Blogging in EFL/ESL

Moderators:

Jane Petring, Montréal, Québec <want2no7@yahoo.ca>

Anna Koorey, Sydney, Australia <aas56@yahoo.com>

Susanne Nyrop, Farum, Denmark
<s.nyrop@os.dk>

Weblogs (or blogs) have evolved from easily updated private online journals into a multimodal collaborative tool for information exchange and reflection.

This online session will encourage participants to explore possible uses, and to create their own blogs as a project of collaboration and peer exchange of ideas and knowledge. We will examine and compare several current blogging tools and how they could be put to use with ESL/EFL learners. We will also consider how to use multimedia content, such as audio recorded voice messages, podcasts, photos and videos. Participants will work together in a group blog, and become familiar with group features, such as multiple authors, clustering Friend of a Friend (FOAF), and interest sharing by keyword tagging, blog rolls, RSS and aggregation software. This way we hope to encourage the development of community oriented practices.

Target Audience

Educators who wish to use weblogs with their classes to encourage online social interaction and reflection through collaboration. Participants need to have some experience with word processors and the basics of Internet navigation. People who already know how to work with blogs are encouraged to join us from the start to help with tips and tricks. By the last part of the course we will all be ready to experiment with collaborative uses of blogs in education.

Weekly Content

Week I – Introductions and Getting Acquainted, Survey and a Look at Some Blogs

Participants will meet the moderators and other participants by introducing themselves, describing their degree of blogging experience, pinpointing their location on the Frappr map and posting their picture.

Week II – Comparing Blogs with Forums, Webpages and Wikis

We will look at a variety of blogs (personal and classroom) used in ESL/EFL and discuss their relative merits, contrasting them with forums, webpages and wikis. Participants will look at different bloghosts and then open their own blog using the bloghost of their choice.

Week III - Building a Community Using RSS Feeds

We will explore how to configure and personalize blogs by adding RSS (really simple syndication) feed links to weblogs and begin using aggregators to subscribe to the newly created blogs of other participants and blogs that relate to student work and interests.

Week IV - Beyond the Text: Multimedia Weblogs

We will discover ways to enrich blogging activities by incorporating images and sound. Examples of typical Audioblogs, Photoblogs, Moblogs and Videoblogs will be discussed, along with the various software applications that support working with images and sound.

Week V - Weblogging Projects

We will look at several collaborative projects, blogging communities, and the use of E-portfolios that are currently underway. Open-source applications such as ELGG, a hybrid of weblogging, e-portfolios, and social networking, will be explored as well as community-building projects, such as http://www.dekita.org/exchange

Week VI - Building a Community of Practice

Finally, participants will be encouraged to explore how to cultivate and maintain an engaging and dynamic online learning community through blogging. Participants will be asked to complete a session evaluation.

Recommended readings will be included in the appropriate week’s tasks as well.

Communication Media

Collaborative Blogging Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blog06

Yahoo Messenger- http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Tapped In - http://www.tappedin.org/

Alado - http://www.alado.net

Learning Times - http://www.learningtimes.net

Dekita - http://www.dekita.org/exchange

Blogger - http://www.blogger.com/

Bloglines - http://www.bloglines.com

ELGG - http://elgg.net/index.php

About the Moderators:

Anna Koorey teaches ESL at AMES (Adult Migrant English Service) and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) in Sydney Australia. She has recently taught e-learning, blended learning and trained other teachers in integrating computer technology. She also manages the Educational Computer Room at AMES. Anna has a Masters Degree in Computers in Education, a Postgraduate Certificate in Multimedia and Online Learning and a Certificate III in IT. She participated in EVO courses in 2004 and 2005.

Susanne Nyrop works as a free agent with the development of online communities of practice, courses and conferences at Course Center Djursland and Knowplace/Capilano College in Vancouver, BC. She works from her home in Farum, north of Copenhagen, Denmark and has a background in education-related ICT and communication. She has been a member of Webheads in Action since 2002 and has been an avid participant and co-moderator of EVO courses.

Jane Petring is a teacher at Collège Édouard-Montpetit near Montréal, Québec. She recently co-authored a textbook for college level ESL students (Prospect: English Skills for Academic and Professional Purposes), is an active member of the multi-media committee at her college, and uses blogs and computer technology regularly in the classroom. She has a Master’s Degree in TESOL from Michigan State University and a Diploma in Translation from McGill University and participated in EVO courses in 2004 and 2005.

To join this session:

Go to the Collaborative Blogging in EFL/ESL Yahoo Group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blog06

and click on the blue button:

To read about other EVO sessions:

Electronic Village Online

Jan-Feb 2006

Collaborative Blogging in EFL/ESL

TIMELINE

Collaborative Blogging in EFL/ESL