1. Blogs in Language Teaching Language training course Centro de Idiomas UVA Ruby Vurdien

2. 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 Teachers role V/S Students role How to create a blog Activity

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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)

6. Example of a blog

7. 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

8. Teacher/Tutor blogs Channel of communications between teachers and students Class schedule Regular reading practice Web links Syllabus guide Self-study guide

9. 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 14:4514:45

10. Student/Learner blogs Individual/group projects Learner diaries Writing practice Give students greater sense of ownership Allow quieter students to express themselves

11. Example of Student blog Learning languagesearning 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. Busuu http://www.busuu.com/es/home

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

13. Advantages Blogs help learners to: critically reflect comment question review

14. Advantages Encourage learner (Independence/ Empowerment/Reflection/ Autonomy) Low pressure learning environment Collaborative learning community Extended learning Higher motivation Authentic interaction

15. 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 teachers feedback specific activities or topics

16. Teachers role V/S students roles Teachers: facilitators who help push students to think deeper, learn more and express themselves better Students: autonomous learners

17. 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 accounts 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

18. Activity Write a short introduction of yourself. Post your views on how blogs might enhance your teaching activity. Read each others blogs and post your comments.