Blogs for KIDS

Over the last 3 weeks the tech coordinator and I have been helping grades 3-5 create blogs. We are hoping that these blogs will stay with them throughout their school career. It will be a great place to showcase work and watch progress. The kids are excited to start their web presence even though they are viewed by invite only. I now have the potential of tracking 180 blogs!
Sent in my paper for 1B on Saturday night so I could go wall climbing on Sunday. It seems like the fun is just beginning with the last assessment. It should be interesting and hopefully relative to what I do in the library. Our library is lucky to have absolutely no competitors. We are the only game in town. Our smallish library can be filled with over 60 kids in the morning before school starts. It is a cool (AV) place to meet friends, read and connect. I am interested in doing a survey with parents. I haven't finish reading the Welch article but will over the week end.
I see that online learning has so much potential. I wish that students would collaborate more and think less about assessment. Not sure how to help this happen?? Any suggestions?