Blogs and Wikis in the Language Classroom

8/4/2019 Blogs and Wikis in the Language Classroom

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Blogs and Wikis in theLanguage Classroom


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Weblogs (Blogs) Blog is the short form of Weblog.

A weblog is an easily created, easilyupdateable website that allows anauthor (or authors) to publishinstantly to the Internet from anyInternet connection.


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Blogging today does not require anyknowledge of code or FTP.

It takes as much skill as sending an e-mail.


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What really distinguishes a blog from aregular website is much more than proess;its what youll find there.

Weblogs are not built on static chunks ofcontent. Instead, they are comprised ofreflections and conversations that in manycases are updated every day.

Blogs engage readers with ideas andquestions and links.


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Blogs http://cikolatacikolata.blogspot.com/ http://bizimpastane.blogspot.com/

http://ekmekkokusu.blogspot.com/ http://gelincikler.blogspot.com/ http://www.sinemablog.com/

http://tersaneiscileriyleyanyanayiz.blogspot.com/
http://cikolatacikolata.blogspot.com/http://bizimpastane.blogspot.com/http://ekmekkokusu.blogspot.com/http://gelincikler.blogspot.com/http://www.sinemablog.com/https://webmail.boun.edu.tr/horde/util/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftersaneiscileriyleyanyanayiz.blogspot.com%2F&Horde=606db1cb201b18a193c65b63695e5e8bhttps://webmail.boun.edu.tr/horde/util/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftersaneiscileriyleyanyanayiz.blogspot.com%2F&Horde=606db1cb201b18a193c65b63695e5e8bhttps://webmail.boun.edu.tr/horde/util/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftersaneiscileriyleyanyanayiz.blogspot.com%2F&Horde=606db1cb201b18a193c65b63695e5e8bhttps://webmail.boun.edu.tr/horde/util/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftersaneiscileriyleyanyanayiz.blogspot.com%2F&Horde=606db1cb201b18a193c65b63695e5e8bhttp://www.sinemablog.com/http://gelincikler.blogspot.com/http://ekmekkokusu.blogspot.com/http://bizimpastane.blogspot.com/http://cikolatacikolata.blogspot.com/


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Examples of blogs ineducation

Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Bloghttp://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

The Anniston Starhttp://starclassroom.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Myrmel's Classroom Bloghttp://blogs.oaisd.org/236
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337http://starclassroom.blogspot.com/http://blogs.oaisd.org/236http://blogs.oaisd.org/236http://starclassroom.blogspot.com/http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337


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In the English as a Foreign Language setting,one can find blogs for professionaldevelopment, class blogs, and students'individual blogs, among others.

In this sense, unleashing the potential ofblogs for language learning will be directlyrelated to teachers' understanding of thepedagogical benefits of such a tool, and thestudents' perception of its value in theirlearning process.


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Blogs can provide an opportunity to changeour writing instruction to make it moremeaningful and relevant for our students.

Many times our classroom assignments areassignments where students reiterate orrestate information they have read with anoccasional opinion. Generally just theteacher will see the paper.

Blogging lets many more become engaged.


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Blogs imply conversations.

And, for these conversations tohappen, there first needs to be aredefinition of the educator's presenceand role in the blogging classroom.


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Educators should facilitate the process ofestablishing the online conversations within

oneself, among learners, with other teachers,and possibly the world.

Students will have to get used to the blogging

experience to learn how to properly answerposts, how to cite, and how to establish theirown blogging tone through their posts insuch a way that they find their unique

channel of communication in the targetlanguage.


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Blogging for Thinking Skills Another aspect of blogging is the promotion of higher

order thinking skills.

In order to establish a conversation, to encouragepeople to comment on a certain topic, and toconstruct knowledge collectively, students andteachers will have to go beyond superficialities,posting entries that increase reflection, analysis,discussion, and synthesis.

Students should be writing from their hearts abouttopics that engage them in the act of writing.


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Blogging for Creative Thinking

Students have the choice to organizetheir ideas and content in their own

ways, leading to divergent and creativethinking.


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Different roles in the classroom Blogs give the teachers the possibility to establish a

different kind of rapport with and among theirstudents, which is a positive development in thelanguage classroom.

Blogging allows the chance to give a voice to eachone of the learners.

Some who were not prepared to expose themselvesin the face-to-face classroom can become brilliantbloggers.


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The most positive impact of blogs in thelanguage class is having students perceive theimportance of learning a language as a

communication tool.

They can learn about different cultures, developa more comprehensive understanding of cultural

differences, and internalize the idea of thebenefits of diversity.

Blogging promotes the authenticity every

language educator seeks, authenticity thatmakes language learning stick and makes thestudents embark on a rich cultural experience


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Ways to use weblogs in

education http://anne.teachesme.com/2004/10

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http://anne.teachesme.com/2004/10/05/http://anne.teachesme.com/2004/10/05/http://anne.teachesme.com/2004/10/05/http://anne.teachesme.com/2004/10/05/


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www.tedistanbul5thgraders.edublogs.org


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Attributes of blogging that showpromise for developing our

pedagogies Audience & Comments Voice Conversations & Dialogue Ownership & Choices Archives


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Creating Blogs

http://www.edublogs.org

https://www.blogger.com/start
http://www.edublogs.org/https://www.blogger.com/starthttps://www.blogger.com/starthttp://www.edublogs.org/


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References Arena, C. & Jefferson, C.T. (2008). Blogging in the

language classroom: It d oesn't simply happen .TESL-EJ, 11(4 ). Available online at: http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.html

EduBlog Insights, Blogs and Pedagogy. Availableonline at:http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-

pedagogy/
http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.htmlhttp://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.htmlhttp://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/http://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.htmlhttp://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.htmlhttp://tesl-ej.org/ej44/a3.html


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What is a wiki? A wiki is a computer software that allows users to easily

create, edit and link web pages.

Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites.

Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, originallydescribed it as "the simplest online database that couldpossibly work".

The best-known wiki is Wikipedia.


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Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. Thats what were doing.

-- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder(Wales, 2004)


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http://www.slideshare.net/jmyrmel/m-a-c-u-l-08/


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Wikis Examples

Recipes: http://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Travel: http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page

Quotes:http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Pagehttp://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Pagehttp://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Pagehttp://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Pagehttp://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Pagehttp://www.wiki-recipe.org/index.php?title=Main_Page


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Sample Wikis Used in

Educations Mrs. Huff's Classroom Wiki!:http://huffenglish.pbwiki.com/

http://mrlindsay.pbwiki.com/
http://huffenglish.pbwiki.com/http://mrlindsay.pbwiki.com/http://mrlindsay.pbwiki.com/http://huffenglish.pbwiki.com/


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What is a PeanutButterWiki or PBwiki?

PBwiki is a website offering freely hosted wikis.There is not a limit to how many pages or wikis youcan create with PBwiki!

This tool appears in the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2007 list.

With PBwiki; you can make a free, password-

protected wiki as easily as a peanut buttersandwich!


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Why use PBwiki? When students write a paper, they're usually writing for

one person: their teacher. When students know theirpeers will read what they write, students care and theytry harder."

online collaboration

engagement beyond the classroom

never ending collaboration

PBwiki is the easiest wiki to use

Documents

Blogs and Wikis in the Language Classroom