How to Set Up a Student Blogging Project (With Free Tools)
Writing for a real audience changes everything. When students know someone beyond their teacher will read their work, they invest more care in both content and presentation. A class blogging project — set up safely with the right tools — is one of the most effective writing activities available to teachers.
Why student blogging works
- Authentic audience: real readers (classmates, parents, other classes globally) raise stakes and motivation.
- Writing fluency: regular low-stakes writing builds speed and confidence more than occasional high-stakes essays.
- Digital literacy: students learn to publish responsibly — attribution, image copyright, online identity.
- Portfolio: a blog is a record of growth over a year — students and parents can see progress clearly.
Platform options
Edublogs (recommended for schools)
Edublogs is WordPress built specifically for education. The teacher creates a class blog and each student gets a sub-blog. Privacy settings allow you to: keep blogs private (only the class sees them), share with parents only, or publish publicly. No student needs to provide a personal email address — the teacher creates all accounts. Free plan available; the school plan is paid but often purchased district-wide.
Google Sites
Students each build a personal Google Site with a blog page. Completely free, integrates with school Google accounts, privacy controlled by sharing settings. Less "blog-like" in format but fully functional. No personal emails needed — runs on school accounts.
Blogger
Google's free blogging platform. Requires a Google account (students' school accounts work if your domain allows it). Clean interface, free, no ads. Privacy settings allow restricted access. Best for secondary students who want a more authentic blogging experience.
Safety first: non-negotiable steps
- Get written consent from parents before students publish anything publicly. Include clear information about what will be published and who can see it.
- Set blogs to private by default. Decide deliberately whether to make work public — do not let the default setting decide for you.
- Teach digital citizenship first. Spend one lesson on: what not to share online (home address, school name, photos with faces), how to choose a safe username and what to do if they see something inappropriate.
- Use school email accounts only. Students should never create accounts with personal email addresses on school tools.
- Establish a commenting protocol. Comments must be specific, kind and helpful. Post the protocol on the classroom wall and in the blog sidebar.
Getting started — first three weeks
Week 1: Set up accounts. Students write an "About Me" post — name (first name only if public), year group, three interests. No home addresses, school names or family surnames.
Week 2: Students comment on two classmates' posts using the commenting protocol. Discuss in class what makes a good comment vs a superficial one.
Week 3: First real post on the unit topic. Teacher conferences with three or four students per session, leaving comments as feedback.
Post ideas that work well
- Book reviews (what you read, what you thought, who should read it)
- Reflections on a trip, event or experiment
- Opinion pieces ("Should school start later?", "Is social media good for society?")
- Step-by-step tutorials for something students know how to do
- Creative writing — short stories, poems, flash fiction
- Subject reflections — "three things I learned this week about [topic]"