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Post by joseantoniook on Dec 16, 2010 7:20:56 GMT
Graham Stanley in Blogging for ELT www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/blogging-elt mentions some types of blogs that can be used in language teaching (the tutor blog, the class blog, and the learner blog). What kind of blog do you have or feel like having and why?
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Post by kerric on Jan 16, 2011 11:15:58 GMT
As a novice in the blogging and wiki arena and still pretty new in the ESL world, I would like to first start looking at using the tutor and class blogs. I'd have to rule the learner blog out for the time being - feels unrealistic for me at present - too time-consuming when I am still pretty new to the classroom and new to integrating IT tools in the classroom. I feel I wouldn't give my students the time and attention they need - I don't want to introduce technology for technology's sake - I need to introduce it in appropriate stages to achieve specific outcomes, especially while I'm still learning myself. I like the idea of the tutor blog for students who like to work online, want a bit more structure and direction, and have limited time to complete activities in the week eg, I'm thinking of some of my adult classes. It could help keep students disciplined. It could also develop into a 'class blog' if students identify the need - i like the idea of developing consumer-driven products - if students want it, we can develop it together based on their needs and interests - i believe a student-led approach creates more ownership and desire to keep the tool alive - greater chances of success.
I like the class blog, as I am very much driven by student-led learning. I'd love to provide classes with an interactive space that deepens their learning experience in ways that work for them. I can imagine my teenage classes in particular being keen users and contributors to a class blog - as long as it is interesting and relevant to them, simple and not time-consuming, but also stimulating and challenging. Some blogs I have seen are quite static and uninteresting - focussed solely on getting written responses to a topic. I do see the value of being able to evaluate student writing and thinking in an online forum and to have students challenged by fellow students, but I don't think simply using blogs for discussion threads will result in quality work from all students. I believe in order to stimulate and encourage quality participation in a blog/web space, I would also want to ensure that it contained stimulating content and interactive exercises - discussion topics, images, links to other web-based activities etc - to get the most out of an online learning experience - make it enjoyable, fun and challenging - a place where students want to go.
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sonia
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by sonia on Jan 17, 2011 9:54:00 GMT
I created a blog in 2009. I use it as a portal for French teenagers who would like to practise their English outside the classroom. I try to provide all sorts of tips to make learning English enjoyable. To my mind it is a creative activity for a teacher and I think it saves time for students if they have a selection of links. There are so many useful resources on the Internet ! I would have liked to make my blog interactive but I’ve only had very comments so far.
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Post by nadinne on Jan 17, 2011 17:04:37 GMT
My first educational blog started in 2010 - my personal blog about education, but at the same time I decided to create a blog for my students, to encourage them to read and use the internet for something else, not only for playing and chatting.
So far I have created and used a tutor's blog which proved quite successful among my students. I posted a certain topic weekly, or an assignment, and they had to do the tasks they were required and to post comments or links to other web pages.
I would like to try the learner blog as I feel I could encourage my students even more - it'd stimulate thier creativity, originality, interest, they'd become more motivated.
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Post by patriciaceola on Jan 17, 2011 18:09:45 GMT
Well, I´ve been reading and trying to get into a conclusion. I don´t have a blog or a wiki, but I´d like to have something to share videos, assignments, info, etc with them. Something interactive and interesting, mainly because they are all adults. A colleague suggested Google sites, but I´m still in doubt. I can´t start both right now, too time-consuming. I´ll be reading the posts and see what you all recommend. Thanks
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Post by joseantoniook on Jan 17, 2011 21:52:23 GMT
Hello Kerric,
I liked reading your comments on having a blog or a wiki. You are right, for novice bloggers a tutor blog is a good idea. As you said, you need some time to learn and then you will be able to teach your students about blogging. You are right. Blogs should be more communicative and promote interaction among students.
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Post by joseantoniook on Jan 17, 2011 21:56:46 GMT
Hello Sonia, Blogs are very good to work as portals. It is a place to keep students connected to the class. And, as you also pointed out, it is a place to share interesting links as well.
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Post by joseantoniook on Jan 17, 2011 22:01:47 GMT
My first educational blog started in 2010 - my personal blog about education, but at the same time I decided to create a blog for my students, to encourage them to read and use the internet for something else, not only for playing and chatting.
So far I have created and used a tutor's blog which proved quite successful among my students. I posted a certain topic weekly, or an assignment, and they had to do the tasks they were required and to post comments or links to other web pages.
I would like to try the learner blog as I feel I could encourage my students even more - it'd stimulate thier creativity, originality, interest, they'd become more motivated.
Hello Nadine, Very nice to know you are an experienced blogger. As you probably have noticed, blogs are good for practicing writing. Learners blogs certainly encourage creativity and do get them motivated. Cheers
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Post by joseantoniook on Jan 17, 2011 22:07:37 GMT
Hello Patricia,
If you have so many doubts, you came to the right place. I am sure this week will help you explore the potential of blogs and wikis and will help you out in deciding what is more appropriate for your classes. Good luck and count on us if you have any doubts.
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Post by mariabossa on Jan 18, 2011 19:14:31 GMT
Hi!!! I have found the article "Bloggin for ELT" very easy to read and to understand! As far as your question is concerned, I started my blog (http://mariabossa.blogspot.com/) as a learning space for myself. If you visit it, you will read the comments about being there just for learning! For the time being, it's only personal and very simple. But I'd like to start using blogs with my students this 2011 school year (in Argentina we have classes from March to December) so I hope I have the time to learn how to use them, esp the "class blog". However, I still have a doubt which I posted in the other forum. "How different is a blog from a FCBK account?" I have students who have created their own FCBK account as a group and they all post there. I'll be more than happy if you can help me! Smiles, Maria
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Post by cioccas on Jan 18, 2011 23:39:24 GMT
Good article, I will use this to help explain blogging to my colleagues. Like Maria, I started a blog to record personal thoughts, but have very recently re-started it to share things with other teachers. This followed a local PD session I presented at and used the blog to demonstrate some ELT websites. cioccas.blogspot.com I used a class blog when I was teaching a part-time evening class of adult learners. It was a great way for me to let students who missed classes know what we'd done in our computer lab sessions and became a forum for students to share information with each other and they even organised an excursion during the holiday break on there! I've just started playing around with Posterous - posterous.com - as a personal blog - I like it because I can very easily post text, images & audio via email or from my iPhone. Cheers, Lesley
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Post by sophiac1 on Jan 19, 2011 9:42:40 GMT
After reading the article, I started reflecting and thinking about ways of incorporating blogging to my teaching. As a start I am speculating the idea of a teacher blog, where I feel I would control the things more easily at the beginning. I would use it as en extension to our lessons, given learners a place where they could express themselves more openly, without the fear of their peers in a classroom context. Activities would be somethng like extra readings or follow up questions on readngs in the classroom, additional material for further practice, or videos to supplement the topic. Later on, I think I would develop a student blog, as I feel that this would give a sense of orientation to learners by having their own space and interact with other peers and teacher according to their wish. An additional key here,I think, is that the teacher can support the learner on individual basis, and I regard this element fundamental. Still, there are, of course, several things to conceive and consider, by practising new ideas wll come up, and be developed. But for sure, blogging in teaching seems a step forward.
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Post by juandomingo on Jan 19, 2011 16:39:24 GMT
Hello everybody, I have made use of blogs. Some blogs were used as portfolios for the courses, it was great to experience that an see all the work done during the year! and I consider that it would be a great tool to be used with the students who are going to have a netbook each. I have also prepared a blog for the students of the school, where they can read and practise what we see in class. I created this blog, because I consider that students have different times when learning comes into play, and in a classroom that time cannot be managed with such huge classes. I have 34 students per class, so I had thought that this blog would be able to help the students to revise and re inforce what we have seen in the class. After 3 years the results could be seen, there were better results at the exams. It was their resposibility to go there and study. Of course, they could ask in class, but the material offered in the blog seemed to have been of great help. I have never created a blog where the students could create, but I'm going to see a way where they can make use of some tools offered at the web 2.0 and post them in the blog, so other students could see each other's taks. I share them with you, but they are in Spanish! the school blog school735.blogspot.com/The course blog (my portfolio) reflexionessobretic.blogspot.com/Regards, Juan Domingo
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Post by claudiom on Jan 20, 2011 3:56:22 GMT
Hi, everybody I agree with all of the comments posted so far. I have done a blog recently, but I myself was not secure enough to use it as way of enriching my learning experience and my students as well. However, after reading the articles showing the different kinds of blogs I want to create a tutor´s blog and from this experience expanding to a class blog. I felt insecure on how to use my blog, because I just created it without a real purpose in mind, a blog must be interesting and a platform to improve students contact with the language through videos, podcasting, readings, and writings. This time I will get more information on how to create my blog and use the kiss principle to reach my goals. Try to keep it simple and short.... thank you very much...
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Post by nataliya on Jan 20, 2011 11:37:23 GMT
Hi everybody. I created my blog in March 2010. mystepsschool4.blogspot.com/It is mainly about my professional development. I share my thoughts with my colleagues. It is in Ukrainian. Though sometimes I need to share some posts with my foreign colleagues, but to have two similar blogs is very time-consuming. Can I somehow incorporate a special gadget for translation? I also like the ideas of creating a class blogs or wikis. I think I will create a wiki for my students to enable them to interact with each other and get some epals. Nataliya
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