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Using Blogs to Develop Learners' Writing Skills
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Thu, 03/12/2009 - 10:47
Dear All
My name is Albert P'Rayan. I have taught English at the tertiary level for 15 years. I am one of the moderators for the Teacher Training and Education forum. I took part in Aberdeen and Exeter online forum in the past. My areas of interest include CALL, Materials Development, Teacher Training, ESP, and Learner Autonomy.
I use blogs to develop my students' (engineering students) writing skills. I encourage them to contribute their views on topics under discussion. Please visit my blog: www.raydeal-engchat.blogspot.com
If you are bloggers or you have encouraged your students to contribute to blogs in the ESL class, please do share your experience with the members of this forum.
Looking forward to reading your views, stories, etc.
Best wishes
Albert P'Rayan
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 17:50
#2
Hi Leigh
Many thanks for your comments. Yes, I know that my blog needs to be reshaped. I designed it basically to post my views on current topics and thus readers to comment on them. Unfortunately, I don't find time to give it a facelift. Please continue to give your suggestions.
I strongly believe that blogs can be used effectively to develop students' writing skills.
Best wishes
Albert
Wed, 03/25/2009 - 02:38
#3
Hi Albert,
We (Languagelab) currently use blogs to develop students writing skills, it is a technique that is proving popular with our students.
Writing activities take place during our classes and/or are assigned as optional homework.
Our main blog and twitter feed etc provide the students with information and tips.
Selected writing assignments are showcased on a separate blog for all to see.
Shiv
Wed, 04/08/2009 - 23:03
#4
I'm glad to see blog's being used this way too. On one hand it's not much different than being given small journaling assignments except in my day these were only seen by the teacher and maybe the occasional one might be read to the class. Blogging these assignments is the next natural evolution with the technology we have and it's great. Now a students writing doesn't have to be passed around or read aloud to be shared. Their writing and their concepts can be critiqued openly by any number of people raising the bar of perfectionism more quickly than in my time in university.
I'm a big supporter of elearning in general but I prefer to see online tools being used in clever ways like this instead of just being used to automate multiple choice exams. Use new teaching tools in NEW ways, not to cut corners.
Cliff.
I usually dont say stuff like this but I really like your blog. Nice to read a teacher's blog with well-considered pieces. I added your blog to may Blogs and Wikis Created by Teachers page on my wiki-webliography http://virtuallanguagelaboratory.wikispaces.com/TeacherBlogs
Yes, I know that page needs serious work-organization and color. Feel free to join the wiki and help out!
I think blogs can be a good idea. Ive not used them myself but I have seen some good examples of using blogs for peer review and using blogs to put student work online as a kind of "virtual refrigerator" so that parents can see what their kids are doing at school.
I think these work because thought is given towards who, other than the teacher, will be reading these blogs. In the first case, it is other students and for the latter is it parents and perhaps others like admin and other students.
Where blogs are problematic is when little or no thought is given to who might read them. As a Web 2.0 application, there is at least some expectation of interaction, basically in the form of receiving comments. I cant imagine a worse scenario than have students create blogs that get zero comments, which is altogether possible given the huge number of blogs out there. So a very important element in giving blog-based assignments is to somehow arrange for an audience for the created blog(s).
FWIW I think you should change the byline of your blog, you deal with a LOT more than chatting in it!