Blogs in Language Teaching

Language training courseCentro de Idiomas UVA

Ruby Vurdien

Agenda

What is a blog? Why use a blog with students? Different types of blogs Educational blogs Teacher/Tutor blogs Student/Learner blogs Class blogs Advantages Application Teacher’s role V/S Student’s role How to create a blog Activity

What is a blog?

“… a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order”,

Wikipedia, 2006“…personal diary-like-format websites

enabled by easy to use tools and open for everyone to read”,

Efimova and Fiedler, 2003, p. 490.

Why use a blog with students?

Provide a real audience for student writing Provide extra reading practice Guide students to online resources

appropriate for their level Increase sense of community in a class Stimulate out-of-class discussion Help build a closer relationship between

students in large classes

Different types of blogs

Personal(experiences, personal thoughts/opinions,

travel, etc) Educational(mainstream and language learning) Journalistic(publishing articles, reviews) Commercial(promoting products, e.g., food, wine)

Example of a blog

Educational blogs

3 potential blog usages (Campbell, 2003)

Teacher/tutor blog – by teacher for students

Student/learner blog – by student(s) Class blog – by class members

Teacher/Tutor blogs

Channel of communications between teachers and students

Class schedule Regular reading practice Web links Syllabus guide Self-study guide

Example of Teacher blog

Teacher blog Local Project WEDNESDAY 9 DECEMBER 2009 Learning English Dear students,

Here are the next questions for you to think about. Hope you'll find them interesting.Looking forward to reading your comments.

What do you enjoy most about learning English?If any, what other aspects related to the language would you like to learn?

Posted by Ruby Vurdien on Wednesday 9 December 2009 at 14:45

Student/Learner blogs

Individual/group projects Learner diaries Writing practice Give students greater sense of

ownership Allow quieter students to express

themselves

Example of Student blog

Learning languages I would like to make a recommendation. It's a web

page where you can find different people from all around the world who can help you with the learning of the language that they have as mother language and you can help them so that they can learn Spanish. I have begun today so I don't know how it works exactly, but I have heard a lot of good things about this page.

Busuu:http://www.busuu.com/es/home

I hope to read your opinions if you log on to it.

Class blogs

Bulletin board Class discussion Publishing platform for student work Develop writing skills

Advantages

Blogs help learners to: critically reflect comment question review

Advantages

Encourage learner (Independence/ Empowerment/Reflection/

Autonomy) Low pressure learning environment Collaborative learning community Extended learning Higher motivation Authentic interaction

Application

Blogs can be used for: Writing practice Cultural dimension exploring Extra teaching materials (journals, weekly

essays) Blogs should be applied with: significant teacher input teacher’s feedback specific activities or topics

Teacher’s role V/S students’ roles

Teachers: facilitators who help push students to think deeper, learn more and express themselves better

Students: autonomous learners

How To Create a Blog

If you don't have a Google Account: Go to gmail.com Click on “Crear una Cuenta” and fill in all the required information Go to blogspot.com

If you already have a Google Account: Go to blogspot.com Fill in your Google account’s settings in the boxes ‘Correo electronico’

and ‘contraseña’ Click on ‘Acceder’ Click on ‘Crear un blog’ ‘Titulo del blog’ is the title, but ‘dirección del blog’ is the ‘url’. The title can change, but the ‘url’ is unique, so you must choose a

subject for the ‘url’ Choose a template and click on ‘continuar’ The main screen of editing the blog is found in ‘Empezar a publicar’ Write the title, body and tags(if you like) and click on ‘Publicar’

Activity

Write a short introduction of yourself.

Post your views on how blogs might enhance your teaching activity.

Read each other’s blogs and post your comments.