Last year I began learning that blogs can serve as a tool in our teaching life. Last year I thought it was kind of complicated to plan a class that requires the use of internet and blogs, but if you as teachers encourage your students and train them to be able to use blogs, they can have fun and enjoy working and posting on your blog. One of the benefits I have found so far is that I can check some students who are usually shy to speak in a face-to-face class, performing their writing in a good way.
I have used “weblog” only once but I want to keep learning different ways to use this in my classes. The next thing I want to see if I can use blogs for discussions with my students of 4th grade or if they can work on posting notes to me and their classmates, things about our English class. Let’s see how it works. Meanwhile I am open and positive to technology benefits for classes and schools.
I know that I need to read more about how to use this blog but everything can be learned.
Hello Yariela,
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that I agree with you about encouraging the students and training them to use the blogs. But, I think that we as teachers have to think very often about how to create more attractive, interesting, and educative blogs for students of different ages and be sure that they're not misusing them.
you are certainly rigth Berla. We need as teachers to be able to set our objectives based on our students needs. If they are children we need to take care of all the different approaches related to children learning and be able to assist them more than the the way we work with blogs for an adult class.o set our objectives based on our students needs. If they are children we need to take care of all the different approaches related to children learning and be able to assist them more than the the way we work with blogs for an adult class.
ReplyDeleteHi Yariela,
ReplyDeleteThat`s cool you have already used blogs in class. I`ve never tried it, but I guess there are many interesting things we can do. Sometimes it might be difficult to convinve the student that the idea of having a blog is interesting. When I usually tell my teen students that we are going to the computer lab they only want to visit facebook, youtube and other sites appealing to their ages.
I guess that with time they will get used to this practices and teachers will be more skilled to deal with so much technology.
I have never read any articles on the use of blogs but I`m very interesting in knowing if there is any difference in terms of effectiveness and successful outcomes between an audience of teens and an audience of adults.
Hi again Yariela,
ReplyDeleteAs Vinicius said "it's cool" that you already been able to use blogs in class.
Unfortunately, in the school where I'm working there aren't any computers or computer labs, so as a result I won't be able to use any blogs at the moment. But it would be very nice if you tell us what was the reaction of your students after you told them what blogs to use.
I know that I still have to read and learn what blogs to use with respective students. I hope that I' ll be able to apply soon this way of teaching English, because in Kosovo this is going to be a very new and fresh method of teaching and learning. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Best,
Blerta
Hi everyone, hello and good morning Blerta,
ReplyDeleteFor me is a huge challenge to include blogs in my classes. I feel I am still in my learning process of getting familiarize with blogs because every time I use blogs for sharing a video, or a reading for my students I find something new in the advantages or options that blogs offer.
It is true I have used blogs in my classes. However, I have used it in my adult ESL class only and not in my 4th grade elementary class.
My new goal when I was accepted to study this course is to learn more about blogs and to be able to teach my kids to use blogs at home, under parents supervision if it’s possible.
We started our school year in August, we have only a few months since we opened classes and I already started to use our official web assigned for Reading and Science. This web is www.pearsonsuccessnet.com and only 50 % of my students have been able to use and practice reading at home with their parents support.
This is a good beginning for me.
Until now I have positive reactions from parents and of course from kids about the use of technology in classes. I have explained to parents that we need to learn to use internet and tools related to that, especially to control and avoid those negative things about negative websites that exist to destroy societies and moral values.
It is a huge challenge, I know. But, if I have the benefit of having 20 computers in my lab and if I have access to internet at least 3 times a week, I can use it for my students learning. Unfortunately, like in your case, in Nicaragua not all the schools have this benefit.
In a poor country like mine, education has a lot of needs and it is hard to think that we can apply these skills in these schools. I am positive that in the future we are going to be able to do it.
In Nicaragua, an educational program foundation (Zamora-Teran Foundation) started to cooperate with education in public schools. Since 2010 they have given mini-laptops to elementary school teachers and students with the slogan “one computer per child” and it has been amazing how this have improved students’ learning.
I think this is the way politicians and business people could start to help to the ones who needs it. Meanwhile me as a teacher have the must of teach students and encourage them to be better day by day with all the access and facilities I have. To be able to use the best way I can.
Thanks Blerta for sharing ,and I am sure in Kosovo like in Nicaragua, there will be institutions or foundations that find out the way to help in education and invest in them. That is the way “human capital theory” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital can be applied positively to face this educational needs we have.
Best regards,
Yariela Cantarero
Dear Yariela,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It's a huge challenge to incorporate technology in the classroom especially in poor countries like Maldives. In Nicaragua You are so lucky, In Maldives there is only one computer lab for about 800-1200 students. Also, there is the habit of teaching for exams still in practice and slowly and gradually trying to change that.
With a positive attitude, Centre for Open Learning (COL) has been promoting the idea of teaching online in Higher Education since 2007. COL is the one and only Distance and open learning center in Maldives. After tossing all the impediments, there are five blended mode courses running and pleased to say the result is fantastic. However, There is no blogging. Blogging and more other technology tools need to be incorporated.
Warm Regards,
Roza from Maldives
Hi Yariela
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that one of the great benefits of blogs is that they allow shy students to have a say much more spontaneously than in a face-to-face class. I remember being so shy when I was a child and teenager that I would have expressed myself more confidently by means of such tools as a class blog!