can obviously use these materials in class and you might be able to make photocopies, however, in most cases you can’t upload purchased curriculum or books to a public site. That means don’t put scans, photos, or PDFs of textbooks, worksheets, posters, picture books, novels, or other learning materials on your public blog or website.

If in doubt, seek guidance from the company you purchased the curriculum materials from about reuse.

Marketplaces Like Teachers Pay Teachers

Not so long ago, we were all purchasing our curriculum materials from professional organizations. Now anyone can be a creator and with the rise of sites like Teachers Pay Teachers, new copyright questions have arisen. As Education Week has pointed out, copyright infringement is rife on this popular marketplace.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re uploading to a site like Teachers Pay Teachers you need to make sure you have permission to use all your elements including fonts and images.

If you’re downloading resources from Teachers Pay Teachers, you need to seek clarification about how these can be used. And also keep an eye out for resources that look like they could be violating copyright before you use them (e.g. copies of a published textbook). There is limited vetting of copyright materials on Teachers Pay Teachers. As a savvy internet user, we all need to have an awareness of the larger copyright traps that are out there.

Link To Curriculum Resources

Linking may be a useful alternative to copying curriculum materials. If third-party text, articles, or other content is available on the web, teachers or students could include a link to the content on their blog or website.

Like embedding, linking is not a copyright activity because you’re not “copying” the content. You’re just providing a path to the original location that the readers can access themselves.

Creative Commons Textbooks And Curriculum

Another option to avoid copyright violations is to use curriculum materials that have Creative Commons licenses. One example is OpenStax. You can browse to find textbooks for a range of topics and the materials are free to use however you see fit.

You’ll find some more open textbooks and course materials listed on this Open Washington page.

Copyright Infringement

We know that most images, text, music, and other content are protected by copyright by default. Using work protected by copyright without permission is called copyright infringement. This is unethical and illegal. “Using” the work might involve reproducing, displaying, distributing, performing, or making your own derivatives.

But I Won’t Be Caught…

If only that were true.

Google makes it incredibly easy for companies and content creators to seek out those posting their work on the web. In fact, most large companies now aggressively patrol the internet looking for copyright infringement.

Sadly, we are also noticing more and more “law firms” and organizations out there looking for copyrighted content as a way of generating business. They then contact the copyright holder offering their services to get the content removed (for a fee of course). It is a ruthless (and apparently profitable) practice.

Another issue that is important to be aware of involves Creative Commons Zero sites. There have been cases where people have used images from free image sites like Unsplash and then were hit with a copyright infringement case. Sometimes people put images up on these sites in order to sue. They leave the images up on the site until they are downloaded multiple times and then remove them. This is a dark side of Creative Commons Zero that’s important to be aware of.

What If I Am Caught?

In many countries, copyright infringement brings hefty penalties including fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars and imprisonment, depending on the situation.

Of course, a good offense is your best defense. Check your blogs and class websites for any potentially offending material. Has anyone uploaded images straight from other websites or Google? Are there are educational materials (e.g. copies of textbooks) that shouldn’t be there? Has copyrighted music been used publicly? If you find anything, just remove it.

The law requires copyright holders to give you (and the host of your site, such as Edublogs, WordPress, etc.) an official notification. Take these seriously and act quickly to remove what they want if you are in the wrong. That should be the end of it.

Here at Edublogs and CampusPress, we’re contacted about copyrighted materials regularly. These are mostly images from Google, curriculum documents, or PDFs (e.g. textbooks or sheet music), or music files.

We were once notified about a teacher with a blog on Edublogs that had a harmless world map image on his blog that he had presumably found using Google image search. When we contacted him telling him why we had removed the image, he asked if he and his students could write an apology letter to the copyright holder.

It was excellent – turning what could be a bit of an embarrassing mistake into a teachable moment for his students. Now this teacher had a good reason to discuss copyright and Creative Commons with his students.

Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, having a space to publish online like a blog or website is one of the best ways students can learn about copyright and Creative Commons.

Copyright Considerations When Publishing Online

Whether you’re a teacher, a student, or a regular blogger, when you’re publishing online you must do your best to be a responsible digital citizen. This means respecting others’ work and respecting copyright.

Here are three key things to remember when publishing online to be a legal and ethical digital citizen:

1) Steer Clear Of Google Images

Don’t copy images off Google or other websites. Even if you include an attribution it is still illegal and unethical.

If you like an image and don’t know where it originally came from, a reverse search might help.

If an image is created by someone that you can contact, you could always ask their permission to use it.

Remember the best bet is to find Creative Commons or public domain images. Otherwise, take/make your own images or purchase some from a stock photography website.

2) Embed Or Link To Audio Or Video Clips

If you’re going to include a video or an audio clip, embed the file from the source and include a link as well. Don’t download audio or video files as this brings up many questions about copyright.

If you’re embedding from a site like YouTube, make sure the content doesn’t violate copyright law. YouTube is usually pretty good at cracking down on this but there is some content on there that does violate copyright — e.g. copies of television shows.

3) Never Copy Someone Else’s Blog Post

You might find this a little hard to believe but unfortunately people copy posts from other blogs and publish them on their own site all the time. Or they publish the blog post in another format such as a PDF document or slideshow.

And in case you’re wondering, copying someone’s blog post and then including an attribution does not make this okay.

If you do want to share someone else’s blog post on your own blog, consider writing a short description of the post on your blog and then inviting readers to click on a link to read the post themselves. In your own post, you could include some key points about what you agreed or disagreed with. Or maybe you can expand on the topic in a different direction. All this would be perfectly acceptable and no doubt the author would appreciate the interaction.

Using Quotes In Blog Posts

Hopefully you now know that you definitely can’t copy and paste someone else’s whole blog post or image, but you can include a quote of some text.

Here are a few points to be aware of that we included in our post on The Edublogger about quotes:

• Make it obvious which words are your own, and which words belong to someone else by using quotation marks or block quotes.
• Make your quotes brief. There are no universal rules here. Some larger organizations have guidelines around how much you can quote (e.g. Hubspot’s rules are 75 words). If you’re unsure or think you might be using too much of someone’s article, contact them to ask permission. Never copy the whole post.
• Always include the person’s name, and link to their site, article, or book if you can.
• If you’re using blockquotes, the attribution could be before the quote, inside it, or below it.
• If you shorten a quote, use an ellipsis (…) in place of the missing words.
• If you’re adding any words or corrections to the quote, use brackets.

Adding Your Own Creative Commons License To Your Work

Earlier, we looked at the six types of Creative Commons licenses available to creators. If you’re publishing online, you’re a creator too! And you don’t have to be a professional. Maybe you share memes or lesson resources on social media? Perhaps you write blog posts? Maybe you take your own photographs that you share online?

Have you ever considered adding a Creative Commons license to your own original work?

As the Creative Commons organization explains,

When you apply a CC license, you give permission to anyone to use your material for the full duration of applicable copyright and similar rights.

This is therefore a serious decision but an important one. You can contribute to building a collection of art and knowledge that’s accessible to anyone in the world. How cool is that! You remain in control by choosing your own license, and people who like your work can use or share it without having to contact you for permission.

Before you choose a Creative Commons license, you need to make sure you are the copyright owner and the work is copyrightable (e.g. in a tangible format).

If you’re unsure which license to choose for your own work, there is an interactive tool on the Creative Commons website. This tool suggests a license after you answer a few questions. It also gives you a CC button that you can attach to your work to display your license.

If you would like to display your creative commons license on your blog, the easiest way is to use a text widget in your sidebar.

From your dashboard, go to Appearance > Widgets and select a Text widget to add to your sidebar. Paste the code provided by your Creative Commons license provider in the widget’s text box, and click “Save”.

Adults aren’t the only ones who can add Creative Commons licenses to their work. In many countries, children can too. What an authentic way for students to learn about copyright and sharing online.

Perhaps a whole class or school could make a library of Creative Commons content (e.g. images or music) that can be used freely by the education community? Talk about authentic learning!

Conclusion

If you’ve made it this far into the guide you will have realized that copyright is a vast and complex topic, however, you don’t need to be an expert to understand the basics.

We’ve made a collection of slides which you’re welcome to use in your own classroom or perhaps you’d like to use them as part of your professional development program. Want to make a copy? Scroll down for instructions (don’t request access).

Want a copy of the Google Slides presentation? Don’t request access, just follow the steps below.

1) Click on this link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jK-_bTIBa9CZAC-bqKd0PQc7ohG9L47KSdcvfHgIxqw/copy?usp=sharing

2) You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below).

3) The Slides will be saved in your Google Drive.

4) You can edit the Google Slides to suit.

Before we conclude, take a moment to reflect back on the rules to remember about copyright.

1. Just because you found it online, doesn’t mean it’s free to use (even if you’re a teacher or student).
2. There are a lot of resources you can use freely including work that has a Creative Commons license or is in the public domain.
3. You have a right as a creator to have your work protected from copying and you can also give your own content a Creative Commons license.
4. If in doubt about using content, ask the creator for permission, find a free alternative, purchase an alternative, or make your own material.
5. Instead of looking for loopholes, consider whether you’re being the most responsible and ethical digital citizen you can be.

Do you have any other tips to add about copyright for educators, students, or bloggers? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know. We’d love to hear your suggestions.

For any specific questions regarding your own copyright dilemmas, please consult professional legal advice.

About Us

Edublogs is the oldest and most trusted web publishing platform for students and teachers around the globe. We have helped create and publish more than five million blogs, websites and portfolios since 2005 while providing teacher-friendly, student-safe WordPress solutions at scale.

We offer both cost-efficient and free options, along with site development, hosting, security, plugin and theme support to ensure your digital presence is meeting your goals in a fast-changing digital world.Want to learn more? Contact us to receive more information.

First published March 8th 2020. Last updated April 27th.

How would you feel if someone said you need to change your whole approach to teaching immediately? Imagine if, instead of interacting face to face with students in your classroom, you had to create and deliver a virtual program. 

Perhaps you’d feel nervous? Overwhelmed? Excited? Unqualified? Inspired? Or perhaps plain lost.

During April 2020, remote learning became a reality for over 90% of students worldwide. Teachers, students, families, administrators, departments, and whole communities are being forced to respond and adapt quickly.

Referring to COVID-19 (coronavirus), UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay warned,

…the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education.

The rates of school closures have soared in the last month:

• In mid-February, China was the only country mandating school closures.
• Two weeks later, 22 countries were closing schools.
• As of April 3, 188 countries have implemented nationwide school closures.

If your school is still open, it’s never too soon to calmly plan and prepare. Things are changing rapidly and exponentially. 

Want a live update on school closures across the globe? Check out UNESCO’s tally.

What’s In This Post?

Our guide will give you insights into how educators around the world are approaching school closures.

Thousands of teachers worldwide are currently sharing snippets of their experiences via social media or their blogs. We’ve compiled, curated, and built on some common themes and ideas to create this extensive guide.

Click on the links in the menu below to help you navigate the post. 

• Daily structure options
  • Synchronous Vs asynchronous learning
  • Examples of how video is weaved into the day
  • Example timetables: structured Vs a “to do list”
  • Helping students plan their day
  • How to plan an online lesson
• Setting up a virtual home base or online platform
  • Three step approach:
    • District/state education department
    • School website or school blog
    • Classroom LMS,  blog, or other online community
      • Getting started with blogging
• All about using videos and conferencing in online learning
  • Tools and tips for synchronous (live) video conferences
  • Tools and tips for recording asynchronous videos and screencasts
  • Record a piece to camera
• Free online tools for virtual learning
  • Summary of some popular free tools
• A Note on Students and Books
  • Where to find digital reading material
  • Can I read aloud to my students?
• 10 tips for virtual teaching and learning
• Obstacles and issues created by school closures
  • Students/families
  • Teachers
  • Schoolwide issues
• Planning for a School Closure: Parent Survey
• Planning for a School Closure: Taking Home Resources
• Checklist for Administrators and Educators Facing a School Closure

This post also includes a range of useful graphics to help you that you’re free to use and share. If you use the images in your own work, please attribute our article and link back.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the graphics:

Let’s dive right in to the resources!

Daily Structure Options

The first question educators might be asking themselves is what does a “school day” look like when it’s no longer happening in a school?

Let’s talk about timetables, hours, and the overall structure you might implement. 

In most cases, your school day will have to be based on technology although some departments, such as New York, are open to the option of mailing out work the old fashioned way. This is a good fallback if technology can’t be used but you may not want to get into the habit of only handing out packets (worksheets) if you can avoid it.

Note: It’s important to find out about students’ technology/internet access at home and we have a Google Form survey you can adapt to survey your parents towards the end of the post.

The old fashioned approach can also work well to complement online learning and is important for younger students. Check out the fabulous “Learning Boxes” staff in Vietnam put together for their young learners. 

We’ll discuss many useful technology tools further on. 

The issue of daily structure and timetables is a major consideration and some schools are constantly tweaking their approaches.

Do you stick to your regular school timetable? You could, but many schools are finding a modified approach is more realistic.

Lessons can take longer for students to complete at home for many reasons including:

• Technology difficulties
• No teacher guidance to keep students on track, engaged, and informed
• A busy household (multiple family members and responsibilities)
• Varying degrees of parent/caregiver involvement (there can be barriers like language, competence with technology and the curriculum, parenting younger children, or trying to keep up with work responsibilities)
• Illness (let’s not forget the reason for the school closures) 

Some teachers are finding what they could get done in one period of class requires two periods when it’s online. 

Consider a “Percentage” Approach

Most teachers who have some experience with online schooling realize that the pace is slower and expectations need to be reduced.

Some teachers provide and expect a certain percentage of the normal student workload. For example, an elementary student might have a 50% workload, although a senior high school student may be given a 90% workload.

Suggesting a percentage might give teachers and families a ballpark if they’re wondering what to expect. 

Synchronous or Asynchronous Learning?

A question that may come up a lot as you plan and tweak your approach to online learning is whether your program will be synchronous or asynchronous. That is, whether it will be conducted in real-time or whether students will complete tasks according to their own schedules. 

Here’s a quick comparison:

You might find a mix of both is a useful strategy. Your own unique situation, including your students’ age, might have a big impact on this decision too.

For some families, asynchronous learning can be more convenient: if parents are working, they may have more time to support/supervise student learning outside of business hours. 

Other schools are finding synchronous learning is a powerful way to keep the class connected. 

If your teaching and learning program involves video then you’ll once again face the question of synchronous (e.g. live conferencing) or asynchronous (pre-recorded videos or screencasts). 

We’ll dive in to the video options further on, however, let’s take a quick look at how some teachers are weaving conferences and recorded videos into their weekly schedules:

Examples of how Video Conferences are Being Used:

• A 10 minute video conference to begin the day.
• A whole class video conference at regular times during the week (e.g. 30 minutes every Monday and Friday afternoon). 
• A whole class video conference to introduce important lessons or projects. 
• A video conference to check in with each individual student each week. 
• On-demand video conferencing — students can sign up during a teacher’s “office hours” if they want to book a session.
• Small group video conferences for students with similar needs. 
• Optional “live recess” to allow students to connect and hang out. 

Examples of how Screencasts or Recorded Videos are Being Used:

• A video introduction or screencast for key lessons (might not be possible for all lessons).
• A short welcome video each morning and/or reflection video each afternoon.
• A screencast to offer feedback on student work and progress.
• Student created screencasts to demonstrate learning. 

Let’s look at some specific options for daily timetables. 

More Flexible Option: Distribute a Daily “To Do List”

When schools decide on expectations, they often need to consider whether they should give lesson guidelines that can be completed at any time, or stick to a traditional structure.

For example, if you were offering a flexible program, you could build on a checklist like this:

Today you need to complete:

• 30 minutes reading
• 30 minutes writing
• 30 minutes science
• 30 minutes math

It’s optional whether you give an actual time requirement (e.g. 30 minutes) or just a task, however, a time suggestion can be helpful so students don’t spend either all day working, or not enough time on task. 

More Structured Option: Distribute a Timetable

Alternatively, students might be issued with a structured timetable that all students will complete at the same time, e.g.

• 9am – 9:45am reading
• 10am – 10.45am writing
• 10.45am – 11.30am recess
• 11.30am – 12.15pm science
• 12.30pm – 1.15pm math
• 1.30pm – 2.15pm lunch
• 2.30pm – 3.30pm catch up/specialist subjects

Factoring in time for catching up seems to be proving extremely useful for many schools. You might schedule learning activities in the morning and leave the afternoons free for catching up and offline pursuits. Alternatively, you could schedule one day a week for completing unfinished work or even have a weekly “screen-free” day. 

Here’s an example of a weekly screen-free day from Shekou International School in China. 

#Grade4SIS has implemented a device free day each week during #onlinelearning… & I had so much fun creating this week’s choice board for our learners! #choice #learnerprofile #SISrocks #ISSedu #flipclass #disted #mlearning #elearning @SISGeckos @ISSCommunity pic.twitter.com/tNoKEIzjjn

— Mr. Peter Damroth (@PDamroth) March 25, 2020

Rather than a daily approach, some schools are taking the whole week into account and giving projects or assignments that need to be completed or worked on over 5 days. Based on progress, a new plan might then be made for the following week.

Example: Kindergarten

Ashley in the middle east is not doing any live teaching via video conference due to cultural and religious reasons. 

Ashley’s team sends a weekly plan to the parents of their kindergarten students along with a suggested timetable. There are no expectations that the timetable is followed exactly due to parents working and a variety of family situations. 

The planners are given out two weeks in advance to help families plan ahead. The links to learning tasks go to YouTube videos and Ashley’s Office 365 cloud account of activities or readings. Ashley’s kindergarten class also uses Flipgrid. 

Example: 5th Grade

Laura Faulk at ASIJ (American School in Japan) is a 5th grade teacher who has recently started teaching online.

Her team created a daily planner using Google Docs. They share it each morning on a website that was created for their new distance learning program. 

They are currently surveying families to find out whether they’d like to have the planner in advance. 

The Google Doc planner has links to all the students’ classroom and specialist work. The students are given a guide as to how long to spend on each activity. 

The ASIJ team adapted their ideas from the work of Hong Kong International School (HKIS have a fantastic home learning website that is worth checking out too!).

You can follow Laura and her team on Twitter (@asij_g5).

Example: Google Slides

Some teachers put their planners on a Google Doc, or Sheet. Google Slides can be another awesome way to send out a daily plan and work (but even better if these Slides presentations are added to a blog, LMS, or website so they don’t get lost).

• You can include text, links, and videos of yourself teaching to a Slides presentation amongst other things.
• One major benefit is you can copy and edit your planner so you don’t have to start from scratch each day. 
• Check out this post by Alice Keeler for more advice on using Slides in remote learning.
• We also have a beginner’s guide to Google Slides on The Edublogger for a broader overview. 

Here’s an example from US kindergarten teacher Megan Peschke @MeganPeschke). Don’t be put off by the age group. This idea could be adapted for any age!

Click here to view the Google Slides presentation in a new tab. 

Instructions for Editing and Using Megan’s Google Slides

1. Click on this link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bl534rtloR0AjD2wgfLPVrJs2Q6BDS9DEz2G2m9Fzgs/copy

2. You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below).

3. The Slides will be saved in your Google Drive.

4. You can edit the Google Slides to suit.

SlidesMania have also published a fantastic free weekly planner template that can be used in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Find it here. 

Help Students Plan Their Day

Some teachers, especially those who are giving out ongoing assignments or projects, encourage their students to plan out their own days. You could give them ideas or a template.

Here is an example which you’re welcome to copy and adapt,

People seemed to like the student planners a non-twitter teacher created for our #continuouslearning students, so here is blank version. Feel free to make a copy and make your own! https://t.co/3ZzKKpUA2F

— Rebekah Madrid (@ndbekah) March 5, 2020

Instructions for use:

1. Click here to open the Google Doc
2. Go to File > Make a copy
3. Type a name and choose where to save it
4. Click Ok
5. You’ll then find an editable copy of the Google Doc in your Google Drive

How do you Plan an Online Lesson?

Once you have ideas on how your school day will be structured, you might start zooming in to the planning of actual lessons.

What do lessons look like when they’re online rather than face to face?

Despite being physically distant from your students, you still want to be as present as possible virtually. Online teaching and learning isn’t a “set and forget” situation. 

Like all lessons, you may want to start with learning outcomes, and possibly success criteria (your school might already have a framework for this). The delivery of the lesson will be the part that might just look a bit different.

Remember, there’s nothing wrong with keeping your lessons quite simple, and in many cases they’ll be similar to what you’d do in the classroom, perhaps with more autonomy and technology. 

For example, your normal lesson structure might involve a warm up, revision, an explanation, student activity that aligns to outcomes, then reflection. The same sort of structure is possible with virtual lessons. 

Easily Adapting to Virtual Lesson Planning

Timothy Malan (@timothy_malan) is a middle school science teacher at an international school in Spain. He has created a detailed video to explain how a regular classroom lesson can be transformed into a virtual lesson. He reassures teachers that it doesn’t have to be overly complicated!

The first 12 minutes of the video goes through the framework, and then Timothy dives in to an example lesson. 

5E Model for Creating Online Lessons

Have you heard of the 5Es framework? It’s an instructional model that’s been around for 20+ years. Using the model, teaching and learning progresses through five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.

Author and educator, Catlin Tucker has published a post called, Tips for Designing an Online Lesson Using the 5 Es Instructional Model.

In her post, Catlin provides a simple framework that shows how the 5Es can be used to create online lessons. Catlin has also recorded a video for each “E” that explains the model further. 

While the 5Es approach is far from the only way you can go about designing online lessons, it may be a useful framework for those who don’t know where to start. 

Catlin also shares a good tip about using Google Docs to share lessons with students. Google Docs are easy to copy and edit. That means teachers can create different versions of the same lesson with minimal work. Any suggested videos, readings, or activities can be differentiated to meet the individual needs of learners. 

Useful Online Tools

For some teachers, the technology part of virtual learning will be the scariest obstacle. Before we dive in to useful options, take a deep breath and remember:

• Less can be more: you don’t need to be using a huge range of different tools.
• Start with tools students and teachers are already familiar with: there are probably some technology tools, apps, or platforms you’ve used in class that can be useful.
• Remember, despite technology being a crucial tool for most closed schools, teaching and learning isn’t about the technology. Try to focus on the core business of schools: relationships and learning.

Virtual Home Base or Online Platform: 3 Step Approach

There are some awesome tools out there for learning and creativity but first consider what you’ll be using as your home base. When your classroom and school assembly halls aren’t in use, your virtual hubs are more important than ever.

What will communication look like and where will learning take place? Here are three common steps you might see:

1. Communication will probably begin with information from the school district or state education department.
2. Then a school website might provide an overview of your plan for the whole community. (Need a better school website? CampusPress can help with that!). 
3. From there, you could have individual class blogs or other approaches like a learning management system (e.g. Moodle, Canvas, or Google Classroom), a Facebook group (for older learners), Slack, or Seesaw.

Read on for more information and examples of this three-step approach. 

1) District/State Education Department

Let’s zoom out for a moment. When a school is to be closed and learning is transitioning to online, the first step is often clear communication from the top level — your district or state education department (if your school falls under one of these authorities). 

Here’s an example from Northshore District School in Washington state. They published a blog post on their district website to inform everyone in the school community of school closures.

It’s an honest and dynamic announcement as they’re still figuring out arrangements. The beauty of blog posts is you can keep publishing as more information is made available.

Of course, a blog post or website update may be followed up with a direct notification to families to ensure the news is received (e.g. SMS or email). 

2) School Website or School Blog

A school website (or temporary site) can be an important next piece in the puzzle. It can provide an overview of your plan for the whole community to ensure everyone is on the same page, knows what to do, and knows where to seek help. 

Website Example: YIS Continuous Learning Plan

Yokohama International School (YIS) in Japan has been closed since early March. They’re becoming leaders in the community of global educators scrambling to find out how to approach school closures.

YIS has created a website to communicate a clear approach to their changed schooling format,

Although campus is temporarily closed, “school” continues as we engage students with experiences that continue the planned learning program and help them to stay connected with teachers and classmates. These learning experiences offer authentic opportunities to focus on key concepts, knowledge, and skills. They emphasize interaction and creativity, and involve a balance of on-screen and off-screen tasks that help connect to previous learning and the current curriculum.

Vice principal, Rebekah Madrid, explains the choice of the term “continuous learning”,

For the first day, people weren’t sure what we meant by “continuous learning”. But now it makes sense for us. We didn’t want online (because not always online) and we didn’t want distant (because that’s not the vibe we wanted). So continuous worked for us.

— Rebekah Madrid (@ndbekah) March 3, 2020

3) Classroom Hub: Blog, LMS, or Other Online Community

The third step is an online hub where you can distribute student learning tasks, share resources, gather feedback, and keep everyone in the loop.

While you could just email out assignments to students, there may be better options (emails can be better for one on one communication; they can get lost and can be hard to refer back to.).

You might already be using a learning management system or other platform (e.g. Seesaw, Sensei LMS for WordPress, Google Classroom) at school that you can continue to use after your school closes. If so, there is probably no need to reinvent the wheel! Go with what you and your students know. 

But maybe you don’t have a place set up already where you can post learning tasks and resources that students can use on a daily basis. 

Google Classroom is a popular choice. If you want to learn more, check out this demo from Alice Keeler and Vicki Davis. This cheat sheet from Ben Cogswell also goes over the basics. 

Consider a Blog For Your Classroom Hub

A blog is a free, basic, and flexible tool that acts as a classroom hub and more. 

Here are some reasons why you might consider a blog as your online classroom while your school is closed:

• A blog is a space you can own (you don’t have control over some online spaces like social media).
• It’s a place where all the bits and pieces you create and explore in the online and offline world can be housed.
• Blogs aren’t just text and images, you can include videos, slideshows, infographics, podcasts, posters, polls, charts and more. Here are just six tools that allow you to create interactive learning content for your blog (online worksheets, games, and so on). 
• Blog content can be organized in a systematic way and searched for as needed. 
• Comments and forums allow two-way interaction.
• Blogs can be public or private (learn more about the pros, cons, and options in this article). 

We have a post that compiles some examples of class blogs from a range of age groups and locations. You’ll notice that there is a lot of flexibility in the way blogs are used. 

Team 2 Eagles Blog Example

Becky Versteeg is a wonderful grade two teacher in Canada.

She is using her class blog to share daily ideas. Her posts include videos, printables,photos from students and fun ideas to try at home. 

Take a look!

Class Blog And/Or Student Blogs?

You might be only interested in having a class blog to share learning resources and so on. Alternatively, you might want all students to use their own blog to complete learning tasks, publish online, reflect on their experience privately, or even connect with the world. 

• Learn more about the different approaches to student blogging and digital portfolios
• Read about student blogs in the middle and high school classroom
• Explore an example of grade two students using individual blogs

My Class is a free management tool from Edublogs that brings a class blog and all your student blogs/accounts together. It makes it easier for teachers to set up and monitor their classroom blogging program.

Learn more about My Class in this post.

Example: Art Blog

Here is an example of a fantastic blog with lessons for home art activities by Chris Gadbury.

One of the great things about the blogging community is you cannot only make your own blog but benefit from other educators’ blogs as well!

Want To Start Blogging But Not Sure How?

Check out our Blogging 101 page. It includes a 15-minute tutorial video and all the help guides you’ll need to get going!

Educators and students can set up as many blogs as they need using Edublogs for free (no ads or time limits). Compare all the features here. 

Videos And Online Learning

You can come up with fantastic tasks for students to work on at home but your program will run so much better if students can still feel your presence as a teacher. Videos are such an important part of online learning and a great way to maintain relationships.

Your familiar face will grab students’ attention while building engagement and understanding. 

Nervous about being on camera? Don’t worry! Just start small. It will be worth it. Many teachers are nervous to start and want to re-do their video over and over (some students are like this too!). It won’t take long for you to realize your videos don’t have to be perfect and students will appreciate your efforts.

Let’s take a look at some options. 

Note: If you want to look at using video more deeply, check out our new Educator’s Guide to Using Video in Teaching and Learning. 

Synchronous or Asynchronous Videos

There are two main options for sharing videos with your learners:

Synchronously: That means real-time streaming. It could be a live stream (like on YouTube) or an interactive video conference (like on Zoom).

Some synchronous videos can be recorded so they can be viewed again at a later date. This is useful if students can’t attend the live stream, they have technology issues, or need to revise the content. 

Asynchronously: That means you record videos that can be viewed (and reviewed) when it suits the student. Your videos could be a simple “piece to camera” or a screencast.

Screencasting is where you narrate a video recording of your computer screen. Sometimes it’s just audio and sometimes you can see your face in the video as well.

The benefit of asynchronous videos is there are no time pressures, however, the connections that can be formed in synchronous video conferences can’t be underestimated. 

Popular Tools for Synchronous (Live) Video Conferences

There are many tools out there that allow you to connect with students via video. This can really help to unite the class. 

Four of the most popular video-conferencing options for teachers and schools include:

• Zoom — Robust software designed exclusively for video conferencing.
• Google Hangouts Meet — The evolved version of classic Hangouts that’s part of G Suite.
• Microsoft Teams — Communication and collaboration platform that’s part of Office 365.
• WebEx — Cisco tool for video conferencing, online meetings, screen share, and webinars.

These tools all allow video conferences with screen sharing capabilities.

• The teacher can start the conference and share the access link with the students.
• Students can access the conference at the specified time using any device (e.g. laptop or tablet).
• Some users like to use external microphones, headphones, or webcams, however, the camera and microphone attached to your device are probably fine for getting started.

Here is a quick comparison of the free/free education plans for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts Meet, and WebEx Meetings:

Notes on Live Video Tools:

• Safety comes first! Your school or district probably has advice about which video conferencing tool you should use and which settings should be employed. As an example, Zoom has released some best practices in this PDF. 
• Zoom, Meet, and Webex temporarily upgraded their free plans for educators but these offers have now ended for Meet and Webex. If your school Zoom account hasn’t already been upgraded, you can apply here to remove the 40 min time limit.
• Some teachers are also experimenting with live streaming on YouTube. For teenagers, it’s a platform they’re often already familiar with and they can comment in real-time.
• Mix it up: Principal at International School of Dongguan, Todd Brink, suggested that, “One-on-one, small group, or whole group sessions are a must. Just like the classroom!” Video conferencing software allows these sorts of options. 

Example Video Conferences From Teachers

Teachers at American International School of Guangzhou are doing a fantastic job of setting up engaging video conferences using Zoom.

Here are two examples that were recently shared on Twitter, 

Using #zoom_us to create a collaborative story this morning … once we had our order, can we work together to build a story one word a time? A myth about an earthquake that goes with our #unitofinquiry #howtheworldworks ? Even better! #AISGZ #onlinelearning #virtuallearning pic.twitter.com/W4EvYnGK2B

— Katie Robbins (@krobbins84) March 5, 2020

Another #zoom meeting with second graders. I think they only come to see a mess I make doing my science experiments. Today there were beans spilled all over my coffee table and the smell of vinegar is overpowering. Science #onlinelearning is still fun. #aisgz #pypchat #sciencefun pic.twitter.com/XSjc19ltCQ

— Inga Bela (@inga_bela) March 5, 2020

Jennifer Wathall is a teacher from Hong Kong who began teaching online earlier than most of the world. She shares her tips for teaching online, most of which apply to synchronous video conferences. 

John Sowash shared these tips for running a virtual lesson on Google Meet (they can apply to other video conferencing tools as well). 

Popular Tools for Recording Asynchronous Videos and Screencasts

There are a number of tools available to record screencasts. Like many online tools there are free plans and paid plans. 

Let’s compare four of the most popular screencasting tools teachers are using for recording lessons. 

• Loom
• Screencastify
• Screencast-o-matic
• Zoom

This chart compares the features of the free plans (paid plans have more features). 

Note: As of March 12, Loom Pro is now free for teachers and students forever. The chart below has been updated. 

Notes On Screencasting Tools

• I’ve written a blog post specifically about Loom if you want to learn more. There are no age restrictions so students can use Loom if you want them to make screencasts. 
• You’ll remember that Zoom is a popular tool for video conferencing. To record a screencast using Zoom, you start a meeting with yourself as the only participant and record the conference. You can’t record if you’re using the Zoom iOS app.

Record a Piece to Camera

Your videos don’t have to be part of a video conference call or a screencast. You can record a simple piece to camera using your phone or webcam.

That is, a video of your happy self teaching and talking!

In our Educator’s Guide to Video on The Edublogger, we outlined ten tips for recording a piece to camera. Read the full post (you’ll find a PDF copy to download) or check out the summary below. 

Video Editing

Made a video and want to edit it? Maybe it needs trimming, captions, or other effects?

For quick video editing on my phone, I love two free apps from GoPro called QuikStories and Splice. QuikStories puts everything together for you with music, transitions, and other cool effects. Splice is handy if you want to make more manual edits and don’t necessarily want too many effects.

Try not to get carried away though, it can be a lot of fun creating videos but a raw edit is fine!

We have more advice about editing and other video tools in our Educator’s Guide to Video in Teaching and Learning. 

Example Videos from Teachers

This year 1 teacher from Tokyo International School demonstrates a wonderful reading lesson,

@Ms_SarahVaughan nurturing ‘reading as thinking’ remotely. #distancelearning keeping @tcrwp as alive as possible during this #peskycoronavirus @holleytcrwp @clemenkat pic.twitter.com/cWeCWnUBIX

— TokyoIS (@TISlearns) March 5, 2020

For older students, here is an example from two creative art teachers. 

E-learning commenced today @TISLearns worried that Middle School Art & Design teachers Sara and @mandurubell Andrew might ‘make it’ as the next celebrity YouTube stars! If they earn their fortune and leave us what would happen to our Arts department and staff room giggles?! pic.twitter.com/ZQYpvpTLvR

— Christopher Frost (@FrostChrissy) March 4, 2020

For more tips on using live or recorded video in your online teaching program, check out this article from Richard Byrne. He has some great suggestions such as keeping your webcam on, using check-in questions, and using a $20 whiteboard. 

Other Online Tools to Consider

So you have your home base set up, you’ve considered recording some videos to share with students, now what other online tools can you use to engage students and fuel their learning?

Here are some suggestions with a very brief summary of each. This list is far from exhaustive Leave your own ideas in a comment!

Kahoot!

Create fun learning games for your students called Kahoots. Classes can play live against each other or students can complete the quiz at their own pace. 

*Premium features are currently free for schools facing closures. Learn more. 

Quizlet

A free tool that allows students to study information via learning tools and games (flashcards, quizzes etc). A new individual mode has just been replaced so students can play together while they are physically apart. The free account has advertising. 

*Learn how to use Quizlet for remote learning here. 

BrainPOP

These short educational videos are fantastic for online learning. There’s also BrainPOP Jnr. for K-3 and BrainPOP ELL for English language learners. 

*Currently free for educators affected by coronavirus school closures. Learn more. 

Canva for Educators

Online tool that allows you to make all sorts of graphic designs (perfect for communicating with students and families). Learn more about Canva in our guide on The Edublogger. 

*Educators can get a premium account for free (not just during school closures). 

Edpuzzle

A popular tool to create interactive YouTube videos to check students’ understanding. Basic plans are free for teachers and students. 

Pear Deck

Design lessons with interactive questions, polls, quizzes, and formative assessments. Works with Google Slides. 

*Pear Deck Premium is free for 90 days for schools affected by closures. Learn more. 

Anchor

Anchor.fm is a popular free service for recording, hosting, and distributing podcasts. Check out our guide on The Edublogger to learn more about using podcasting with students. 

Flipgrid

Create grids to facilitate asynchronous video discussions that are very engaging for students. This tool is totally free. 

Padlet

Padlet is an online bulletin board where you can display text, images, video, and more. Padlets can be embedded in blog posts. It used to be free but now there is a limit of three Padlets before you need to upgrade. 

Students at the International School of Buscan recently used Padlet for a virtual art show!

Today’s Grade 3 Virtual Art Exhibition on @Padlet is brilliant! #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/rqJqwiN5Nt

— Simon McCloskey (@SimonJMcCloskey) March 5, 2020

Book Creator

Simple tool for younger students to create books or learning journals that combine text, images, audio and video.

*Schools that are closed for COVID-19 can get 90 days free of the premium plan. Learn more.

WeVideo

Cloud based video editing tool that allows students and teachers to get creative. Students could have fun responding to some of learning tasks as a video and can collaborate with peers on projects. WeVideo have also recently introduced screencasting.

*WeVideo For Schools free for schools affected by COVID-19. Learn more. 

Newsela

Real world texts at different reading levels with built-in activities. 

*Free for schools affected by COVID-19 closures until the end of the 2020 school year. Apply here. 

Wakelet

A curation tool that allows you to save, organize, tell stories, and share content from around the web. See the example Wakelet embedded below. 

Read all about how to use Wakelet in this post. 

More Ideas for Online Tools

To stay up to date with more useful online tools that teachers are using as they switch to online learning, follow this Wakelet by Erin Flanagan (@erintegration). 

There’s also a huge list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings by Amazing Educational Resources that is updated regularly. You can check it out here. 

A Note on Students and Books

What’s a classroom without books! If you’re going to be teaching virtually you might be wondering where to find reading material for your students. Some students might be lucky enough to have a lot of reading material at home. No doubt, many will not. 

Here are a few ideas for sourcing digital reading material:

Modern books/interface

• Local libraries often offer free access to eBooks and audiobooks (e.g. OverDrive, Tumblebooks, Libby, BorrowBox etc.). Find out what your local library offers and tell families how to become members if they’re not already. 
• Newsela — Real world texts presented so that children can access the same text at different reading levels (currently free for schools). 
• Rivet — Free app that families can download with thousands of modern leveled readers. 
• Epic — Digital library of modern books aimed at children under 12. Always free for teachers and librarians (and students can access it during school hours).
• ReadingIQ — Similar to Epic. There are thousands of modern digital books for readers under 12. Access is free for closed schools — learn more here.
• Oxford Owl — 100 free eBook readers for young children. Free but you need an account. 
• Story Shares — American not-for-profit group who shares stories online, that are aimed at older students who read below grade level.

Less Modern books/interfaces 

Don’t be put off by the “old school” designs of these websites. Many allow access to older works with expired copyright that can be ideal for classroom use. 

• International Children’s Digital Library –– A collection of international books for children aged 3-13 presented in 59 languages. 
• Project Gutenberg — 60,000+ eBooks that can be downloaded for all ages (most are older works with expired copyright). 
• Faded Page — 5000 plus eBooks that are completely free to download. Not designed for children but there are many classics for older students (like Project Gutenberg they are mostly older works with expired copyright). 
• Open Library — Catalogue where you can borrow books for free (lots of options for older students). 
• Lit2Go — A free online collection of stories and poems in MP3 (audiobook) format with accompanying text. Includes many classics with expired copyright. 

Sue Waters has written a post that shows exactly how to find and read eBooks. This is a helpful guide for both educators and students. 

Can I Read Aloud to my Students?

This question is being asked over and over by the online education community in recent weeks. 

Many teachers are keen to read aloud to their students using video, however, remember there may be copyright issues.

• If you’re in the USA, you should be covered by “fair use” as outlined by EdSurge.
• Some publishers are now allowing teachers to read books to their students during school closure. Kate Messner explains here. 
• Pernille Ripp and Kate Messner have both written about other places to find online read alouds.
• My favourite site for free read alouds (by professional actors) is Storyline Online.
• Some authors are hosting their own online storytimes during the pandemic. Find the details in this post. 

10 Tips for Virtual Teaching and Learning

Transitioning to online schooling is a learning journey for everyone. While everyone’s circumstances are different, these tips might offer you some food for thought. Chime in with your own tips in a comment!

Here’s a summary and read on for lots of ideas and examples:

1) Encourage Fun, Play, and Activity

In the traditional classroom setting, many teachers plan physical activity breaks for good health and productive learning.

Many PE teachers are leading the way, sharing their creative approaches to get students moving. If you follow the hashtag #HPEatHome on Twitter, you’ll find a plethora of movement activities. Many are being added to a Google Drive of resources that you’re free to access. 

These PE teachers in Vietnam are sharing daily “Get Up and Go” videos with students. No doubt students love seeing their teachers on screen.

A PE teacher in China is using Flipgrid to teach dancing. Great to see parents getting involved too!

This made me smile. Mother and daughter working together on @flipgrid to learn the dance. It is great to see her mum supporting her during this unique e-learning time. note: this video has been posted with permission from both dancers #aisgzhpe #physed #elearning #movementmatters pic.twitter.com/KGqjx8Hky3

— Adam Tomassen (@AdamHPE) February 28, 2020

Well known Australian P.E. teacher Andy Hair has made up an easy game that his students can play while in lockdown at home. 

If you haven’t yet tried GoNoodle or Cosmic Kids Yoga (free on YouTube) I highly recommend them for elementary-aged students. 

The only problem is, they still involve technology so you probably want to consider some options that give students a break from devices. 

Minimizing screen time is becoming a big concern for parents and teachers. 

Perhaps you could publish a daily challenge to keep students active and off screens? Take it a step further by asking students to send in a photo of their experience. 

Here are some ideas. You’re welcome to use this resource however you see fit. 

Download a PDF copy of the poster

Many teachers are also trying to set learning tasks that are offline (such as “hands-on” math for younger students — baking, measuring objects, shape hunts and so on). 

British International School in Hanoi ran a LEGO Challenge and asked students to send in photos of their creations. What fun!

This teacher asked her students for their own ideas of how they like to spend their time offline.

Grade 4 came up with ideas to stay balanced and get offline sometimes during these days of #virtuallearning. They connected their tips to the #pyp #learnerprofile. They were thoughtful, funny, realistic and relevant. Thanks for the idea @ALMcCloskey #isblearning pic.twitter.com/fe2g4K56kE

— Laura-Claire Corson (@LauraClaire_C) March 3, 2020

2) Communicate Clearly and Frequently

When the school community is scattered, clear and ongoing communication is essential!

Ensure everyone knows how messages will be communicated and what channels they should be checking in on (e.g. email, LMS, blog, school website). 

Make sure students and parents know how they can contact teachers for learning support and how they can get tech support. Some teachers are holding “office hours” (e.g. I am available for email support from 10am to 2pm daily; or “I am available for Google Hangouts Meet sessions from 12.30-1.30pm each day”). 

You might err on the side of overcommunicating to ensure everyone feels connected, supported, and confident. 

Make instructions as clear and concise as you can. Effective communication will really pay off. 

3) Seek Feedback Regularly

On the flipside of communicating, it’s important to also seek feedback from students and families.

The team at Google recently made a suggestion that many closed schools are already trying out,

Using Google Forms, create mood check-ins for students to share their emotional state on a daily basis. Within the Form, students can request a conference with the teacher if they need extra support.

Jennifer Findley has created some great Google Form check ins that you’re free to copy and use. There are forms for the start and end of the day. 

This situation is new for most schools and families. Engage in a cycle of continuous improvement and refinement based on feedback from families, teachers, and students. 

Check out our Google Form later in the post that can be sent to parents if planning for a school closure to find out about their devices, confidence, resources etc. 

4) Give Choices

There’s never been a better time to empower learners and offer choice. Online learning can offer a lot of flexibility so it’s a great idea to take advantage of that.

By giving students some choice in the demonstration of their learning, you can also naturally differentiate and cater to a variety of learning styles and needs. 

You’ve probably heard of a choice board? It’s a graphic organizer that allows students to choose different learning activities. They’re set up in a grid, perhaps with a choice of 9 activities. Some teachers like to include one mandatory activity. 

Kim from Seoul Foreign School created this photosynthesis choice board for her 8th grade students. 

US teacher Pernille Ripp created a “Choose Your Own Adventure” two-week exploration.

This, hopefully, continues the honoring of their individual needs and desires, while still helping them with their growth. There are different levels of independence for them to choose from, as well as choices for recording or writing their responses. There are different levels of teaching involved that will unfold once they select their choice.

Check out Pernille’s post for more details.

In his post on online learning, John Spencer presented an amplified version of choice boards.

John’s variation goes beyond choosing topics or activities and allows for some student ownership of the learning targets and resources. 

Something else to think about as you move forward and become more confident with online learning. 

5) Set Up Guidelines

School guidelines are an important part of the transition process to online learning. These guidelines can be established even before your school has closed.

Not sure where to start? Check out this advice and examples from International Schools Services. You’ll find online learning policies, parent guidelines and more. 

Guidelines for students are also important but for a lot of students, a simple PDF with slabs of text won’t be an effective way to communicate. 

Yosef Tewolde in China shares a clear overview in a student friendly format. 

VS basic ⁦@ncpa_china⁩ . Sending out tips for students each day in our VS daily bulletin. #onlinelearning #issedu #pulaoproud pic.twitter.com/R8bkTeZOHo

— Yosef Tewolde (@YosefTewolde) February 12, 2020

American International School of Guangzhou shared this appealing resource on Twitter about videos. 

Here’s another great example from teachers at Seoul Foreign British School,

#virtuallearning guidelines for primary students collab with @emcslack and Becca Cook. https://t.co/XCoRPuWNq7 #onlinelearning #sfs1912 @SFBritishSchool pic.twitter.com/zVH2jvtV1W

— Jill Zappia (@JillZappia) March 5, 2020

6) Ensure Teacher Wellbeing

This meme inspired by teacher Nancy Breau sums up online teaching pretty well,

It’s crucial to consider teacher wellbeing. Teaching is hard enough in the traditional sense but moving online with minimal preparation or planning can be very stressful. In addition, some teachers are also trying to teach their own children whose schools have closed. 

Effective leadership and communication are key. As a teacher, try to take care of yourself. Go offline at the end of the day, take breaks, keep moving, eat well, drink water, get fresh air… you know the drill!

Perhaps you could set up a little routine for yourself at the end of the day, This checklist for health care workers in the UK might give you some ideas.

Will Arnold is a teacher in Guangzhou, China, who wisely told me via Twitter, 

My perspective from week 6 is that “how will teachers/staff be supported” should move to the top of the list. It’s like putting your own oxygen mask on before you help others.

Touche, Will, touche. 

7) Consider Student and Family Wellbeing

Switching to an online schooling program presents many challenges to students and families. Listening to families and sharing tips to ensure their wellbeing is very important. 

There are many ways to go about this. You might be able to get the help of school counselors or welfare officers. Or, you might invite students and families to share their own tips on what they’re doing to stay happy and healthy during this challenging time. 

The International School of Busan shared a short video on their Twitter account with basic tips for families. 

Staying healthy in a virtual learning environment. #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/HdcwWWlxol

— International School of Busan (@ISBLearning) February 29, 2020

It’s also important to remember that it can be hard to predict which students might struggle with the virtual school program. For example, students who generally thrive in the classroom may find the adjustment very difficult. Keep the lines of communication open and don’t make assumptions!

Rebecca Barrett-Fox wrote an article called “Please do a bad job of putting your courses online” (hat tip: Raymond Rose in the comment section below). Rebecca does a great job of stressing that students and teachers are currently facing enormous and diverse pressures. The article is designed for higher ed but can definitely be extended to K-12. Show as much empathy as possible and keep things as simple as possible.

Tips For Parents With Young Children 

In terms of helping families switch to teaching their children at home, check out my post with 10 tips for teaching younger children — many of these apply to older students as well.

This is a guide that you can share with families for practical help and ideas. 

You’ll also find a sample home schedule (there is a blank version that can be downloaded as well). 

8) Embrace the Online Community

School closures are fast becoming a global issue. You might have a million questions racing around your head but you’re not alone. There has never been a better time to connect with the online communities of teachers who are keen to offer tips, support, and examples.

Facebook 

There is a Facebook Group set up by Kirsten Durward that is very supportive and helpful. It’s called Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning.

Click here to find the Facebook group and remember to answer the questions that pop up when you request access.

Also, use the search function or click here to find a breakout Facebook group. Due to the huge growth of the group, there are now many breakout groups that are regional, subject specific, year/grade specific. 

No idea how Facebook groups work? We have a guide that will help!

Twitter

You’ll also find some fantastic posts from community minded teachers on Twitter. Many teachers are using the hashtags #schoolclosures #virtuallearning and #onlinelearning. At this stage it looks like #schoolclosures is the leading hashtag?

New to Twitter? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Twitter to get started. It’ll be worth it!

9) Keep Your Class Connected

Keeping your class connected can be a challenge when students are scattered around the community (and around the world in some areas). 

As we’ve mentioned, video conferences are a good way to overcome this. While most video conferences would be lessons, consider adding in some fun conferences that are either structured (e.g. play a game together) or unstructured (e.g. live recess where students can just hang out).

If you’re not using conferences, consider a tool like Flipgrid where students can respond to each other with short recorded videos. 

You might be able to come up with ways for students to work on group projects together. This can add a layer of stress for students who might be struggling so of course, you’d gauge whether group work is a positive option. 

Librarian ‎Jen Caressimo (@Zenkenjen) runs Virtual Spirit Weeks to bring the school community together. She invites you to check out her Google Drive of examples. 

Camps and field trips are a great way to bring your class together. Did you know your class can also take virtual school trips. Check out this list of ideas from Freedom Homeschooling or this one from Mrs. Fahrney. 

Maybe you can hold virtual assemblies for your whole school or year level, just like these folks in South Korea,

Today’s virtual learning highlight – The PYP Assembly! Puppet shows, dance-offs, jokes and shoutouts. The PYP team broadcasting live to the Elementary School. What a fabulous way to end the week! I’m lucky to work with so many wonderful educators. #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/JHFu0SA0zX

— Simon McCloskey (@SimonJMcCloskey) March 6, 2020

10) Keep it Simple

The message you’ll hear over and over from school leaders and teachers who have been at this for a while now is clear: keep it simple!

Don’t overthink things and create complicated lessons. 

Don’t invest in expensive technology or reinvent the wheel. 

Don’t expect that you will be able to cover as much as you would in the classroom.

Just do your best. That is enough!

Obstacles and Issues Created by School Closures 

The rapid school closures we’re seeing across the world raise concerns for teachers, parents, students, and the wider community. 

Some issues that are currently being navigated include:

Students/Families

• Do all students have access to devices and the internet?
• Who will look after students who are home from school? Are some students being left home alone?
• How can parents manage their own careers? Do their employers allow them to work from home or have time off?
• What about students who rely on getting free or subsidized meals at school? How can they be supported? What are the ramifications for farmers and food suppliers if orders are suspended?
• Are there concerns with excess screen time and lack of physical activity?
• How can students stay connected to peers?
• How can students with disabilities or additional learning needs be catered for?

Teachers

• How can educators juggle teaching if they have their own children home from school?
• How can teachers maintain work-life balance?
• Can teachers work from home or do they need to be on campus? Are teachers trusted and supported to work remotely?
• Do teachers need PD? Can the transition to online learning happen immediately or does there need to be a bridge (for example, students are provided with work/a packet for a week while teachers set up the online learning program)? 
• What role will non-teaching staff take on? 
• Who will take classes if teachers become ill?
• Will teachers continue to get full pay during ongoing school closures?

Schoolwide issues

• Will testing and report cards need to be delayed? What other assessment and reporting concerns are there?
• How is attendance monitored? For some, attendance or class numbers are linked to school funding.
• Should teachers/administrators chase up students who aren’t participating?
• What will non-teaching staff do during school closures?
• How should the school day be balanced with synchronous and asynchronous learning that’s both online and offline?
• How can individual students be catered for and work be differentiated?
• How can you prevent all the student work from becoming a scattered mess? Are they going to publish items on a digital portfolio (e.g. blog) or something similar?
• Will you face copyright issues if you try to use learning materials online (e.g. replicating textbooks or reading picture books aloud?)
• For private schools with longer closures, will parents continue to be charged full fees?
• What will the transition back to online schooling look like?
• What sort of “gaps” may need to be filled if students miss out on essential learning or assessment?
• Are their implications for senior students graduating and moving on to tertiary education?

Schools, teachers, and families may also face different issues depending on whether they are part of an international school, private school, or public school. Each situation is unique and throws up so many different variables. 

As you can see, these issues are broad and complex. Perhaps at this stage there are more questions than answers. 

Planning for a School Closure: Parent Survey

No matter where you live in the world, it’s highly unlikely that you can now rule out the possibility of your school closing in the future. 

Now is the time to plan. If you don’t need that plan, great! However, many schools around the world are closing suddenly with minimal preparation. Teachers and staff end up scrambling to get their virtual learning programs together. 

The first step in planning for a possible school closure may be to survey your parents and families. It’s important to find out what technology, child care, and other resources they have available. 

We created an example survey in Google Forms. You’re welcome to use it or adapt it for your own school. You’ll find instructions on how to make a copy under the Form below. 

Instructions for Editing and Using the Google Form Survey

1. Click on this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1viFs7kqOmJOBs-vzVX6pCbhd8rgSda0K-00LAjqruLM/copy

2. You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below)

3. You can edit the Google Form to suit your own school

Google Forms Tips:

• Don’t know how to edit a Google Form? It’s pretty intuitive. This document will help.
• When you have your Google Form ready, you can send the link to your community or embed the Form on your blog or website. Find out how to share your Form here. 
• When people fill out your Google Form, the results go to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Learn more about that here. 

Planning for a School Closure: Taking Home Resources

If your school hasn’t closed yet and you’re planning for an upcoming closure, you might be thinking about what you should take home with you. 

Every situation is different but in some schools, no one is allowed on the campus once the school is closed. In other schools, teachers are actually required to work from the school (while students are at home).

If you’ll be working remotely, you might think about taking home some of the resources listed on the graphic below. 

Checklist for Administrators and Educators Facing a School Closure

This post has covered a lot of information and offered a lot of ideas and options. 

The following checklist might be a useful starting point if your school is beginning to discuss an upcoming or possible school closure. 

Of course, this is just a very simplified checklist for schools that are beginning to think about transitioning. 

Click here to download a PDF copy of the checklist

Over to You

We’d love to keep this post updated with practical information. Please leave a comment if you have any tips, questions, or examples. We want to hear from you!

Not so long ago, if educators were looking for ideas, support, or just a good old debrief, the options were limited.

If you even had time to catch up with colleagues in the teachers’ lounge, you might have still felt a little uninspired or isolated. Perhaps you were the only art teacher in your school, or librarian, or technology coach. Trying to meet with like-minded individuals in other schools and districts can be a laborious option too.

Maybe your teachers’ lounge is more of a place to fix a photocopier jam while finishing a cold coffee, rather than a thriving hub of professional dialogue.

For so many educators around the world, Facebook groups have solved these problems. Teachers can feel more connected, supported, and inspired than ever before thanks to online communities that are available 24/7.

This post will help you understand what Facebook groups are all about and how they’re used by educators and schools. We share five examples of popular Facebook groups for educators and tell you about our latest pop-up Facebook group.

What Is A Facebook Group?

Facebook groups are simply online spaces to communicate with others about shared interests.

There are all sorts of Facebook groups. Some might involve only people you know like your extended family, sports team, colleagues, or school community.

Other Facebook groups are for strangers who are interested in uniting on a common topic. Basically think of any topic, interest, or need and there is probably a Facebook group up and running — parenting, fitness, business, politics, local news, television shows, buy and sell, sports, celebrity fan clubs and so much more.

Of course, Facebook groups are very popular with educators as well.

Facebook Group Quick Facts

Here is an overview of how Facebook Groups work:

• You can only join or create a Facebook group if you have a Facebook account (but don’t worry, if you don’t want to post on your Facebook profile and add friends, you don’t have to).
• Any Facebook user can create a group.
• Some Facebook groups are public but many are private (only members can see who’s in the group and what they post).
• You often need to request permission to join a Facebook group.
• Some Facebook groups are visible so any user can search for them, others are hidden and you need an invitation to join.
• You can join up to 6000 Facebook groups! We have a feeling that would just be a little hard to keep track of.
• Facebook groups have administrators and moderators that are nominated by the group creator. These individuals might post discussion threads, approve membership requests, and ensure everyone is adhering to the group rules.
• Groups can be ongoing or more of a “pop-up” short term group for a certain event or course.

Facebook Pages Vs Groups

Confused about Facebook pages Vs groups?

Pages are like public profiles for brands, businesses, and publishers. Anyone can see the page and like or follow it if they wish. Facebook users can also comment on posts they see on pages and/or share page posts with their friends.

Groups are more engaged communities and they’re often private. They’re a popular way to generate conversations, connections, and support.

This is a simplified version of how you might distinguish between Facebook pages and groups.

Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, has been prioritizing Facebook groups over recent years and they’re growing in popularity.

Be sure to like our Edublogs Facebook page if you’re not already!

How Do Facebook Groups Work?

Like any community, it can take work to keep a Facebook group active and engaged.

The administrators and moderators might work behind the scenes to keep the group alive. They might pose interesting open-ended questions for the group to respond to, or encourage the people who are posting with responses.

If you’re considering joining a Facebook group, you’ll be able to see how many posts there have been recently. This will give you an idea of whether the group is active and whether it’s worth your while joining.

There are pros and cons to smaller more tightly connected groups, and larger busier groups. Joining a smaller group might mean you get to know members and form closer connections. Larger groups might offer more anonymity but there will probably always be someone around to interact with.

When you go to the Facebook group, you’ll see this information under “Activity”. It will be visible even if you’re not a group member.

So what might you see in a Facebook group? Well, groups house all sorts of content — discussion threads, images, videos, and files. Some groups allow sales posts.

Once you’re a member of a Facebook group you can read other people’s posts and replies. Some people tend to lurk and simply consume the content in groups, while others are more involved and regularly post questions, updates, and replies.

Many people find the more they put in to Facebook groups, the more they get out!

How Can Schools Use Facebook Groups?

There are many ways that school communities around the world are embracing Facebook groups.

Some approaches are led by the school (perhaps linked to the official school Facebook page), and others are more grassroots groups set up by parents or students.

Some schools and communities set up separate Facebook groups for:

• General school news
• Specific grade levels or classes (e.g. “Year 2” or “Class 2B”)
• Sporting teams
• Extra-curricular groups, e.g. musical production, cheerleading etc.
• Event organisation, e.g. school fair, or graduation ceremony
• Uniform or textbook buy and sell
• Homework help
• Alumni

Managing school Facebook groups is an important topic of discussion amongst communities. Many schools are now realizing they can’t prevent the creation of groups so need to put guidelines in place to ensure groups are used positively.

Some schools include Facebook groups in their social media policy to ensure all group administrators understand the importance of online safety and follow the school guidelines. Often schools might make it clear via their official channels of communication (e.g. newsletter), that Facebook groups are not used for official school communication.

It’s a balancing act for schools. If they can’t control the group content, they might be wary. On the other hand, any avenue that is connecting the community can’t be ignored.

If this is an issue that your school has juggled, we’d love to hear from you in a comment.

5 Popular Facebook Groups For Educators

Like the idea of joining some Facebook groups but unsure where to start? Here are a few groups that educators in our community enjoy. We’d love you to leave a comment with your own suggestions.

Tip: As you join and interact with groups, you may find Facebook suggests other groups you might enjoy on the right side of your screen. For example,

1) Teach With Tech

Type of Group: Private (visible)

URL: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeachWithTechGroup

Creator: Danielle Weinberg Knight

Members: 21,000+

This is a group to post questions related to edtech, devices, sites, apps, extensions, and technology in the classroom. Members are encouraged to post successful lessons, activities, takeaways, and so on.

2) Technology Teacher Tribe With Brittany Washburn

Type of Group: Private (visible)

URL: https://www.facebook.com/groups/techteachertribe/

Creator: Brittany Washburn

Members: 21,000+

This is closed group for teachers who teach technology or love using it in their classroom. It allows for teachers to connect with others around the world, ask questions and share their own experiences.

3) STEM Teachers Group

Type of Group: Private (visible)

URL: https://www.facebook.com/groups/STEMteachertribe

Creator: Meredith Anderson

Members: 24,000+

STEM Teachers Group is for educators, homeschooling parents, and makerspace staff. It’s a place to share STEM ideas and connect.

4) Fitness for Teachers

Type of Group: Private (visible)

URL: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1687288924866712/

Creator: Jennifer Gibbons

Members: 66,000+

Groups for educators don’t have to be solely about curriculum and learning. This group is a place for teachers looking to incorporate fitness into their busy lifestyle.

5) Teacher Memes

Type of Group: Private (visible)

URL: https://www.facebook.com/groups/716962268473473/

Creators: Amy Margaret and Krista Cromer

Members: 265,000+

Educators sure need a sense of humor to deal with their job! Online or offline, teachers have always relied on each other for a laugh and boost of positivity. This group is a place to share funny memes that other teachers will relate to.

There is a language warning so don’t join this group if you’re easily offended.

Join Our Student Blogging Challenge Facebook Group

The Student Blogging Challenge begins March 15 and we have a new pop-up group that will run for the duration of the challenge.

The group is only for challenge participants and is for educators. Student participants may join if they are old enough. Remember, Facebook has age restrictions (13+ and even older in some areas) so the group is not for young students.

The purpose of the group is to:

 Ask questions
 Share tips and blogs posts
 Find connections for your students
 Stay in the loop

This is a private group so only members can see who’s in the group and what they post

To join the group, just go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/StudentBlogging

Alternatively, search for “Student Blogging Challenge March 2020” on Facebook.

Click on “Request to join” and answer the three questions so we know you’re a challenge participant. When your request is approved, go ahead and introduce yourself!

Over To You

Any questions about Facebook groups? Leave a comment and we’ll get back to you.

Do you use Facebook groups? Can you recommend any other groups for educators? We’d love to hear from you.

Whether your blog is for other teachers, families, or members of the wider education community, there are people out there who want to read what you’re writing.

Remember: just because you publish something online, doesn’t mean it will be seen.

Social media is a great place to share your blog posts, but there are problems. Algorithms and the “pay to play” model are changing the landscape of social media. Your loyal followers may not end up seeing all your updates.

Having an email newsletter is an excellent way to build and serve your community.

Our last post explained how to send out emails automatically to your readers using RSS and Mailchimp.

This post takes things a step further. You’ll learn about the benefits of creating a handcrafted newsletter using Mailchimp. We’ll help you plan for success and get started.

The Benefit Of Creating Emails Manually

We know it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of option available for readers who would like to receive an email when you publish new blog posts.

Most people check their email every day and it’s more of a sure bet than sharing your posts on social media and hoping for the best.

Our last post explained the two choices for sending out emails when you publish new blog posts.

1. You can create an automated service using RSS. This is a good option if you’re time-poor and need a quick “set-and-forget” method.
2. You can create a handcrafted newsletter that really helps you build relationships with your readers. This can take a little longer but the emails might be better received by your audience. You also have more flexibility with design and content.

Here’s a summary graphic of your two choices:

Remember to check out our previous post if you want to learn how to set up RSS.

How To Set Up Your Email Newsletter

This guide takes you through 4 steps to getting your email newsletter set up:

1. Planning
2. Register And Set Up Your Mailchimp Account
3. Create An Email Campaign
4. Design Your Email

Part One: Planning

Before you begin, it pays to take a bit of time to consider your plan.

Here are 5 key questions to consider. Scroll down for a printable planning worksheet.

#1 What is your goal?

Creating an ongoing email newsletter can take a little work but there are rewards. Consider why you want to build your following and community through a regular newsletter.

This isn’t information you need to make public but it’s good to keep in mind.

• Perhaps you want to network and enjoy future career opportunities (a new job, promotion, or speaking engagement?).
• Maybe you want to form a strong relationship with the parents of the students you teach. We know how powerful that is.
• Perhaps you want to build your PLN so you can learn from and with other educators across the globe.

This goal is probably related to the reason you set up a blog in the first place.

#2 Which email marketing platform will you use?

This tutorial uses Mailchimp. We have no affiliations with Mailchimp but have used it for 10+ years and it’s one of the most popular platforms out there.

Importantly, Mailchimp is free if you have under 2000 subscribers. It’s fairly intuitive to use (drag and drop) and their help documents are excellent.

If you’re interested in comparing different email platforms, check out this guide from ProBlogger or comparison chart from PC Mag. We encourage you to find the provider that works best for your needs.

#3 How will you collect email addresses?

Obviously, you have to do this legally. You can’t just start emailing people without their permission.

When you set up an account with a platform like Mailchimp, you’ll have access to a URL with your sign-up form.

For example, this is what our sign-up form looks like for the Student Blogging Challenge:

https://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/stay-in-the-loop-with-student-blogging-challenge-news/

You want to make it as easy as possible for people to know about your newsletter and how they can opt in.

Here are some key places to consider sharing your sign-up form:

• On your blog (on the sidebar, on your About page, and/or at the bottom of your blog posts). Some people also like to have pop-up notifications.
• In social media posts or in your bio
• As a link under your email signature
• Email the link to your sign-up form to your contacts who might be interested

#4 What will you include in your emails?

The main thing you probably want to include is your latest blog post(s).

Some people copy and paste the whole blog post into an email but a more popular approach is to summarise it and include a link for subscribers to keep reading.

Some people also like to include other information in their newsletters such as:

• Other great posts you’ve read
• Online tools you’ve come across
• Podcasts or videos you’ve enjoyed
• Classroom or personal anecdotes
• Pep talks or inspirational quotes

Your content could basically be anything you think might be of value to your readers. Are you aiming to educate, entertain, inspire? Perhaps a mix of all three?

It pays to consider the needs of your audience and stick to the topic(s) you’re known for e.g. edtech, social studies, English teaching etc.

Also, consider whether you want an image-heavy email or a simple plain text newsletter? There are pros and cons but simple does work for some people.

Here’s an example from well-known SEO blogger Brian Dean who has hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Brian uses a very simple image-free design with text that’s friendly yet to the point.

#5 How frequently will your emails be sent out?

You don’t have to tell people how often you’ll be sending out emails but it can be a good way to stay committed to your blogging goals.

For example, if you say you’ll be sharing a new blog post every two weeks or every month, you’ll have the incentive to do it! Your readers will be waiting to hear from you.

This printable planning PDF will help if you want to jot down your ideas before moving on.

>>Click here to download a PDF copy.

Part Two: Register And Set Up Your Mailchimp Account

This part is fairly straightforward although we recommend Mailchimp’s getting started guide if you’re unsure.

The three most important steps to explore are:

1. Set up your account: You need to enter your name and email address to register. This only takes a couple of minutes.
2. Set up your audience: These are the email addresses you’ll be sending to. Your audience could be very small to begin with but don’t worry. It will grow! The free version of Mailchimp only allows you to have one audience group.
3. Customize your sign-up form: Setting up a sign-up form is essential so you can start collecting email addresses that will be part of your audience. You can customize the look and feel of this form and your form will have a URL that you can share with others.

Registration tips:

• You don’t need to submit any payment. Mailchimp is free until you have over 2000 subscribers. When you do hit the 2000 mark you can decide about payment options although the best first step would be to “clean up your list”. This means you archive subscribers who aren’t opening your emails or no longer want updates.
• You’re legally obliged to provide a physical address. This address will show up automatically in the footer of your emails. You probably do not want to use your home address! We recommend using a work address or PO Box.
• Which email address do you want to use? Even though you’re sending your emails out through Mailchimp they still come “from” your email address. So, if you have both personal and work email addresses, consider what would be the best to use for this project.

Part Three: Create An Email Campaign

1) Login to your Mailchimp account

Click on “Campaigns”.

2) From here click “Create Campaign”

3) You’ll be presented with a range of campaign options

Click “Email”.

4) Click on “Regular”

Type a Campaign Name (subscribers won’t see this) and then press “Begin”.

5) Fill out your campaign information

You are now presented with four important steps to create your campaign.

• To: This is the audience you’re sending the email out to.
• From: Enter your email address. Make sure this isn’t an email address you need to keep private.
• Subject: Subscribers will see this when your email lands in their inbox. Make your subject line specific and interesting to encourage them to open it!
• Content: This is where you design your actual email. We’ll explain this more below.

As each of these four tasks are completed, a green checkmark will appear.

If you scroll down further you’ll see an option to personalize your campaign link. This is the URL for the email that you’ll be able to share online once you send your email (perhaps on social media). All users can edit their campaign link but you have to be a paid user to include your website domain. Click here to read Mailchimp’s help guide on campaign links.

If you need more assistance filling out the to, from, or subject field, check out this help guide from Mailchimp. 

Let’s take a closer look at designing the content of your email…

Part Four: Design Your Email

The final step involves putting the content of your email together.

1) From the campaign builder page, click “Design Email”

2) Select your template

The free version on Mailchimp only includes the basic templates. This is fine.

If you’re not sure what template to choose, stick with the basic “1 column” template. You can always change it over time.

4) Design Your Email

It’s now time to design the look of your emails. If you’re new to Mailchimp, you can definitely keep this simple!

Here are the most important steps:

a) Add an image to the top of the email

Hover over the word “Logo” and click on the pencil icon. Follow the prompts to upload an image that represents you and your website.

(If you don’t want an image just click on the trash can icon in the Logo box).

b) Edit the text

Hover over the block of text and click on the pencil icon. You’ll write the text of your newsletter on the right-hand side using the familiar editing tools to format (bold, italics, link etc.).

You might start by introducing your new blog post and then add the link to your blog so subscribers can read the full post.

If you have any other interesting information to share such as other useful links or tips, add this underneath.

Tips for writing your newsletter:

• Make your newsletter easy to read with bullet points, lists, short sentences/paragraphs, bold words, and headings.
• Use lots of white space and keep your text short.
• Write like you’re talking to an individual person, not a group of people (e.g. use the word “you”).
• After you send out a few email newsletters, take note of which ones received the most opens and clicks. What was different about these? Interesting subject line? Unique layout? Perhaps the time of day you sent the email worked well?

c) Add an image to the body of the email (optional)

There are different schools of thought about whether you should use images throughout your newsletter.

Some people like images to break up the text and illustrate the content. Plain text emails are also very popular and some people find a very simple email is better received.

If you do want to add images to your email, drag over an image block from the right-hand side to the work area on the left-hand side. You’ll then be prompted to upload your image.

There are different choices available. You can drag over a simple “Image” block or “Image Group”, “Image Card”, or “Image + Caption”.

Learn more about designing your email in this help guide from Mailchimp.

d) Test your email

A final helpful tip is to preview what your email will look like and/or send a test email to yourself or someone else who can offer you feedback.

You’ll find these options at the top of the page under “Preview and Test”.

“Open Link Checker” is another very helpful tool if you use multiple links in your email. It helps you double-check they’re all correct!

Select “Save and Close” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page when you’re ready to move on.

5) Confirm and send

Once your email is all set up, you should see a green checkmark next to the To, From, Subject, and Content sections of the Campaign Builder.

You can check your details and then use one of three options:

• Finish later: This will save your draft which you’ll be able to access under Campaigns in the future.
• Schedule: You can choose a time you want your email to be sent out (you can experiment with sending times as you get going).
• Send: Your email will go out straight away.

Save Time In Future: Replicate Your Email

We’ve mentioned that creating a handcrafted email does take a little bit of extra time than the RSS option, however, you don’t have to start from scratch every time.

You can replicate a campaign to create a copy of any campaign in your account.

All you need to do is:

1. Log in to Mailchimp and go to Campaigns
2. Click the drop-down menu for the campaign you want to copy and select Replicate.

Follow the prompts to edit your campaign details. Check out Mailchimp’s guide to replicating campaigns for more information.

Another option is to create your own template which you can use when writing new emails. Mailchimp’s help guide walks you through this process.

Bonus Tip: Create An Opt-In Offer!

If you want to get really serious about building your email list, do what the pros do: offer an opt-in or freebie for subscribers!

Offering your readers an opt-in offer or “content upgrade” is a proven way to grow your email list. An opt-in freebie is simply a free downloadable file.

Your readers might be on the fence about signing up for your newsletter or they might not even realize you have a newsletter.

An incentive might be all they need to hand over their email address and join your community. Then surely they’ll like what you offer and stick around!

What can you create as an opt-in offer? Here are some ideas:

• A printable PDF version of a popular post
• A cheat sheet or summary of something you’ve written about
• A checklist
• A list of resources
• A printable that can be used in the classroom (worksheets, planners, displays)
• An eBook covering a topic in more depth

Where would you design your freebie? Two popular free design tools are Google Drawings and Canva. We have guides to both of these tools:

• Check out our guide to Canva
• Learn how to use Google Drawings

If you’re using Mailchimp, this guide explains how to send a file (freebie) to new subscribers.

You’re putting the effort into writing your email newsletter, so you want as many people as possible to enjoy it, right? An opt-in offer could be the solution you need to grow your list.

The only thing to remember is if you grow your list too rapidly, you’ll have to pay to use your email platform. For example, Mailchimp is free until you have 2000 subscribers. Remember to clean up your list before paying!

Conclusion

It’s an excellent idea for all bloggers to offer readers a chance to be notified of new blog posts via email.

If you’re short on time, you can set up RSS emails using a platform like Mailchimp.

However, you might find your emails are better received if they’re more personalised. You’ll need to invest a little time into the process but the rewards might be greater!

Remember, some bloggers also like to use a combination of RSS and personal emails. For example, you could set up RSS so emails are sent out every time you write a new post. You could also write a monthly summary email.

Find out what works for you and enjoy the benefits of building a community around your blog.

Any tips or questions? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Related Reading

You might also enjoy:

• A Plan For Writing A Weekly Blog Post In 10 Minutes A Day
• Resources To Introduce Edublogs To Others
• 5 Ways To Share And Market Your Teacher Blog
• 12 Tips For Maintaining Momentum With Blogging

You might have put together a fantastic blog post and felt satisfied as you hit the publish button, but your job is not done.

Just because you publish something online, doesn’t mean it will be seen. People won’t know about your post if you don’t share it.

One of the most effective ways to share your blog posts is to email it directly to people who are interested in reading it.

This post explains how to send out emails automatically to your readers. Our tutorial shows you how to use RSS using a free program called Mailchimp.

(We also have a tutorial showing you how to create a handcrafted email newsletter. Find that tutorial here).

What is an email list?

Whether you’re a serious blogger, or just dabble with publishing occasionally, it’s an excellent idea to build an email list.

This is simply a list of people who have opted in to get an email notification when you publish a new post on your blog.

It’s not a good idea to send out emails from your own personal email account. You’ll need to use a (free) email marketing platform (such as Mailchimp).

This software will help you collect email addresses, organize them, and send out emails. You’ll also be able to do more advanced things if you wish, like segment your list or analyze statistics to see who’s opening your emails and what they’re clicking on.

How can people join your email list?

Many bloggers have a box on the sidebar of their site where people can enter their email address. There are other places to put these opt-in or sign-up forms too.

You might:

• Put the form at the bottom of all your blog posts
• Add a form to your About page
• Share the link to your sign-up form “landing page” on social media
• You can also write a blog post to tell readers about your email lists. Here’s an example from Larry Ferlazzo. He includes a link to read his latest newsletter online.

Why Set Up An Email Subscription?

Many bloggers like to share their latest post on social media after they hit publish.

Great idea!

Sharing your work with your community can be a nice way to build your audience and start generating conversation.

Social media is a great way to share but here are a few thoughts to keep in mind about the power of offering an email subscription:

• Having an email subscription option is going to allow your most loyal and valuable members of your community to stay in touch with you.
• There are no guarantees that people in your network will see your posts on social media. You can’t control that. Offer your readers a channel to make sure they don’t miss your content.
• Email is much more personal than social media. Your readers can hear directly from you and it can help with relationship building.

As well known marketer Michael Hyatt says, a website/blog and an email list are more valuable home bases than social media:

Should You Send Emails Automatically Or Manually?

So we’ve established that it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of option available for readers who would like to subscribe to your blog via email.

Now you have two choices:

1. Do you want to use an automated service?
2. Or do you want to create a handcrafted newsletter that you email out on a regular basis?

This post explains how to set up an automated email subscription via RSS using Mailchimp. This is a good option if you’re time-poor and need a quick “set-and-forget” method.

Our next post goes through creating handcrafted emails. This is a good option if you want to step up your relationship building and really create a community around your email list.

Which Email Software Should You Use?

There are many email marketing platforms out there and many are free to use until you reach a certain number of subscribers.

If you’re interested in comparing different email platforms, check out this guide from ProBlogger or comparison chart from PC Mag. 

I’m writing this guide about Mailchimp because it’s the provider I’ve used myself for almost a decade.

Note: We have no affiliations with Mailchimp and encourage you to find the service provider that works best for your needs.

Mailchimp Tips And Information

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email service providers.

• It is free to use if you have up to 2000 subscribers.
• Mailchimp uses a simple drag and drop editor and offers a range of different templates for the design of your newsletter.
• There are also different options for creating sign-up forms (e.g. widgets, embedded forms, and landing pages with their own URL).

Check out the Getting Started With Mailchimp guide for more information.

What Is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a way to have information that you’re interested in delivered to you.

Instead of you having to check a blog regularly to see if there is a new post, RSS can do that for you.

You can access the new content using a news aggregator (like Feedly). Or it can be delivered straight to your inbox!

When an RSS feed is updated with new blog posts, Mailchimp can pull that content into an email and send it to your subscribers. It will be sent according to the schedule you choose (e.g. daily at 9am or every Sunday at 6pm).

It’s now time to learn how to set up your emails in Mailchimp using RSS.

Let’s get started!

How To Set Up Your Automatic Emails

We’re going to go through four steps to getting your RSS emails set up:

1. Register for Mailchimp and set up your account
2. Create an RSS campaign
3. Choose your feed and timing
4. Finish designing your email

Part One: Register For Mailchimp And Set Up Your Account

This part is fairly straightforward although we recommend Mailchimp’s getting started guide if you’re unsure.

The three most important steps to explore are:

• Set up your account
• Set up your audience
• Customize your signup form

Registration tips:

• You don’t need to submit any payment. Mailchimp is free until you have over 2000 subscribers. When you do hit the 2000 mark you can decide about payment options although the best first step would be to “clean up your list”. This means you remove subscribers who aren’t opening your emails or no longer want updates.
• You’re legally obliged to provide a physical address. This address will show up automatically in the footer of your emails. You probably do not want to use your home address! We recommend using a work address or PO Box.
• Which email address do you want to use? Even though you’re sending your emails out through Mailchimp they still come “from” your email address. So, if you have both personal and work email addresses, consider what would be the best to use for this project.

Part Two: Create An RSS Campaign

1) Login to your Mailchimp account

Click on “Campaigns”.

2) From here click “Create Campaign”

3) You’ll be presented with a range of campaign options

Click “Email”.

4) Click on “Automated”

5) Select “Share blog updates”

6) Enter a campaign name and select your audience

You would have started setting up your audience when you set up your Mailchimp account. Don’t worry if there’s only one or two people on your audience list! It will continue to grow over time.

Click “Begin”.

Part Three: Choose Your Feed And Timing

You’ll now be asked to enter the feed of your blog and select when you want emails to go out automatically.

1) Type in your feed:

• If your blog is through Edublogs, the RSS feed will be yourblog.edublogs.org/feed
• If your blog is hosted through CampusPress, the feed will be your blog URL with /feed on the end.

2) Select your email frequency and times

You can choose the time you want your emails to go out (daily, weekly, monthly) by using the drop-down menus and checkboxes. Note that an email will only be sent if there’s new content on your blog.

• If you choose the daily option, an email will only go out if you’ve published something in the last day.
• If you choose the weekly option, an email will only be sent if you’ve published a post (or posts) in the last week.

3) Choose whether you want images to be resized

There is also a box to select if you want Mailchimp to resize the images in your feed to fit your template. This will help prevent stretching.

Part Four: Finish Setting Up And Designing Your Email

The final step involves clicking through the menu bar at the bottom of the page to complete the RSS campaign.

1) Select your audience that you’d like the emails to be sent to

You will have chosen your audience when you started setting up your campaign. You can change it here if you need to (free accounts can only have one audience).

You can also segment your audience so it only goes out to certain people on the list (e.g. parents or colleagues) but this is more of an advanced feature.

2) Fill out your campaign information

Type in campaign details:

• Campaign name: Recipients won’t see this so make it something that makes sense to you.
• Email subject: This will automatically pull in the title and date of your blog post but you can test an email to make sure it’s working correctly.
• Preview text: You might want to write something like, “The latest news from x…”
• From name: This should be your name or a name the recipients will recognize.
• From email address: Make sure this isn’t an email address you need to keep private.
• Checkboxes: These are more advanced features such as using conversations to manage replies, personalizing the “to” field (you would need to have collected correct first names to do this), or track opens and clicks.

3) Select your template

If you’re not sure what template to choose, stick with the basic “1 column” template. You can always change it later.

4) Design Your Email

It’s now time to design the look of your emails. If you’re new to Mailchimp, you can definitely keep this simple!

Here are the most important steps:

a) Add an image to the top of the email

Hover over the word “Logo” and click on the pencil icon. Follow the prompts to upload an image that represents you and your website.

b) Edit the text

Hover over the block of text and click on the pencil icon. Write a short generic introduction that people will see before the contents of your latest post.

For example,

“Thanks for subscribing to my email updates. Here’s what I’ve been writing about this week…”

c) Drag in the RSS blocks

You’ll now need to drag in the RSS components from the right-hand side. This will ensure your latest posts appear in the email.

Hover over “RSS items”, click on it and drag it to your email underneath the text.

Using the drop-down menu on the right-hand side, you can select whether you want the full post or just an excerpt to be shown in the email.

There are two schools of thoughts here:

• Some people want traffic to their website so would rather show an excerpt and have people click through to read the full post on the blog.
• Some people want to present their readers with the most convenient option for reading the post, hence they like to display the full post in the email. Readers don’t need to visit the blog to consume the information.

Select “Save and Close” when you’ve made this choice.

d) Test your email

A final helpful tip is to preview what your email will look like and/or send a test email to yourself or someone else who can offer you feedback.

You’ll find these options at the top of the page under “Preview and Test”.

Select “Next” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page when you’re ready to move on.

5) Confirm and send

Once your email is all set up, you can check your details and then press “Start RSS” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Your first email will go out automatically at the time you selected (as long as you have published something new on your blog).

If you don’t want to start immediately, press “Save and Exit” in the top right-hand corner of the page and you can come back to it later. You’ll find the draft when you go to Campaigns.

Conclusion

Whether you write a blog for teachers, students, colleagues, or members of the wider public, there is a group of people out there who’d love to keep up to date with your new posts.

If you’re short on time, one of the easiest ways to send out your new blog posts to your loyal readers is through RSS using a platform like Mailchimp.

In our next post, I’ll explain how to set up a hand-curated email newsletter using Mailchimp. It takes a little bit more time as you’ll be sending emails manually, however, you might find there are greater rewards to enjoy! Click here to read the next post.

Some people also like to use a combination of RSS and personal emails.

Any tips or questions? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Related Reading

You might also enjoy:

• A Plan For Writing A Weekly Blog Post In 10 Minutes A Day
• Resources To Introduce Edublogs To Others
• 5 Ways To Share And Market Your Teacher Blog
• 12 Tips For Maintaining Momentum With Blogging

We know all teachers work hard to ensure every student and member of their community is catered for, but creating accessible web content might not be something you’ve ever considered.

In order for your class blog to be valuable, it must be accessible to all students. This includes individuals with visual impairments or disabilities that require them to use a screen reader or other assistive technologies.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies you can implement to make creating accessible content for your class blog straightforward. By formatting and structuring your posts with these tips in mind, you’ll make them more available and useful to all your students.

In this article, we’ll explain the importance of accessibility in content creation. Then, we’ll provide seven techniques educators can use to make their class blog content useful for all readers, regardless of ability.

Let’s get into it!

The Importance Of Creating Accessible Web Content

Web accessibility refers to sites that everyone – including users with visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments or disabilities – can access and use.

Creating content that’s available to all establishes inclusiveness and makes it easier for any user to navigate the web.

By creating your class blog with accessibility in mind, you increase the number of students and other visitors who can read, understand, and interact with it. Not only does this provide more meaningful user experiences, but it can also result in better design. And for those hoping to generate more traffic to their site, it can help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Plus, accessibility isn’t just an added benefit – it’s a requirement. For example, in the US, Title II of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits schools from discriminating against students with disabilities by preventing access to their programs, activities, and services. Sections 504 and 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act have similar laws.

Put simply, failing to make your web content accessible can result in legal ramifications. In fact, studies have found that the number of ADA accessibility-related lawsuits in the US were up almost 200 percent last year.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) outlines Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that serve as a foundation for most laws established by countries and states. Under this guidance, web content – including your class blog – must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

Helping your own students realize that accessibility matters is also very important. Knowing how to create high quality content is an excellent skill for students to develop. Ensuring that content is accessible is essential.

How To Create Accessible Content For Your Class Blog (7 Key Techniques)

As you can see, accessibility for class blogs or any website is a must. If you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to help!

Here are seven key techniques you can use to make sure your content meets the necessary standards.

1. Use Proper Heading Structures

Navigation is a major factor in web accessibility. One of the most important aspects of this component of your site is how your pages and posts are structured.

Some bloggers make the mistake of breaking up different sections by bolding text or changing fonts. However, screen readers and search engines don’t take such stylistic aspects into account. In order for these tools to register a new topic, you’ll need to use headings with proper tags.

There are six levels of heading tags you can use, from <h1> (the largest) to <h6> (the smallest). It’s best to use these tags in a way that reflects the organization of your page. For example, the screenshot below shows how we have used <h1>, <h2>, and <h3> headings in a blog post.

Each page should only have one <h1> tag, which is the main title. Then, the various sections of the page should be wrapped in <h2> tags, with sub-sections in <h3> tags, and so on.

Adding heading tags to your posts is quite simple. If you’re using WordPress, just select the Heading block, then choose the appropriate size.

This is what it looks like to select Headings using the (new) Block Editor.

Or, in the Classic Editor, select the best option from the dropdown menu as shown in the image below.

Alternatively, you can add the tags manually by editing in HTML.

This latter method also works if you’re using a different platform to create your class blog or website.

2. Add Alternative Text To Images

Alternative or ‘alt’ text is used in web content to describe non-textual elements, such as images and graphics.

By adding alt text to your posts, you can help screen reader users interpret and understand what’s on the page even if they can’t visually perceive it. This text is also displayed if the file doesn’t load.

It’s best practice to add alt text to images as you upload them. This reduces the likelihood that you’ll forget to go back and add it later.

If you’re using WordPress for your class blog, you can find the Alt Text field in the right sidebar of the Block Editor after you upload an image.

You can also add alt text via the Media Library.

When creating alt text, the goal is to keep it simple. It should inform users who can’t see the image or graphic what is on the screen without being overly long and detracting from the main content. Keep in mind the alt text is not a caption, but rather a concise description.

3. Write Out Abbreviations

Acronyms and abbreviations are often used in educational content. However, to make your class blog accessible, it’s best to spell them out so readers – especially those using screen readers – don’t get confused.

Abbreviations can be tricky for a number of reasons. Some have multiple meanings. For example, ADA stands for both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the American Dental Association.

Additionally, some acronyms spell out other words, which can make hearing them confusing. For instance, OWL stands for ‘Online Writing Lab’, but may sound like a reference to a nocturnal bird when said aloud by a screen reader.

On the other hand, continuously spelling out the full meaning of each acronym can become redundant. A best practice is to include the expanded version at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in capital letters wrapped in parentheses.

Each subsequent mention can use the shortened version alone. It’s also recommended to include a link to a resource that either defines or further explains the acronym.

4. Make Text Colors Stand Out

Strategically using color on your blog can help enhance its design. However, when done well, it can also improve your site’s accessibility.

For people with visual impairments such as color blindness or low visual acuity, sites with high color contrast are easier to see.

Typically, using a dark font color on a light background is a safe bet. The goal is to prevent the text from blending in with the rest of your site. It’s wise to avoid using the opposite combination (light text on a dark background).

Combinations with limited contrast, such as blue text on a green background, can also be difficult to read. If you’re not sure about your color scheme, there are a handful of ways you can test the visual elements on your blog, such as the Colour Contrast Analyzer.

You can use this tool to examine the text and visual elements of your page. It also tells you whether the legibility is in compliance with WCAG standards.

5. Include Transcripts And Subtitles For Video And Audio Content

Video and audio files are a powerful way to enrich your class blog. However, they need to be formatted and configured so people with hearing impairments are able to access and understand them.

An effective way to go about that is to include subtitles and transcripts for any content that relies on sound. This will provide a text version of the video or audio that you can display alongside it.

Some bloggers simply add the text on the same page under media player. Another option is to create a separate link for the transcription to open in a new tab.

Transcripts are also helpful for SEO. Search engine crawlers can use these text files to understand the content of the video. Plus, captions and subtitles have even been shown to help improve literacy.

Some platforms – such as YouTube – automatically produce transcripts and captions with videos. You can click on the CC button to turn on subtitles or click on the ellipses button and select Open transcript.

If you do use the auto-generated transcripts and captions from YouTube, it’s a smart idea to double-check them to ensure they’re accurate. Should you need to, you can edit them by going to your Video Manager and clicking on Edit > Subtitles and CC for the relevant video.

6. Create Descriptive Links

Similar to how you can include alt text for images to enhance blog accessibility for people using screen readers, you can also use descriptive links to let people know where a link is pointing.

For example, rather than using ambiguous words and phrases like Click here or More, it’s better to use a relevant, descriptive phrase that hints at where the link will take users who click on it.

This doesn’t require a lengthy explanation of the linked resource. You only need to give the user an idea of where you’re directing them in the appropriate context. For instance, using the anchor text “this article on climate change” tells your students that the link is to a scientific text.

Although you can audit the links on your blog manually, this can be time-consuming. You may consider using a web accessibility checker tool such as WAVE.

After inputting the page you want to analyze, this tool scans your site and checks for any errors. It flags items such as redundant links, and you can filter the details by WCAG 2.0 requirements.

7. Choose WordPress As Your Content Management Systems (CMS)

The platform and tools you use for your class blog can have a major effect on accessibility.

WordPress, for example, is a CMS that takes accessibility very seriously and has built-in features that can improve your blog content in this regard.

We’ve already mentioned some of these features in this post. For instance, WordPress makes it easy to add alt text to images and to incorporate heading tags, even if you’re not well-versed in HTML.

Similarly, using a learning platform such as CampusPress can make creating an accessible class blog simple. CampusPress hosted sites come with accessibility-ready themes that are compliant with WCAG 2.0.

You can use CampusPress to host and manage your entire WordPress class blog. Our platform can also help you create ePortfolios and individual student projects that meet accessibility standards.

Conclusion

All teachers strive to make their course materials accessible to all. Some educators don’t realize this also includes your class blog or other content you publish online.

An accessible blog is structured and formatted in a way that’s easy to both understand and navigate, regardless of your readers’ abilities.

This post shared several techniques you can use to create accessible content for your class blog. Proper heading structures, alt text for images, and video transcripts all make it easier for students (and other readers) with disabilities to interpret content.

Plus, platforms built with accessibility in mind make WCAG 2.0 compliance simple.

Want more? Check out our complete guide to accessibility and WordPress here.

Questions?

Do you have any questions or comments about creating accessible content for your class blog? Let us know in the comments section below!

There are so many fabulous tools on offer within Google Drive: These include Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Forms, and Google Sheets.

These tools are free and web-based. They’re used every minute of the day in classrooms, homes, and businesses around the world.

One tool within Google Drive that you might not have fully explored as yet is Google Drawings.

Perhaps you’ve heard of it but you’re not sure why you’d want to use it?

Well, if you’re a blogger, Google Drawings can be the ideal tool to make a range of visuals to enhance your site!

And if you’re a teacher or student, Google Drawings offers a fantastic tool for demonstrating learning creatively.

This post explains:

What is Google Drawings?

How to create a Google Drawing

How to embed a Google Drawing into a blog post or page

Ideas For Using Google Drawings In The Classroom

What is Google Drawings?

Google Drawings is a very versatile tool that allows you to make all sorts of graphic designs and publications.

Canva is another popular tool for graphic design and we have a guide to using Canva if you’d like to learn more.

Many people also use Google Slides for creating designs but there are differences. Check out our blog post about Google Slides.

In this Venn diagram, Tony Vincent shows us how Google Drawings and Google Slides are the same and different.

Be sure to follow Tony on Twitter or Instagram as he often shares tips for using Google tools and other tech tools.

Tony has also started a new initiative called Shapegrams which is a great way for students to learn design skills, problem solving, and creativity through Google Drawings. You don’t need to have experience as the activities include instructional videos from Tony.

Shapegrams are reproducible pictures with instructional videos, design tips, and extension activities. They’re great for bell work, stations, extra time, and enrichment. #GoogleEdu

There’s a new Shapegram every week! https://t.co/jA6ox3lubm pic.twitter.com/nXwxt67lWX

— Shapegrams (@shapegrams) August 25, 2019

Quick facts about Google Drawings:

• It’s free.
• Your creation starts with a blank canvas of any size.
• You access Google Drawings through the web or via a Chrome app that can be used offline (works best on a computer).
• Multiple users can open and edit drawings simultaneously in real time. They can also engage in chat.
• You can make a Drawing with many components. You can add images to your canvas as well as shapes, arrows, scribbles, text, and more.
• There are many sharing options for your Google Drawing. It can be private, you can share it with select people, or you can share it publicly on the web. You can choose whether people can view or edit your Drawing.
• Your Drawing is automatically saved as you work on it.
• Google Drawings can be embedded in blogs and websites. They can also be downloaded as a JPEG, PNG, PDF etc.
• You can insert a Google Drawing into a Google Doc as explained here by Jake Miller.

Here’s a graphic summary of the above. Feel free to share it with colleagues who want to learn more about Google Drawings.

How To Start A Google Drawing

You’ll need a Google Account to access Google Drawings.

If you use Gmail or other Google products, this will be the same username/password. Teachers might also have a school Google account.

If you haven’t got a Google account yet, you can sign up here:

https://accounts.google.com/signup

Google Drive is the place where your Google Drawings are stored. It’s also one of the ways you can start a new Google Drawing.

You access your Google Drive on the web through this URL:

https://drive.google.com

Click on New in the top left-hand corner. Then click on More and then Google Drawings.

Alternatively, you can type https://docs.google.com/drawings into your browser or access Drawings via the Chrome app. If you use the app you can access Drawings when you’re offline.

How To Make And Save A Google Drawing

You’ll notice when you start a new Google Drawing, using the methods described above, you will be presented with a blank canvas.

Creating a drawing is straightforward. Here are the basics of creating and saving your work.

1) Open Google Drawings

Access drawings via your Google Drive or the Chrome App. Alternatively, just type https://docs.google.com/drawings into your browser.

2) Change your image size (optional)

If you want your image to be a certain size (e.g. the size of your blog header), you can change this in File > Page Setup > Custom. You can enter the dimensions you’re after in inches, centimeters, points, or pixels.

Tip: If you’re making a blog header, you’ll find the required dimensions in Customizer as demonstrated here.

3) Consider your background color

By default, the background of your Google Drawing will be transparent. That means there will be no background when you download your image as PNG or JPEG.

If you want your image to have a different color background (or even solid white), right-click on your canvas and select background.

Then you can play around with solid backgrounds or gradients.

4) Create your design

Add the text, images, shapes, lines, charts and more that you’d like on your design by navigating the options under Insert.

5) Save your design as an image

When you’re ready, go to File > Download as > JPEG image or PNG image. Save your image to your device.

You can also save your image as a PDF if it’s something you’d like to print or distribute.

You’ll then have an image file that you can print or use in your digital creations including your blog.

You add an image to a blog post (or page) by selecting the “Add media” button from the top of the post editor. These instructions walk you through the process.

Here is a simple blog header image I made with Google Drawings.

Learn More About Google Drawings

If you’d like to be walked through the process of adding different elements to your Google Drawings canvas, set aside 8 minutes and check out this tutorial by Mike Harmon (HLModTech).

There are two other lessons in this series if you’d like to learn even more from Mike.

How To Embed A Google Drawing In Your Blog Post Or Page

Google Drawings can be used in so many different ways. You can amplify this learning even more by sharing your work with an authentic audience on your blog.

Google Drawings be added to your blog post or page in two ways:

• Download an image and add it as described above.
• Embed the Drawing using HTML code (don’t worry if you’ve never done this before — it’s easy).

Note: If you’re using Edublogs, you’ll need Edublogs Pro or CampusPress in order to embed HTML code. This is to prevent misuse by spammers. If you have a free blog, add your Drawing as an image.

Let’s take a look at how to embed a Google Drawing into a blog post or page. You’ll find the written instructions below and then a PDF version.

This is a two-step process. First, you need to get the embed code from your Drawing then add it to your blog.

Step One: Get the embed code for your Google Drawing

1) Open your Google Drawing

You can go to your Drive to find a Drawing you’ve been working on. Double click on the file to open it.

2) Publish to the web

Go to File > Publish to the web

You’ll find File in the top left-hand corner of your page.

Click on Embed. You can choose whether you want the Drawing to be small, medium, or large.

Click on Publish.

You’ll receive a warning that you’re about to publish to the web. Press OK.

3) Copy the embed code

After you press OK, your HTML embed code will appear in a box. You need to copy this code to add to your blog post or page.

How to copy:

• Click on the text to highlight it if it’s not already highlighted
• Press Control C (Windows) or Command C (Mac)
• Alternatively, right-click and press Copy

Note: If you ever want to unpublish your Drawing so it’s not available on the web, repeat these steps and click on the small arrow at the bottom of the box that says Published content and settings. Select Stop publishing.

Step Two: Add the embed code to your blog post or page

These instructions show how to add your Google Drawing to a blog post. The same process applies to pages.

1) Open your post

Go to your blog dashboard and open the post you’re working on. Or, go to Posts > Add New.

2) Add Media

Place your cursor where you want the Drawing to appear and then click on the Add Media button.

3) Insert Embed Code

In the Add Media window, click on the Insert Embed Code tab on the left.

4) Paste Embed Code

Paste the embed code into the Insert Embed code box.

How to paste:

• Press Control V (Windows) or Command V (Mac)
• Alternatively, right-click and select Paste

Click Insert Into Post.

5) Publish

When you’ve finished writing your post, click Publish.

You should now see your embedded Google Drawing when you view the published post. You can also preview your post to see what it looks like before publishing.

Here’s an example of an embedded Google Drawing. As you can see, it looks just like a regular image.

PDF: How To Embed A Google Drawing

You’re welcome to print this two page PDF to show your students or colleagues how to embed their Google Drawing into a blog post or page.

>>Click here to download a copy of the PDF

Ideas For Using Google Drawings In The Classroom

Google Drawings is an ideal tool for students and teachers to make images that they can print or use digitally.

Creations can be downloaded as JPEGs and PNGs. Drawings can also be embedded straight into a blog post or page (as demonstrated above).

Examples of images you could create in Google Drawings:

• Blog headers
• Other blog images (e.g. see the example of the promotional graphic at the start of this post. These are great to share on social media).
• Certificates
• Comics
• Photos with captions
• Flowcharts, mindmaps, or other graphic organizers
• How-to tutorials
• Classroom labels

Let’s take a look at some more examples of how teachers and students are using Google Drawings.

Avatars or characters

Sheri Edwards has created a tutorial that explains how to make an avatar using Google Drawings. Sheri has an additional post worth reading with some tips for using Google Drawings.

Classroom Ideas From Eric Curts

Eric has a fabulous website called Control Alt Achieve where he shares really practical tips and resources about Google products. Be sure to check out all his Google Drawings resources. 

They’re all shared under a Creative Commons license that allows you to use the resources freely with attribution.

This presentation is jam packed with tips and ideas.

All About Me By Roxi Thompson

US teacher Roxi, had her students use Google Drawings to create a graphic about themselves during the first week of school.

This could be a useful activity to introduce students to basic Google Drawings functions. It could be ideal to display on an About page and help build classroom community.

Here is an example from Roxi. Her blog post has some student examples that could be handy to show your class.

Tweetable Examples

Twitter is full of excellent examples of the projects that are happening in classrooms around the world.

Here are some noteworthy Google Drawings projects that might work in your own classroom!

9th grade students used #GoogleDrawings to create get-well cards for a classmate. They made excellent use of copyright-free images within Google and graphic design skills. #edtech #bekind #gttribe pic.twitter.com/WXfeImF8Nm

— (@mrstechpig) October 10, 2019

@ls_teacher’s 3rd grade math students using Google Drawings to make arrays @BraggSchoolCSD #WeAreChesterNJ pic.twitter.com/XTb6j5pPXa

— Brad Currie (@TheBradCurrie) October 10, 2019

We are getting ready for Canadian School Library Day!! Our Grade 5 Library Leaders are exploring how they can use Google Drawings to create a poster all about our library space. @CdnSchoolLibrar #peelEML pic.twitter.com/2PdhzuHTtn

— LarkspurLLC (@LarkspurLibLC) October 9, 2019

Today we are making physical maps using #googledrawings #polyline feature to make physical maps. We are learning as we go, and having fun along the way. #thisisMEtsd #talawandaempowers @TSDMarshall @TalawandaSTEM pic.twitter.com/wT3AjKw3eK

— Lexie Withrow (@MissWithrow217) October 9, 2019

Third graders @PembertonElementary used Google Drawings to create charts and diagrams (English SOL 3.6c) about rounding (Math SOL 3.1b) and animal adaptations (Science SOL 3.4) https://t.co/ixPXR1oKKa pic.twitter.com/JXUhWNtuAS

— David Clough (@djdaverave) October 9, 2019

So this is why I’m not in advertising. We’ll be using Google Drawings with Yr4 to create Welsh Tourism posters this afternoon @stwinsholywell Check out my cool example.

Hoping the children will learn advantages of PNG, rotate, crop masks, order, image import, resize & gradients pic.twitter.com/Qr300wEWL3

— Rough Cuts (@roughcuts1) October 9, 2019

Trying to come up with some engaging ways to practice our phonics and spelling using Google Drawings! #centers #benchmark @FairviewPanther @teachmeLori pic.twitter.com/xz840UsIRm

— Laura Obando (@ABCClassroom) October 8, 2019

Mosaic Lighthouses made using #GoogleDrawing #GoogleDrawings #ccsd1deskpub https://t.co/HZdiyzvqEo pic.twitter.com/Mn6HmcwAs1

— DawnTechTeacher (@DawnTechTeacher) October 3, 2019

A sampling of the ecosystem food web projects Ss have created. @TSDMarshall #thisismetsd #TalawandaEmpowers pic.twitter.com/aVR5Qx0PX7

— Kari Croucher (@KariCroucher) October 10, 2019

Learning about the design process in computer class, inventing technologies to help others, designing in Google Drawings, & writing about the specs. Delran Ss prove the future is bright!@maryjohutch @Delran_Super @DelranSTEM @DeSimoneChristy @DemicheleErica pic.twitter.com/xS7hrBeLb2

— Dan the Computer Man (@DantheComputer1) October 3, 2019

Conclusion

Google Drawings is a versatile tool that has so much potential for bloggers and students of all ages.

Whether you need a graphic for a blog post, page, widget or blog header, Google Drawings is a handy solution that’s free and intuitive to use.

Many teachers and students enjoy embedding their Google Drawings into their blog posts. Sharing work with an authentic audience yields many benefits!

How are you using Google Drawings?

Do you have any tips or examples to share?

Do you have any questions about Google Drawings?

Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.

Further Reading

You might also be interested in reading:

A Beginner’s Guide To Google Slides In The Classroom

A Beginner’s Guide To Google Photos

Canva In The Classroom: Getting Started, Example Designs, And Tips!

Six Tools To Create Interactive Learning Content On Your Blog

A Beginner’s Guide To Google Slides In The Classroom

By Kathleen Morris

You’re probably familiar with the range of free, web-based tools offered by Google within its Google Drive service?

These tools include Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, and Google Slides. They’ve become staples in classrooms, homes, and businesses around the world.

For teachers and students, Google Slides is one of the most exciting and versatile tools on offer.

Maybe you’ve heard of Google Slides and you’re wondering how you can use it in the classroom?

Or perhaps, you’ve dabbled with Google Slides but you’re not sure exactly how it can be used beyond presentations?

Or are you a blogger wondering how Google Slides can complement your blog posts?

You’re probably familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint — the software used to create and present slideshows?

Google Slides is similar except it’s hosted online and allows for multiple people to collaborate on the same presentation in real time.

Quick facts about Google Slides:

• It’s free.
• You can start with a blank document or use a pre-designed template. 
• It’s available via the web, a mobile app (Android, iOS, Windows, BlackBerry), and as a desktop application on Google’s ChromeOS.
• PowerPoint files can be imported into Google Slides and then edited. Your Google Slides presentations can be exported as a PowerPoint file, PDF, JPEG, PNG and more.
• Images and video can be added to presentations. As of April 2019, audio can also be added (this feature is currently being rolled out — see below for more details).
• There are many sharing options for your Google Slides presentation. It can be private, you can share it with select people, or you can share it publicly on the web. You can choose whether people can view or edit your presentation.
• If you’re collaborating with others on a Google Slides presentation, you can chat, leave comments, and work simultaneously on the same presentation.
• Your work is automatically saved as you work on your presentation.
• You can present your slides within the platform (View > Present). You can either plug your computer into a screen or use Chromecast or AirPlay to show a live audience. You can also present virtually via Google Hangouts.
• You can add real-time automatic captions when you present in Google Slides. Find out more here.
• There are many add-ons available for Google Slides. These are tools from 3rd party developers to add more functionality to Google Slides. Most add-ons are free but some have paid premium versions. Learn more about add-ons by reading Eric Curts’ post: 9 Awesome Add-ons to Supercharge Google Slides.
• Google Slides presentations can be embedded in blogs and websites.

Here’s a graphic summary of the above. Feel free to share it with colleagues who want to learn more about Google Slides.

You’ll need a Google Account to access Google Slides. There’s a high chance you already have one! This is the same username/password you use for Gmail and other Google Products. You might also have a school Google account.

If you haven’t got a Google account yet, you can sign up here:

Google Drive is the place where your Google Slides presentations are stored. It’s also one of the ways you can start a new Google Slides presentation.

You access your Google Drive on the web through this URL:

Click on New in the top left-hand corner. Then click on Google Slides and either Blank Presentation or From a template.

Other Ways To Start A New Google Slides Presentation

• You can go straight to your Google Slides collection to view past Slides and create a new one using this URL https://docs.google.com/presentation
• In late 2018, Google introduced some new shortcut URLs to start new Google Slides. You simply type these into your browser to start a new Slides presentation. They are:
  • slide.new
  • slides.new
  • deck.new
  • presentation.new
• You can also start a new Slides presentation in the app (Android | iOS)

Using Google Slides Offline

Rolling out from late April 2019, there’s a new way to access Google Slides when you’re offline or have poor internet connection.

The first step is to enable offline access in your Drive settings.

How to enable offline access for Google Slides:

• Go to your Google Drive and click the gear icon at the top right corner
• Select Settings > General and select “Sync Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings files to this computer” so you can edit offline.
• You can then right-click on any file in your Google Drive and select “Available offline” from the menu (while connected to the internet).
• You’ll need the free Chrome Google Docs Offline extension to access your offline documents.

Check out the full instructions to access Google Slides offline on any device here.

You’ll notice when you start a new Google Slides presentation, using the methods described above, you have the option to build a blank presentation or work from a pre-designed template.

Whatever option you choose, creating your presentation is straightforward.

Here are the basics of creating a Google Slides presentation.

• You add text via text boxes which you can drag around to suit.
• You then insert other elements via “Insert” on the main toolbar. These elements include:
  • images
  • video
  • audio
  • shapes
  • tables
  • charts
  • diagrams
  • word art
  • animations
• Use the + button on the top left to add a new slide
• Right-click on your slide on the left navigation panel to duplicate it (this can be easier than building a slide from scratch). Duplicate is also found under the “Slide” menu.

This diagram shows the basic functions you will use most with Google Slides. Feel free to share it with your students or colleagues.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Learn More About Google Slides

Learn more about getting started with Slides with the G Suite Learning Centre. 

“Get started with Slides” is an easy to follow tutorial that’s suitable for both teachers and students.

Video Tutorials: Google Slides Overview

This two-minute video tutorial provides a simple overview of Google Slides basics.

After a more detailed video? Check out David Lee’s 12-minute introduction to Google Slides.

In April 2019, Google began rolling out the ability to add audio to Google Slides presentations. This long-requested function could be very handy for teachers and students.

Audio can be great for reflection, narration, feedback, and all sorts of creative projects.

Want more examples of how audio can enhance Google Slides for teachers and students? Kasey Bell has written a blog post that shares 25 Ways to Use Audio in Google Slides Projects.

Although the ability to add audio is a great new feature, you can’t record audio directly into your Slides presentation.

As Eric Curts explains,

You see, even though we can now add audio to a Google slideshow, there isn’t a simple built-in recording button. Instead you need to record the audio separately with another program, then save it to Drive, and then add it to a slide.

Thankfully, Eric has put together a helpful collection of 4 Free and Easy Audio Recording Tools for Google Slides.

The tools Eric recommends to make audio recordings are:

• ChromeMP3 Recorder from HablaCloud
• Online Voice Recorder
• Beautiful Audio Editor
• TwistedWave

You can find out all about this process and how exactly you insert audio into Google Slides in Eric’s blog post, podcast, or video.

The simplest and most obvious way to use Google Slides is to create a slide deck. That is, a collection of slides put together to form a presentation.

A slide deck is used to support an oral presentation.

There are many times when teachers or students might need a basic slide deck:

• Teachers can create a slide deck to support the lessons they’re presenting to students.
• Students can make a Slides presentation to accompany an oral presentation that’s part of their classwork.
• Students or teachers can create slide decks when they need to showcase learning or share school programs (e.g. information evening, school assembly, parent-teacher night, etc.).
• Teachers can collaborate on a slide deck for a conference or staff meeting presentation.

Apart from these basic uses, there is so much more you can do with Google Slides.

Let’s take a look…

Kasey Bell isn’t wrong when she calls Google Slides the Swiss Army knife of G Suite. Let’s take a look at some creative ways you could use Google Slides in the classroom.

1) Introduce Your Class

Alethea Vazquez is a teacher who participated in the Student Blogging Challenge with her students a number of times. Her students collaborated on a great Google Slides presentation to introduce themselves on their class blog.

In this post, Alethea explains how she carried out this process. It involved giving students a Slides template that they could edit.

Take a look at the end result. This is perfect for an About page on a class blog.

2) Make Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books that were popular in past decades?

Creating a similar style of “interactive fiction” is a creative way to use Google Slides. It includes a certain amount of planning as teacher Kevin Hodgson explains in this post.

Here’s an example of interactive fiction using Google Slides by Kevin Hodgson. He shared this on his class blog as an example for students.

Tutorials For Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

• Check out this post by Eric Curts for a detailed explanation
• Jake Miller has made a useful GIF to explain the instructions
• This resource from Google explains how to make a collaborative “If-then Adventure Story”

As Kevin Hodgson says,

Most of my students really enjoy this writing, as it is very different from traditional pieces we do, but a few do struggle with the unconventionality of it. That’s OK, too, for what I am trying to show them is that writing is not one form, but many forms and always adaptable.

3) Try Collaborative Storytelling And Research

Two students in Linda Yollis’ third grade class collaborated together on a Google Slides presentation for the Student Blogging Challenge.

They shared their experiences of traveling to London with their own families and included some great research.

They embedded their presentation on their personal blogs — check out “Jodie Bloom’s blog and “Sarah Gold’s” blog. These are pen names.

4) Compile Individual Slides Into One: Poetry Example

Sometimes you might want students to all contribute one slide to a group presentation.

There are two ways to do this:

• You can start a new Slides presentation and share this template with the class. You would assign a slide number to each student. You just need to make sure students don’t interfere with other students’ slides.
• Or, you can have students create their own new Slides presentation and then share their completed slide with you. You can then compile all slides into one group Slides presentation. These instructions from Erintegration explain how to do this.

Here’s an example I made with students where they wrote their own Haiku poem. The students could write a few examples in their own Slides presentation and share their favorite one with me for the class compilation.

5) Share Photos Of Work That’s Not Digital

Google Slides doesn’t have to just be used to share digital work. It can be used to share and present any work students complete in the classroom.

Here’s an example where my students created their own Wacky Wednesday rhyme and illustration after studying the Dr. Seuss book.

I took photographs of all the students’ work and put them in a Google Slides presentation.

Readers were invited to guess the ‘wacky’ things they found in the students’ pictures.

Tip: Make A Photo Slideshow With PowerPoint

I found the easiest way to do this was to add the album of images to a PowerPoint presentation. You just need to go to Insert > Photo Album > New Photo Album. PowerPoint can position one image per slide automatically.

You then save your PowerPoint and import it into Google Slides (these instructions show you how).

6) Flip Your Classroom: Create A Self Guided Lesson

Google Slides is a great way to help someone work through a lesson, either in a live classroom setting, or in their own time.

You’ve probably heard of the term “flipped classroom”? This is where students can learn content outside of the classroom freeing up face-to-face class time for rich discussions, projects, collaborations and so on.

Teachers can prepare Google Slides presentations that walk students through lessons. Students can work through these presentations at their own pace and in their own time. A similar model can be used for staff professional development.

Here is an example from instructional technology coach, Noah King. Noah used a blog post I wrote about how to teach students to research online to create a Slides presentation to use with 5th graders.

Read more about this Slides presentation here.

7) Make Images

Google Slides offers a blank canvas where creations can be download into image formats like JPEG and PNG.

For those reasons, it’s a great way for students and teachers to make images that they can print or use digitally.

Examples of images you could create in Google Slides:

• Blog headers
• Other blog images (e.g. see the example of the promotional graphic at the start of this post. These are great to share on social media).
• Certificates
• Comics
• Photos with captions
• Flowcharts, mindmaps, or other graphic organizers
• How-to tutorials
• Classroom labels

Note: Another option for making images is Google Drawings. In this Venn diagram, Tony Vincent shows us how Google Drawings and Google Slides are the same and different.

Be sure to follow Tony on Twitter or Instagram as he often shares tips for using Google Slides and other tech tools.

How To Make A Graphic Or Image Using Google Slides

#1 Open Google Slides

You can work with a blank presentation or a template.

#2 Change your image size (optional)

If you want your image to be a certain size (e.g. the size of your blog header), you can change this in File > Page Setup > Custom. You can enter the dimensions you’re after in inches, centimeters, points, or pixels.

Tip: If you’re making a blog header, you’ll find the required dimensions in Customizer as demonstrated here.

#3 Make your background transparent (or another color)

If you want your image to have a transparent background, click on File > Change background.

Then choose Transparent (or another color).

If you select a transparent background, there will be no background when you download your image as PNG or JPEG.

#4 Create your design

Add the text, images, and shapes that you’d like on your design.

Tip: If you want to experiment with a design element but you’re not sure if you’ll like it, duplicate your slide before making your changes. Then you can choose the one you like best.

Right-click on the slide in the navigation panel and select “Duplicate slide”.

#5 Save your design as an image

When you’re ready, go to File > Download as > JPEG image or PNG image. Save your image to your device. 

You’ll then have an image file that you can print or use in your digital creations.

Here is a simple blog header image I made with Google Slides by modifying a template.

These 7 examples are only the tip of the iceberg of ways you could use Google Slides in the classroom.

We’d love you to share your own examples in a comment. Scroll down to find the comment box.

As you’ve seen, Google Slides can be used in so many different ways. You can amplify this learning even more by sharing your work with an authentic audience on your blog.

Google Slides presentations can be easily embedded in blog posts or pages using HTML code (don’t worry if you’ve never done this before — it’s easy).

Note: If you’re using Edublogs, you’ll need Edublogs Pro or CampusPress in order to embed HTML code. This is to prevent misuse by spammers.

Let’s take a look at how to embed a Google Slides presentation into a blog post or page. You’ll find the written instructions below and then a video and PDF version.

This is a two-step process. First, you need to get the embed code from your Slides presentation then add it to your blog.

Step One: Get the embed code for your Slides presentation

1) Open your Slides presentation

You can go to your Drive or directly to your Slides collection to find your presentation. Double click on the presentation to open it.

2) Publish to the web

Go to File > Publish to the web

You’ll find File in the top left-hand corner of your page.

Click on Embed. There are a few options to control the size and speed of the slides. Changing these options isn’t essential (medium is usually a good size).

Click on Publish.

You’ll receive a warning that you’re about to publish to the web. Press OK.

3) Copy the embed code

After you press OK, your HTML embed code will appear in a box. You need to copy this code to add to your blog post or page.

How to copy:

• Click on the text to highlight it if it’s not already highlighted
• Press Control C (Windows) or Command C (Mac)
• Alternatively, right-click and press Copy

Note: If you ever want to unpublish your Slides presentation so it’s not available on the web, repeat these steps and click on the small arrow at the bottom of the box that says Published content and settings. Select Stop publishing.

Step Two: Add the embed code to your blog post or page

These instructions show how to add your Slides presentation to a blog post. The same process applies to pages.

1) Open your post

Go to your blog dashboard and open the post you’re working on. Or, go to Posts > Add New.

2) Add Media

Place your cursor where you want the Slides presentation to appear and then click on the Add Media button.

3) Insert Embed Code

In the Add Media window, click on the Insert Embed Code tab on the left.

4) Paste Embed Code

Paste the embed code into the Insert Embed code box.

How to paste:

• Press Control V (Windows) or Command V (Mac)
• Alternatively, right-click and select Paste

Click Insert Into Post.

5) Publish

When you’ve finished writing your post, click Publish.

You should now see your embedded Slides presentation when you view the published post. You can also preview your post to see what it looks like before publishing.

Here’s an example of an embedded Google Slides presentation.

This 3 minute video takes you through the process described above.

You’re welcome to print this 2 page PDF to show your students or colleagues how to embed their Google Slides presentation into a blog post or page.

>>Click here to download a copy of the PDF

If you’re teaching remotely, you’ll need to offer your students a planner or lesson descriptions.

Some teachers put their planners in a Google Slides presentation.

Don’t forget to add these Slides presentations to a blog, LMS, or website so they don’t get lost).

• You can include text, links, and videos of yourself teaching to a Slides presentation amongst other things.
• One major benefit is you can copy and edit your planner so you don’t have to start from scratch each day.
• Check out this post by Alice Keeler for more advice on using Slides in remote learning.

Here’s an example from US kindergarten teacher Megan Peschke @MeganPeschke). Don’t be put off by the age group. This idea could be adapted for any age!

Click here to view the Google Slides presentation in a new tab.

Instructions for Editing and Using Megan’s Google Slides

1. Click on this link:

2. You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below).

3. The Slides will be saved in your Google Drive.

4. You can edit the Google Slides to suit.

SlidesMania have also published a fantastic free weekly planner template that can be used in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Find it here. 

Google Slides is a versatile way for teachers and students to create, collaborate, and present. There’s a lot you can do with Google Slides beyond a standard oral presentation.

Many teachers and students enjoy embedding their Google Slides presentations into a blog post or page. Sharing work with an authentic audience yields many benefits!

How are you using Google Slides?

Do you have any tips or examples to share?

Do you have any questions about Google Slides?

Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.

You might also be interested in reading:

A Beginner’s Guide To Google Photos

Canva In The Classroom: Getting Started, Example Designs, And Tips!

Six Tools To Create Interactive Learning Content On Your Blog

Are you an educator with a blog?

Would you like a bigger audience and a stronger professional network?

This practical post goes through five things you can do to share and market your blog:

1. Make posts ‘shareable’
2. Use social media
3. Set up an email subscription
4. Encourage others to share your posts
5. Be an audience

If you don’t yet have a blog, that’s no problem. You can get one for free by heading over to the Edublogs homepage.

And if you want to be walked through the process of setting up your blog, check out our free, self-paced course.

Marketing? Really?

The word marketing has got a bad rap in recent decades. Perhaps it makes you think of cheesy, spammy scams, used car salesmen, or endless infomercials.

This is definitely not the sort of marketing we’re talking about here.

As Seth Godin explains, modern marketing is really using the culture to reach people who want to be reached and offering them something they’re glad to find.

There’s probably many members of the education community out there who would love to find you. So, do them a favor and start marketing your wonderful work!

The Benefits Of Blogging For Yourself

Before we look at building an audience through sharing and marketing your blog, let’s go over the many benefits of blogging just for yourself.

What’s the point of blogging even if no one is reading? Is there a point?

Of course!

Blogging is a fantastic way to reflect and develop your thinking

As Clive Thompson stated in Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,

Professional writers have long described the way that the act of writing forces them to distill their vague notions into clear ideas. By putting half-formed thoughts on the page, we externalize them and are able to evaluate them much more objectively. This is why writers often find that it’s only when they start writing that they figure out what they want to say.

The research process of blogging is also an excellent way to learn

Take a topic you know a little about or have some interest in, do some research and present it in an easy-to-digest way for others. You might be surprised at how transformative this learning process is!

Having your own online space can present you with career opportunities

Some professionals also enjoy having a blog or website that serves as a digital portfolio. This home base for all your work and credentials can be an advantage for furthering your career.

Becoming a blogger will help you help your students

Teacher-bloggers can be role models for students as digital citizens and writers.

Furthermore, trying out blogging before introducing it to your students can be a comfortable progression for many educators.

Why Sharing And Marketing Your Blog Applies To Everyone

Despite all of the personal benefits of blogging, you can really amplify things by building an audience.

Clive Thompson explains,

…studies have found that particularly when it comes to analytic or critical thought, the effort of communicating to someone else forces you to think more precisely, make deeper connections, and learn more.

Building an audience also means expanding your professional learning network (PLN); there are countless benefits to building a strong network as we explore in our free self-paced PLN  course for educators.

So we know there are benefits to having an audience for your blog, but building an audience does take work and it requires you to share and market your posts.

How exactly can you share and market your blog? Let’s take a look…

With the rise of the ‘edupreneur’ some teachers are using blogging for financial benefit, however, we’ll be focusing on sharing and marketing for the teacher blogger who’s interesting in connecting and learning with others. 

Strategies To Share And Market Your Posts

You might have put together a fantastic blog post and felt satisfied as you hit the publish button, but your job is not done.

Just because you publish something online, doesn’t mean it will be seen. People won’t know about your post if you don’t share it.

Standing out in a blogosphere populated by millions of people can take work. Fortunately, there are some simple strategies to help ensure your blog post gets an audience.

Back to top

1) Make Posts ‘Shareable’

Blogging is not like writing a high school essay. A long chunk of text on a page is just not going to appeal to your potential audience. They’ll move on.

The first thing you need to do is look at your styling and post layout because let’s face it; people aren’t going to share your post if the content was too difficult to even read.

Our post 10 Tips For Making Your Blog Posts Easier To Read will help guide you through the process of creating easy to read posts.

The Power Of Visuals

We know how powerful visuals are! A Hubspot article tells us,

Eye-tracking studies show internet readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. In fact, when the images are relevant, readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page.

Studies have shown that visitors to your blog will probably only read about 20% of your post. People generally scroll through and skim posts. Images give people a reason to stop scrolling.

Through an image, people may be more likely to take in your content and share it with others.

What Sort Of Visuals Can You Make For Blog Posts?

There are all sorts of visuals you can include in your posts. Let’s explore three popular additions to blog posts — social media graphics, infographics, and quotes.

Graphics to share on social media

Bloggers often create a graphic to accompany their blog post which makes a social media post stand out. It’s generally just the title of the blog post with an image and the blog URL — perhaps with blogger’s name or social media handle too.

Whenever we create a new post on The Edublogger, we create a simple graphic to go with it.

For example:

There are certain size dimensions that are ideal for different social media platforms as outlined here by Louise M. (Tip: If you’re using Canva which we will explain below, it will generate the correct size automatically).

Infographics

An infographic can be a great way to summarize information or data and make posts more shareable.

The 10 Ways To Make You Blog Posts Easier To Read visual above is an example of an infographic that acts like a ‘cheat sheet’.

Here is another example we prepared for International Dot Day. This sort of thing can really help the time-poor reader.

Quotes

Quotes can be powerful additions to blog posts. They can offer a burst of insightful learning and back up your own thoughts.

In our post about quotes, we outlined different ways you can use quotes and turn them into shareable graphics.

You wouldn’t want to make every quote into a graphic but it can certainly give your readers something else to focus on and share.

A quote graphic might display the words over an image, pattern, or a block color.

How To Make Visuals For Blog Posts

There are many different ways you can make the sorts of visuals we described above.

There are a number of offline tools available, such as Adobe Photoshop or Indesign, however, online tools are more popular than ever. A lot of these tools are based on templates, so you don’t even need design skills.

Just some online tools for making visuals include:

• Canva (solid free plan with paid options — see below)
• Adobe Spark (free for teachers and students)
• Stencil (free plan allows for 10 creations per month)
• Snappa (free plan allows for 5 downloads per month)
• Pablo (free tool from Buffer)
• Piktochart (free for basic plan with watermark)

If you have any suggestions for web tools, apps, or offline tools be sure to let us know in a comment.

Canva tips and information

Canva is certainly one of the most popular tools for bloggers and it’s one I personally love to use!

• Canva has millions of users worldwide and is popular in many industries, including education.
• Students under 13 can use Canva if they’re ‘appropriately supervised’. (Read Richard Byrne’s post about this topic for further clarification).
• Canva is a web-based tool but there are also apps for Android and iOS.
• The free plan allows you to make unlimited creations and download them in high quality without watermarks. This sets Canva apart from some similar tools.
• The paid ‘Canva for Work‘ plan gives you access to more templates, images, and icons etc. It also allows you to resize your design without starting again (e.g. you might make something in A4 size then want a smaller version to share on social media). Additionally, you can download your designs with a transparent background (handy for logos, badges, buttons etc.).
• Canva uses a drag and drop interface which is very simple to use but like all tools, does require a little bit of playing around to develop fluency. It’s worth the investment in time!

Check out this post I wrote about Canva for more information and ideas.
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2) Use Social Media

A lot of people who might be interested in your blog posts are hanging out on social media. You want to strategically share your content on social media and make it easy for others to share as well.

Share Your Own Content

There are a few things to keep in mind when sharing your own blog posts on social media

Consider your platform(s)

Teachers are active on different platforms — Twitter has traditionally been very popular with teachers (if you’re new to Twitter you can find out more information here). There are also a large number of teachers active on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc.

You don’t have to be sharing on every platform. Using one or two social media platforms well can be a more successful approach than spreading yourself thin across different networks.

Tailor your message

If you are going to share your posts across various social media platforms, tailor your message to cater to the different audiences and the different ways the platforms are used.

For example, Instagram and Twitter use hashtags more than Facebook. Pinterest tends to center around larger ‘shareable’ images. Twitter has a 280 character limit whereas Facebook allows you to write lengthier posts.

Keep these sorts of details in mind if you’re going to cross-promote your posts. Copying and pasting may not be the best approach.

Repeat, but don’t overdo it

Just because you post something on social media, doesn’t mean it will be widely seen. You might need to post a variation of the message a number of times.

Repeating the same message without variation is not a good idea and is against the rules with some social media channels. On Twitter posting ‘duplicative or substantially similar content’ is not allowed.

To make posting on social media easier, some people use a social media scheduler like Buffer or Hootsuite although use this approach with care. You don’t want to look like a robot!

Make your posts stand out!

We know that each social media platform has its own best practices for formatting updates. Let’s focus on Twitter for a moment and take a look at the sorts of tweets that are more likely to stand out.

You can just share the title of your post and the link but is this really going to be noticed in a busy stream of tweets?

Compare these two tweets about the same post and consider which one would stand out more…

Images, emojis, quotes, summaries of information, GIFs, videos etc. can all help to make a tweet stand out and encourage others to read it, share it, and/or click on the link to the post.

Want more advice about using Twitter and creating shareable content? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Twitter. You might be particularly interested in the examples of tweets that stand out. 

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3) Set Up An Email Subscription

How are people keeping up to date with blogs?

Traditionally, people would subscribe to get email notifications of new posts on blogs they enjoy reading. Or they’d use an RSS Feeder (a popular one is Feedly. You can read more about how this works here).

Email and RSS are still being used, however, things have changed a little.

When we did a quick poll of our Edublogs community in July 2018, 61% of respondents indicated that their favorite way to keep up to date with the blogs they like to read is via social media.

Why is social media a popular way to follow blogs?

Perhaps:

• People are getting more emails than ever before so are becoming more selective with what subscriptions they sign up for. They might only subscribe to a handful of their favorite blogs.
• Some individuals are becoming more satisfied with consuming information serendipitously.

Should I bother with an email subscription?

Social media is a great way to share but here are a few thoughts to keep in mind about the power of offering an email subscription:

• Having an email subscription option is going to allow your most loyal and valuable members of your community to stay in touch with you.
• There are no guarantees that people in your network will see your posts on social media. You can’t control that. Offer your readers a channel to make sure they don’t miss your content.
• Email is much more personal than social media. Your readers can hear directly from you and it can help to build a relationship.

How To Make An Email Subscription

So we’ve established that it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of option available for readers who would like to subscribe to your blog via email.

Now you have two choices. Do you want to use an automated service? Or do you want to create a handcrafted newsletter style email that you send out on a regular basis?

Automated Email Subscription Widget

If you’re using Edublogs Pro, did you know you can add a simple email subscription widget on the sidebar of your blog?

Subscribers will receive an email automatically to alert them to new posts. You can choose to send a full post, complete with all images, or a post excerpt.

Find out how to activate the email subscription widget here.

Create An Email Newsletter

It’s becoming increasingly common for bloggers to create their own newsletter using an email service provider. 

There are many email service providers out there and many are free to use until you reach a certain number of subscribers. If you’re interested in comparing different email service providers, check out this guide from ProBlogger. 

When you use an email service provider, you can either:

• Automatically send out emails to people on your list when a new post is published.
• Create a personal email to your email list telling them about your new post(s). Generally, you might give an introduction to the post and ask them to click to visit your blog and read your post. You might send this out every time you publish a new post or at regular intervals (weekly, monthly etc.).

MailChimp Tips And Information

One of the most popular email service providers is MailChimp.

• It is free to use up to 2000 subscribers.
• MailChimp uses a simple drag and drop editor and offers a range of different templates for the design of your newsletter.
• There are also different options for creating sign-up forms. You’ll probably want a sign-up form on the sidebar of your blog but you might also include it at the bottom of your blog posts, in a page on your blog, or as a ‘landing page’ that you can share on social media.

Check out the Getting Started With MailChimp guide for more information.

Getting Started with MailChimp | MailChimp

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4) Encourage Others To Share Your Content

It’s ideal if people who are reading your posts share it with others. This can be a great way to find new audience members.

Everyone has their own tribe or network. If someone from your network introduces your work to others in their own network, the results can be exponential!

Consider putting a call to action in every blog post asking your readers to share it on social media or share it with colleagues if it resonated with them.

You can also use a variety of plugins to encourage your readers to share your posts.

Let’s take a look at AddThis and Jetpack.

AddThis Plugin

AddThis is a handy plugin for your blog that adds a social share button to every post and page.

You can add a range of buttons above and/or below your posts that readers can click on to share in a variety of ways.

You can choose to display these buttons in different ways.

You can also add the Social Share widget to your blog sidebar so visitors can share your blog with others.

Check out our help guide for more instructions on setting up AddThis.

Jetpack Plugin

Jetpack is a powerful plugin that adds several different features and tools to your blog, some of these make it easier for others to share your posts.

Once you’ve activated Jetpack, you might like to activate:

• Publicize: Makes it easy to share your posts on social networks automatically when you publish a new post. Learn more.
• Sharing: Enables you to add sharing buttons to your posts so that your readers can easily share your content on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. Learn more.

Check out our help guide for more instructions on setting up Jetpack.

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5) Be An Audience

The final tip is a simple one that’s often overlooked: If you want to have an audience you need to be an audience.

This might involve:

• Subscribing to some blogs you like via email or RSS (e.g. Feedly). Or, following bloggers on social media.
• Sharing blog posts that resonate with you on social media; support other bloggers.
• Leave comments on posts that you enjoyed, leave you curious, or challenge your thinking.

Rather than being a passive reader, try to find a way to be active in your approach to really support others in your community (e.g. sharing, commenting, connecting).

Follow this approach in an authentic way and show genuine interest in others. Apart from learning a lot and building your PLN, you might find your audience begins to build naturally as well.

As you get to know other bloggers, you might also consider guest posting. It could introduce you to a new network of readers and you could be helping a fellow blogger too.

How does guest posting work?

• You might connect with someone who has a small but engaged network of readers.
• Arrange to write a relevant guest post on each other’s blogs.
• The guest post could include a short introduction with a link to your blog, and/or a bio at the bottom of the post.
• Perhaps some of those readers will start following you and vice versa. Win-win!

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Conclusion: Stick With It!

If you ask any blogger who has a reasonable sized audience, they will no doubt tell you they started with a very small number of readers.

Building your audience takes time, patience, and a commitment to stick with it. Need help building momentum with your blog? Check out this post. 

Remember, the rewards will be worth it!

As George Couros said as he reflected on his 8 years of blogging,

Blogging has helped my learning grow significantly because I have done it consistently for myself, not necessarily for an audience. Knowing an audience is there though, has made me think a lot deeper about what I share though, and it helps me create a “360 Degree View” of my learning; I do my best to focus on all angles of what I am sharing before I share it.

Dean Shareski has also boldly stated, 

I’ve yet to hear anyone who has stuck with blogging suggest it’s been anything less than essential to their growth and improvement. I’ve no “data” to prove this but I’m willing to bet my golf clubs that teachers who blog are our best teachers.

We think so too.

Any questions or tips about sharing and marketing your blog? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!