# data[].attributes.body
Students - Kidblog provides all K-12 teachers and students who have mobile devices or access to a computer, the tools to safely publish student writing.

Ease of Use -  Kidblog empowers students to write with a meaningful purpose for a real audience providing an intuitive and easy-to-use interface allowing students to practice digital citizenship within a secure environment.

Costs - The service and app are free but with restrictions. Purchasing plans (very affordable) for schools and districts enable more students within a class and multiple classes.

Teaching Functions - Kidblog enables schools to document student learning over time which is a great way to foster teaching and learning. With no manual curation required, students' portfolios are built automatically across classes, demonstrating growth year-over-year. Also, parents can celebrate their children's achievements throughout their academic journey providing incentives to keep going.

Interactivity -  With KidBlog, synchronous and asynchronous communication  (student to student or student to teacher) can be found within this service making it  so easy to connect with other classes down the hallway, across your district, or around the world.

Organizational Issues - This service is supported by many school districts and schools with excellent and fast tech support. It now supports all of Google’s services. Embed Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, PDFs, audio and videos. You'll see files "stuck" in Google Drive truly come to life in Kidblog posts.

Networking - This blogging service can connect students to the outside world if enabled. It provides an “Authentic Audience” allowing students to become professional writers.

Security and Privacy - Kidblog can be accessed quickly using their app or via their website but will need a login to access student information. All student posts can be moderated by the teacher and approved or disapproved before it gets posted live. Teachers also have the ability to hide all student work from the public if desired.

-Kevin Andrews

# data[].attributes.body
Challenges...

Source: Gon, S. & Rawekar, A. Effectivity of e-learning through Whatsapp as a teaching learning tool. MVP Journal of Medical Sciences, 4(1), 19-25. Doi: 10.18311/mvpjms/2017/v4il/8454

# data[].attributes.body
Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t heard of LINE before, and I hadn’t ever considered using WhatsApp as a teaching tool. Here are some highlights from an article I found about using WhatsApp as a teaching learning tool:

Source: Gon, S. & Rawekar, A. Effectivity of e-learning through Whatsapp as a teaching learning tool. MVP Journal of Medical Sciences, 4(1), 19-25. Doi: 10.18311/mvpjms/2017/v4il/8454

# data[].attributes.body
Slack is a mobile collaboration and communication application that we use at school for both classes and clubs.
Students:
Works across all platforms and operating systems
Ease of use:
Easy to load app and set up groups. Can belong to multiple sub- groups under one main group.
Cost:
Free for the app. Require internet connectivity.
Teaching function:
Used for class and group notification and file sharing. Can set up collaborative spaces for project work.
Interaction:
Allows for collaborative spaces, both formal and informal. Allows for synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Organizational issues:
May have to be approved for use by jurisdiction. Teacher would have to act as administrator of group if used in class or school sanctioned clubs.
Networking:
Networking is possible but teacher would have to monitor and add external sources for students to interact with for security reasons.
Security and Privacy:
Compliance certifications and security features for Slack can be found by navigating to their Security link.
Ed

# data[].attributes.body
I'm looking at this app in relation to how I use it . . .

S - Most students have a mobile phone, but I like that students can use their laptops or other devices and still join in the activities.
E - The app is really easy to use on students' and the teacher's end. Students just need to log in to the right room to join in. The app is high quality, simple, and reliable. It's also easy to quickly adjust content on the fly. Final bonus: time isn't spent trying to figure out how to use the tech.
C - The app is free, if you're using it with small groups of students.
T - The simplicity of the platform is good because it doesn't distract from the overall teaching and learning. It's a formative teaching tool, so I avoid using it for summative assessment.
I - This app is great for student-student interaction and student-teacher interaction, depending on purpose of use. It can be used for student-resource interaction, but I rarely use it for this function.
O - The app isn't supported by the school, so if there are glitches, I can't really rely on IT. Because the app is mostly reliable, I don't have to worry so much. As well, the Socrative team seems really responsive based on social media presence.
N - The app doesn't really connect students to outside networking opportunities, but that's not really the point. It's mostly used for internal networking and creating experiences in class and through LMS.
S - Teachers can make the rooms private, but privacy isn't totally secure. Good breakdown here: https://privacy.commonsense.org/review/socrative

- Paige

# data[].attributes.body
A messaging app similar to WhatsApp or WeChat that is dominant in Japan. As all (or almost all) students with a phone will have LINE it is very easy for students to use and to have them engaged. It is also free as long as students have internet access (data is typically not an issue). It is easy to create groups and have both chats or calls facilitated through the technology.