Blogs are web logs or journals, posted to a website where they can be seen by anyone (Erben, Ban & Castañeda, 2009).
How can ESL teachers use a weblog in their classes?
Campbell (2003) introduces three possible ways that weblogs could be put to immediate use with ESL classroom learning:
(1) The Tutor Blog
This is a type of weblog that is run by the tutor for the learners. It serves the following purposes:- It gives daily reading practice to the learners.
- It promotes exploration of English websites.
- It encourages online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons.
- It provides class or syllabus information.
- It serves as a resource of links for self-study.
(2) The Learner Blog
These are blogs that are either run by individual learners themselves or by small collaborative groups of learners.
(3) The Class Blog
This type of blog is the result of the collaborative effort of an entire class.
Blogging with students: A guide for getting you and your students going with blogging.
Free blogging sites:
http://www.blogger.com/
http://edublogs.org/why-edublogs/
Audioblogs and vodcasts
Audioblogs combine blog and audio file technologogy. Users can post audiofiles online, instead of or in addition to text files, and share these files with an audience. The entries are catalogues by date and time and are stored as an audio portfolio (Erben, Ban & Castañeda, 2009).
A vodcast is similar to a podcast* but, instead of only audio, a vodcast contains video.
* A podcast is a digital file that is created and posted on the Internet and can be played back on a mobile device or on a personal computer.
Copyright basics:
Guide des droits d'auteur sur Internet- MELS
Creative Commons Licence:
A site to teach students how to respect the copyrights: http://www.copyrightkids.org/
Blogging Guidelines
As a blogger, you are expected to follow these blogging guidelines below. Use the questions in italics to help you decide what is appropriate to post on your blog.
1. Only post things that you would want everyone (at the university, at home, in other countries) to know. Ask yourself: Is this something I want everyone to see?
2. Do not share personal information. Ask yourself: Could someone find me (in real life) based on this information?
3. Think before you post. Ask yourself: What could be the consequences of this post?
4. Know who you’re communicating with. Ask yourself: Who is going to look at this, and how are they going to interpret my words?
5. Consider your audience. Ask yourself: Do I have a good reason/purpose to do this?
6. Know how to give constructive feedback. Ask yourself: What will I cause by writing this post?
7. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Ask yourself: Would I want someone to say this to me?
8. Use appropriate language and proper grammar and spelling. Ask yourself: Would I want this post to be graded for proper grammar and spelling?
9. Only post information that you can verify is true (no gossiping). Ask yourself: Is this inappropriate, immature or bullying?
10. Anytime you use media from another source, be sure to properly cite the creator of the original work. Ask yourself: Who is the original creator of this work?
Commenting Guidelines
As a blogger, you will be commenting on other people’s work regularly. Good comments:
- are constructive, but not hurtful;
- consider the author and the purpose of the post;
- are always related to the content of the post;
- include personal connections to what the author wrote;
- answer a question, or add meaningful information to the content topic;
- follow the writing process. Comments are a published piece of writing.
The founder of multiple-intelligences theory discusses the challenges ethics and education face as digital media become more prevalent.
Discussion Questions
1. What are specific ethical issues you see kids struggling when they use digital media?2. How is our sense of identity changing in the digital world? How can adults learn from kids and guide them at the same time?
3. Digital tools make it extremely easy to communicate with anyone in the world. What are the opportunities and challenges for kids?
4. Do you think digital media are having a negative impact on kids' attention span? What are the implications for home and school?
5. How does teaching and learning change in a world where information is at your fingertips?
http://beyondtextbooks.org/
A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs (Developed by Karen Franker, 2010)
ELEMENT
|
Exemplary
3 |
Proficient
2 |
Partially Proficient
1 |
Unsatisfactory
0 |
POINTS
|
| Content and Creativity | |||||
| Postings provide comprehensive insight, understanding, and reflective thought about the topic. | Postings provide moderate insight, understanding and reflective thought about the topic. | Postings provide minimal insight, understanding and reflective thought about the topic. | Postings show no evidence of insight, understanding or reflective thought about the topic. | ____/3 | |
| Postings present a focused and cohesive viewpoint that is substantiated by effective supporting examples. | Postings present a specific viewpoint that is substantiated by supporting examples. | Postings present a specific viewpoint but lack supporting examples. | Postings present no specific viewpoint and no supporting examples are provided. | ____/3 | |
| Postings are creatively and fluently written to stimulate dialogue and commentary. | Postings are generally well written with some attempts made to stimulate dialogue and commentary. | Postings are brief and unimaginative, and reflect minimal effort to connect with the audience. | Postings are written in a half-hearted, disjointed manner that reflects no awareness of effective communication. | ____/3 | |
| Voice | Postings are written in a style that is appealing and appropriate for the intended audience and a consistent voice is evident throughout. | Postings are written in a style that is generally appropriate for the intended audience and an attempt is made to use a consistent voice. | Postings are written in a style that does not fully consider the audience, and the author’s voice is difficult to identify. | Postings are carelessly written with no attempt to consider the audience and no awareness of author voice. | ____/3 |
| Postings reflect the author’s unique personality through expressive and carefully selected word choices that bring the topic to life. | Postings reflect a bit of the author’s personality through word choices that attempt to bring the topic to life. | Postings reflect almost no personality and little attempt is made to use effective word choices to bring the topic to life. | Postings are devoid of any personality; words used are trite and unexpressive. | ____/3 | |
| Organization | Uses a consistent organizational structure that is easy to follow and places the most recent posts at the top of the page. | Uses a generally consistent organizational structure, with the most current posting listed at the top. | Uses a loosely defined organizational structure that shows minimal awareness of the need for consistency. | Fails to provide a consistent organizational structure and shows no awareness of the need for consistency. | ____/3 |
| Timeliness | Updates blog as often or more often than required; all posts are date-stamped. | Updates blog when required; most posts are date-stamped. | Updates blog when reminded; posts are often missing a date stamp. | Fails to update blog within the required time frame. | ____/3 |
| Mechanics | Writes with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. | Writes with minor editing errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. | Writes with major errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling. (3 or more errors) | Writes with numerous major errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling. (More than 5 errors) | ____/3 |
| Text Layout | Effectively uses the blog software’s text formatting capabilities to enhance the content’s visual appeal and increase readability. | Uses some of the blog software’s text formatting capabilities to enhance the content’s visual appeal and increase readability. | Uses very few of the blog software’s text formatting capabilities. | Uses none of the blog software’s text formatting capabilities. | ____/3 |
| Hyperlinks | Includes links to relevant, up-to-date websites or documents that enhance the information presented in the blog postings. | Includes links to websites or documents, but not all links enhance the information presented in the blog postings. | Includes links to websites or documents that add little value to the information presented in the blog postings. | Does not include any links, or the links selected are of poor quality and do not add any value to the information presented in the blog postings. | ____/3 |
| Graphics and Multimedia | Selects and inserts high quality graphics and multimedia when appropriate to enhance and extend the content. | Selects and inserts graphics and multimedia that are mostly high quality and enhance and clarify the content. | Selects and inserts many low-quality graphics and multimedia which do not enhance the content. | Does not insert any graphics, or uses only low-quality graphics and multimedia, which do not enhance the content. | ____/3 |
| Acknowledges all image and multimedia sources with captions or annotations. | Acknowledges most image and multimedia sources with captions or annotations. | Acknowledges only a few multimedia and image sources and uses incomplete captions or annotations. | Fails to acknowledge any image or multimedia sources, either with a caption or an annotation. | ____/3 | |
| Citation | Consistently uses standard bibliographic format to cite all sources, including direct quotations. | Uses standard bibliographic format to cite sources most of the time. | Does not use standard bibliographic format to cite sources, and citations are incomplete. | Does not cite any sources. | ____/3 |
| Accurately cites all sources of information to support the credibility and authority of the opinions presented. | Most sources are cited accurately, and support the credibility of the opinions presented. | Few sources are cited accurately, and they fail to adequately support the credibility of the opinions presented. | Does not provide any accurate information about sources used. | ____/3 | |
| Comments and Contributions | Writes comments on other students’ blog postings that are consistently positive, respectful, and succinct while providing a meaningful addition to the discussion. | Writes comments on other students’ blog postings that are generally positive, respectful and add value to the discussion. | Writes comments on other students’ blog postings which often fail to show respect for other opinions. | Writes openly disrespectful and negative comments on other students’ blog postings. | ____/3 |
| Meets all goals and deadlines for posting comments on other students’ blogs. | Meets most goals and deadlines for posting comments on other students’ blogs. | Occasionally meets goals and deadlines for posting comments on other students’ blogs. | Does not meet goals and deadlines for posting comments on other students’ blogs. | ____/3 | |
TOTAL POINTS
| ___/48 | ||||
No comments:
Post a Comment