Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Week #4: Web 2.0 Blogging


Our weekly topic this time was bloggin. You might be wondering what a blog is. Well, a blog (abbreviated from weblog) is often described as an online journal but blogs can also be better described as "web sites that are easily created and updated by those with even a minimum of technology know-how"(1). In other words, blogs are like online diaries.
For educational purposes blogs are an excellent tool teachers should use in their classrooms. Any post (topic published) can become a discussion and that is why participation is key in this process of knowledge exchange. As language teachers we have many possibilities when using blogs for and in our classes. We post our perspective of a topic, or a reading exercise, or just a simple question regarding the language we teach, and then students participate actively in the discussion of that post and that's how relationships and collaborative work are built.
In the field of Language Teaching, Aaron Campbell (2003) has outlined three types of blogs: the tutor blog, the class blog, and the learner blog (2). Each of these three types of blog can be used in language classes to provide students with the ideal space to share their thoughts, comments, knowledge, and discuss topics related to language learning.
Blogs are also a way to create different communities of bloggers (people that blog) and contact other teachers and students that do the same thing we do and have common interests. In simple words: blogs give people the power of the media, in this particular case the power of education and teaching. It'll depend on us to use it properly for the right purpose.
And you, what would you do with this power?
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Check this video that shows, in a simple and illustrative way, this great tool.

References:

2 comments:

  1. Hey, Cire! I also like the series of "In Plain English" videos. They resemble your explanations in this blog: with all the information but easy to understand!

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  2. Hi Cirene, like María Fernanda I also enjoyed this video a lot. Beautiful blog!
    Will always come back to read you!
    Jackie Maraca Cucha

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