CREATE A BLOG – EMBRACE

THE WORLDAMTESOL 2008

By

Daniela Munca

University of Mississippi

WHAT IS A BLOG?

- online journal where an individual, group, or corporation presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs

- “To blog” is the act of composing material for a blog.

- The “blogosphere” is the online universe of blogs.

- Easy to create and update- Blogger – Google platform: 3 easy

steps!!!

HOW MANY PEOPLE USE BLOGS?

USAToday :37 million blogs in the world, a new blog created every second,

The Pew Internet and American Life Project , "The State of Blogging" , 2005

1. 8 million American adults say they have created blogs;

2. 27% of internet users read blogs3. 32 million American adults who read

blogs4. 75,000 new weblogs are created every

day

Types of blogs used in

language teaching

TEACHER BLOGTeachers use blogs:- as self-reflection journals,

reflecting their teaching experience and recording personal experiments and achievements

- for recording Web sites links and information they would further use in class

- as a professional development tool

THE LEARNER BLOG

requires more time and effort from the teacher to both set up and moderate,

the most rewarding each student creates an individual blog the student's own personal online space. Students write about what interests

them, and post comments on other students'

blogs Great tool to devedelop reading an

writing skills

THE CLASS BLOG

A shared space, with teacher and students being able to write to the main area.

a collaborative discussion space an extra-curricular extension of the

classroom for a deeper reflection on themes touched upon in class.

Students are given a greater sense of freedom and involvement than with the teacher blog.

A very good example is Barbara Dieu's 'Bee Online' http://beeonline.blogspot.com/)

WHY BLOG?ESL Class Blogs -well structured guides to

authentic online resources:

a positive effect on learner motivation. provide authentic cultural information. provide exposure to real language. relate more closely to learners ' needs. support a more creative approach to

teaching.

JEAN PIAGET AND THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

- Life long knowledge is created by each learner individually

- through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences

CLASS BLOGS – A SPACE FOR WELL-ORGANIZED, EASY ACCESSIBLE

COGNITIVE TOOLS:- Derry (1990) - mental devices that

support, guide, and extend the thinking processes of their users.

- Learning with technology (as opposed to learning through technology)

- Computer-based tools that are intended to engage and facilitate cognitive processing

- function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher-order learning

- empower the learners to think more meaningfully and to assume ownership of their knowledge, rather than reproducing the teacher's.

- are learner controlled in the sense that they construct their knowledge themselves using the tools rather than memorizing knowledge

JONASSEN, D. H., & REEVES, T. C. (1996). LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY: USING COMPUTERS AS COGNITIVE TOOLS.

Classes of "mindtools“ or cognitive tools:

semantic organization tools (databases and concept mapping tools),

dynamic modeling tools (spreadsheets and microworlds),

visualization tools (MathLab and Geometry Tutor),

knowledge construction tools ( wikis and blogs), socially shared cognitive tools (computer

conferencing (forums) and computer-supported collaborative projects, blogs, wikis)

How can ESL/EFT teachers

incorporate Cognitive Tools to

teach English?

ESL Blogs – Working Spaces for Students

an effective learning tool for ESL students

develop learner’s autonomy display links to valuable cognitive tools available online

Top 5 Free Must-Have Online Cognitive TOOLS

1. Online Dictionaries (with visual and audio/pronunciation features)

Merriam-Webster online dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/ , VisuWords,

http://www.visuwords.com/

2. Grammar Girl: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/default.aspx

3. Online Essay Map: http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=63

4. Puzzlemaker, http://www.puzzlemaker.com (a Web-based service, with a variety of puzzles to choose from (Letter Tiles, Crosswords, Fallen Phrases).

Kelly's Multiple Choice HTML Quiz Generator, http://a4esl.org/q/h/help/write-mc.html (which may be used to generate interactive self-study quizzes, where the sample questions are replaced with one's own.).

Media Sharing Web 2.0 Tools:

5. Slideshare - the world's largest community for sharing power point presentations on the web

http://www.slideshare.net/

TeacherTube – an online community for sharing instructional videos

http://www.teachertube.com/

Other Cognitive Tools

Jeopardy Game Templates :

http://teach.fcps.net/trt10/PowerPoint.htm

ESL Web Quests:- http://zunal.com/webquest.php?

user=4636- http://www.techtrekers.com/

webquests/

FINAL NOTE : YOUR ESL CLASS BLOG SHOULD:

- be designed as a working space for students

- provide links to all the cognitive tools you want them to use

- display students’ work - encourage collaboration and

feedback exchange - integrate authentic resources - encourage students to participate as

co-authors

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Daniela Muncadvmunca@olemiss.edu

ESL Class Blog: http://dvmunca.blogspot.com/

TeacherWeb page: http://teacherweb.com/MS/universityofmississippi/DanielaMuncaESLInstructor/index.html

Webquest on how to create an ESL blog: http://zunal.com/webquest.php?user=4636

Teachertube link: http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3063e419773b4f310fc2