An introduction to blogging in the EFL Classroom. Helen Collins. TESOL 2012 Bilbao

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1 An introduction to blogging in the EFL Classroom. Bio Helen Collins TESOL 2012 Bilbao Helen is a teacher and the ICT Support Trainer at ELI, Seville. Before moving to Seville, she was a qualified IT Systems Engineer and Trainer. Her interests include blogging and using ICT as a teaching tool. Since qualifying as an EFL teacher, she has gained the IHCYL, Blended ICT Teaching with Technology and the Delta. Abstract Do you spend hours looking for online materials only to lose them again? Are you looking for new ideas to engage your students in reading and writing tasks? This talk explores how blogs can be used in the EFL classroom. No knowledge required and there are lots of examples and practical ideas to get started. Of special interest to teachers of pre-teens and teens.

2 An introduction to blogging in the EFL Classroom. Why use blogs? Engage Engage your students with authentic materials on the Internet. Get creative using free webtools and taking a taskbased approach to learning. Motivate Blogs are public. Somebody else will see your work for private class blogs your classmates will see your work, for public blogs, a much wider audience will see your blog. Students (and teachers) are more careful about their work when they know somebody else is going to see it, and seeing a finished product online is very motivating. Collaboarate Encourages students to collaborate with each other. By commenting on each other s work in an appropriate manner and helping each other to use online tools students develop collaborate skills that will help them in other areas of their learning/work lives. Authentic Blogging is an authentic task. Not only are students learning English, they are also learning authentic and useful life skills. The Flipped or Connected Classroom Extend your classroom by using your blog to prepare for and continue work done in the classroom. Instead of workbook exercises, make homework more fun by using online games, video and voice recording for students to complete at home. Helen Collins Do you Blog? 1

3 Getting Started Checklist Plan and think ahead before you start and it will save time later. What type of blog do you want? Teacher, Student or Class? Investigate and choose an appropriate platform. Do you need/have you got parental permission? There are specialist educational platforms that may give comfort to some parents. Is it going to be private or public? This depends on content. Public is more authentic and encourages students to be more careful about their work. Private is safer and may be more acceptable to parents. Is the name easy to remember? If you/your students can t find the blog, you won t use it. How are you going to organise it? Spending time planning this can save a lot of time later and provide an easy reference source for your students. How much time are you planning on spending in class? This depends on the type of blog you create. A good guideline for a class/student blog is 10 per cent of class time for beginning bloggers. How much time do you have? A blog is very quick and easy to create, but some planning is involved before creating it. Once you ve learned how to use your blog, it s up to you how much time you want to spend on it. Are your students digital natives or digital immigrants? Whether native or immigrant, you will need to show students what to do and some class time is necessary at first, but they ll learn very quickly and soon be independent bloggers. How are you going to assess student work? Give clear instructions and use rubrics so students can self-assess before submitting any work. Start Small. You need to know your blog before you ask your students to do tasks. Use it! Have your blog up in the classroom as students enter. The more you use it the more your students will participate and use it. Helen Collins Do you Blog? 2

4 Things to Consider Quick Start Blogging Plan your lessons carefully. Instructions need to be clear, either on a handout or on the blog. If students are not sure of what they are doing, they ll quickly lose interest. Set up Blogging Rules to ensure students use L2 and become aware of blogging etiquette. To help students know what is expected of them, and encourage learner autonomy, use rubrics so students can self-assess before publishing. Copyright law. It s important you and your students have permission to use video, images and texts on the Internet. See for more information. Some students don t like using technology. Include participation in your assessment to encourage them to complete tasks. Have something ready for fast finishers. Have a back up plan. Technology sometimes fails! Post useful links and important information, like holidays and exam dates, for you and your students Post class/homework instructions students have no excuse for not keeping up when they miss a class or forgetting what to do. Start with getting students to comment on anything you post on the blog. Introduce your blogging rules. Embed online games and quizzes for students to do as homework. Use free online webtools to create short animations. Use for introducing topics, listening, reading, etc. They can be reused for revision, or next year. (See 15 Great Blogging Tools below.) Use authentic online materials as prompts for speaking and writing tasks. Get students to embed and write about their favourite Youtube video. Students keep an online diary write about their learning, weekend, etc. Save your time get students to find materials they want to use in class and post it on the blog! Helen Collins Do you Blog? 3

5 Popular Edublog Platforms Great Tools to liven up your blog (create animated cartoons) (create a speaking avatar) (create online quizzes and embed in your blog) (students complete speaking tasks and post them on them on the blog) (create an online story book) (create online flashcards and embed) (create online flash games and embed in your blog) (create online movies using images) There are hundreds of free tools to use with your blog. Here are some easy tools to get started. (convert Powerpoint to flash to embed in your blog) (create online book using Flickr images) (create educational games and embed) Find out more (convert Powerpoint, Word and other documents to embed in your blog) (collaborative working and embed documents, powerpoints, etc. in blog) (create moving reading texts) (create an online noticeboard) Helen Collins helen@eli.es, Helen Collins Do you Blog? 4