Johnson - Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs (I-TESL-J)

Johnson - Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs (I-TESL-J)

An interesting article focusing on setting up class and individual student blogs.
He presents the class blog as a relatively non-interactional tool (more like Campbell's 'Tutor Blog' primarily informative). I intend to create a more interactive class blog (see previous post).
However, he offers some very practical guidance about setting up individual blogs. He advises the teacher to set up learner blogs in the classroom (students come to the computer one by one and enter blog information - student name = blog tile, create URL, choose template, etc), and then the teacher invites the learner onto the blog in the normal way (using the student's real email address). Of course, the student will still need to create a blogger account, even after accepting the blog invitation.
I think I will try this approach rather than the one I outlined earlier - mainly because having students come to the computer will serve as a brief introduction to the idea of blogging and they will almost certainly all have their own email addresses (and I won't need the degree of control that the other system offered).
I have my first class tomorrow. If there's time, we will start creating; otherwise, Thursday morning.
I wonder if other teachers have set up class blogs and what setting up procedure they used...