From what we’ve been practicing here, you might have noticed by now that the main aspect of blogging is its interactive feature. People blog for different purposes, be it for personal or professional reasons. Indeed, the “Weblogs” provide a means for a dialogue.
Will Richardson, in his very recent book, “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other powerful web tools for the classroom”, states the difference between a blog and a webpage “…what really distinguishes a blog from your run-of-the-mill Website is much more than process; it’s what you’ll find there. Weblogs are not built on static chunks of content. Instead, they are comprised of reflections and conversations that in many cases are updated every day (if not three or four times a day). Blogs engage readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask readers to think and to respond. They demand interaction.”
Can you see the potential of this Web tool in your classroom?
Well, we were very glad that we could start this talk about blogging with a truly interactive audience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, doubts and ideas with us! This is not to say good-bye, but just to praise your take off! Now, you are ready to reach the sky.
Below, you’ll find some examples of different types of blogs in the classroom according to Aaron Campbell (2003), cited in Graham Stanley’s text. Explore these examples as you wish and relate them to your own setting and your students’ objectives and needs.
The Tutor Blog
http://top21.blogspot.com/
- Professional Development
http://blogenough.blogspot.com/ Collaborative Blogging
http://ctjonline.edublogs.org/ – Workshop on Blogging
The Class Blog
http://virtualnewyork.blogspot.com/ Virtual Trip to NY
http://ctjonline.blogspot.com/ - Reading Project ( The Pit and the Pendulum)
- International Exchanges
http://brazilargentina.blogspot.com/ Brazil and Argentina
http://mechanicaltorpedoseahorse.podomatic.com/ Brazil and Portugal
http://internationalexchange.blogspot.com/ Brazil and Arizona
The Learners blogs
http://shota.eslblogs.org/ - Aaron Campbell’s student
http://kamiiille.blogspot.com/ - Bee Dieu’s student
http://belhassens.blogspot.com/ - Bee Dieu’s student
http://berti01.blogspot.com/ - Bee Dieu’s student
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Ready to set up a blog?
TASK 3: access http://www.blogger.com/ and create your own blog.
Share with us the link to it, your first impressions and questions.
If you already have a Blogger account, share the link and your experience with it.
We want to know it all!!!
We’ll be around to help you out, and, on Thursday, Silvana Carnicero will take the lead.
Thanks for your enthusiasm.
Carla and Erika
4 comments:
Thanks for the great examples of interactive blogs! There are definitely ideas I'll be trying out with my classes.
I think the interaction with classes from other countries is a great idea - I'll come back to that when school starts again:-)
Will you be helping us out with adding video?
I'm looking forward to more
:-D
Illya
Dear Illya,
Great that you enjoyed just some of zillions of examples you can have online.
The international exchange blogging experience was a huge success for both groups! Some students were really eager to interact with their international partners and kept doing so even after classes were over.
About videos, we'll come back to them later on so that we don't overwhelm people with lots of features. But I can tell you that today it's not a big issue. There are simple ways to do it.
Carla
Super color scheme, I like it! Good job. Go on.
»
This is a wealth of resources, a lot to see and to learn! I feel like taking up a blog international exchange with my
students next term.
Nahir.
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