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activity - issues with blogging

Page history last edited by Steve Neufeld 12 years, 5 months ago

CLASSROOM ISSUES WITH BLOGS

 

 

 

After doing this activity you will be able to

  1. describe the key issues in using blogs with students
  2. plan how to introduce blogs to your students
  3. design a blogging contract
  4. create a blogging assessment rubric

 

Time

  1. It should take you about 60 minutes to complete this task.

 

Task format

  1. Pair work -- choose a partner and sit together for this activity.

 

 

 


CONTENTS

 

Here are the contents of this session.  You can click to visit the different activities, or simply scroll down.

 



 

Consider the learner when using blogs

 

 

We need to consider the needs of the learner when using blogs, just as we do in our classroom activities.


 

 

 

Task 1: Brainstorm issues in using blogs (10 MINUTES)

 

We've looked at what blogs are and some of the ways to use blogs in class.

  1. Work with a partner and post some issues you think are important to consider when using blogs with students on the community notice board below. 
    • Consider in particular issues related to managing behaviour in blogs, ethics and principles in blogging, and motivation and assessment.
  2. Click POST A STICKY at the bottom right of the window and then double-click anywhere on the wall to stick a notice on the board with your idea.

 

 

 

Task 2: Concerns that we have in common (10 MINUTES)

 

  1. Below is a "word cloud" of the top 50 words in a blog post by Christina Markoulaki, an EFL teacher, talking about the way she uses blogs with her students.
  2. Click on the image to see the full size. 
    • Do you think the concerns posted on our 'community notice board' are similar to the ones that this teacher addressed?
    • Discuss in our TWEET CHATROOM how you think this teacher caters for the needs of her students when using a blog.  

 

Wordle: Blogs in the classroom

Task 3: Catering for the needs of our students (HOMEWORK)

 

  1. Now, skim read Christina's blog post in detail at http://www.teachingvillage.org/2010/02/26/how-to-integrate-blogging-in-efl-teaching-by-christina-markoulaki/ 
  2. How many of her suggestions in how to use a blog in class did you identify when you looked at the WORDLE? 
    • Which ideas might be most relevant to your students? 
    • Which would address the concerns on our community notice board?

 

Can you use any of Christina' ideas with your students?  

  1. Pick the top three ideas and add them as a post to your blog for future reference.  Use the tag "blogs in class" "cte319" and "blogs"

 


Rules to blog by... (HOMEWORK)


 

 One of the issues of using blogs with students is to set certain standards of behaviour and expectations, just as we do in our f2f environment.  For this activity, one half of our group (Section A) will work together on blogging rules in the tasks below.  The other half (Section B) will work on how to assess student work in blogs in the next block.

 

 

 

Task 1: Section A: Individual work

  1. Partner A analyzes the first contract example.
  2. Partner B analyzes the second contract example.

 

Task 2: Section A: Pair work

  1. Compare notes about the two different approaches.
  2. Which one would be best to use with your students.
  3. What changes or amendments would you suggest?

 

Task 3: Section A: Pair/individual work

  1. Partner A writes in his/her blog a brief (150 word) summary describing the differences between the approaches.  Use the tag "blog rules" "cte319" and "blogs".
  2. Partner A writes in his/her blog a brief (150 word) summary describing the changes the pair would make in coming up with the rules for blogging with students in their teaching.  Use the tag "blog rules" "cte319" and "blogs".

 

 


Blogs to grade by... (HOMEWORK)


 

 

One of the issues of using blogs with students is to set certain standards of behaviour and expectations, just as we do in our f2f environment.  For this activity, one half of our group (Section A) will work together on blogging rules.  The other half (Section B) will work on how to assess student work in blogs.


 

 

 

 

Task 1: Section B: Individual work

  1. Partner A analyzes the first assessment rubric example.
  2. Partner B analyzes the second assessment rubric example.

 

Task 2: Section B: Pair work

  1. Compare notes about the two different approaches.
  2. Which one would be best to use with your students.
  3. What changes or amendments would you suggest?

 

Task 3: Section B: Pair/individual work

  1. Partner A writes in his/her blog a brief (150 word) summary describing the differences between the approaches.  Use the tags "blog assessment" "cte319" and "blogs".
  2. Partner A writes in his/her blog a brief (150 word) summary describing the changes the pair would make in coming up with a way to assess students use of blogs in learning.  Use the tag "blog assessment" and the categories "cte319" and "blogs".

 

 


Follow up:  Over to you

 

 

 

Blog etiquette and assessing blogging

 


 

 

 

  1. Create a new blog post in your blog
    • Consider some of the issues and concerns we've looked in terms of blogger behaviour and assessment student contributions to blogs.
    • List a few points and precautions for you to remember when you start using blogs with your students.   Tag this with "blog teaching ideas" "cte319" and "blogs".
  2. Visit some of your colleagues blogs and find their blog post about their ideas to be prepared to use blogs in teaching.  
    • Add a comment to the ones that you like, and either ask for more information or make some suggestions to improve on the idea.

 

 


REFERENCES

 

 

 

Want to learn more about using blogs in class?

 


 

 

 


 

History of blogs as a modern communication medium

 

  • Here is an engaging talk by Mena Trott one of the creators of 'Movable Type' - one of the forerunners of the blogging platforms like WORDPRESS.

 

BACK TO TOP

 

 

Creative Commons License
This work by Kristina Smith & Steve Neufeld is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at kristinaweb20.pbworks.com.

 

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