• What is it? A blog or a weblog looks like an online journal to publish the students writing on the web. It is very simple to create and manage. It also has the facility to display audios, videos and pictures that could be exploited to teach languages.
• Types of blogs: Aaron Campbell (2003) distinguishes between three types of blogs that could be used in ELT:
- The tutor blog: managed by the teacher and the content is limited to classroom matters (tasks, syllabus, homework...).
- The class blog: collaboratively managed by the teacher and the students and could be used for extracurricular activities.
- The learner blog: More demanding for the teacher to create and moderate, but also more beneficial. Each student is given an individual blog where to post writings of his interests and comment on his peers’.
A combination of the three blogs could also be used.
• Why blog?
- To provide a real audience for student writing.
- To provide extra reading practice for students.
- As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers.
- To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.
- To increase the sense of community in a class.
- To encourage shy students to participate.
- To stimulate out-of-class discussion
- To encourage a process-writing approach.
- As an online portfolio of student written work.
- To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.
• The start: There are many sites that offer free blogs such as www.blogger.com
• Tips for managing learner blog settings
- Use “settings” or“Site Feed” in Blogger to be the administrator of the learner blog and to receive a notifying email whenever you students publish on their blogs.
- By turning the “Comments” feature on, the students can comment on their peers’ writings.
• How to keep the students interested?
- Respond to student posts quickly.
- Ask questions.
- Create stimulus for writing.
- Encourage the students to read and respond.
- Consider writing to the blog as part of your class assessment.
- Encourage the students to post their writing homework on the blog instead of only giving it to the teacher.
• Some ideas for activities:
- Mystery guest
- Project work
- International link-ups
- Photoblog.
Source: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/blogging-elt
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