Fceblog Towards Online Learning

Slide 1: fceblog towards online learning Exploring the use of weblogs as classroom support Claudia Ceraso 2007

Slide 2: Blogs and language learning This is an enlarged version of the original presentation made at the British Arts Centre 14 September 2006 Updated January 2007 Claudia Ceraso Teacher of English ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 3: In this presentation Educational use of weblogs A pilot experience: The FCE Blog Origin -Backstage Outcomes - Reflections The ideas presented here are strictly personal and need not always reflect those of AACI – Asociación Argentina de Cultura Inglesa ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 4: Before the blog was born My Internet use My Internet needs  Finding information  Availability anywhere fast  Organisation for my  Bookmarking favourites  Sharing with  Just one link to colleagues and remember students via email ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 5: What is a blog? Characteristics A weblog is a diary-style site, in which the author  Simple to get started links to other web pages  Word document-like he or she finds interesting edition using entries posted in  Free reverse chronological  Forever order Focus Author’s subjective view on a topic An invitation to make comments ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 6: A blog is born Internet – The way it is used today  A personal printing press  A personal broadcasting channel  A collaborative tool Content creation power has been handed over to the user and there is no going back ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 7: EduBlogs Blogging in education is still in an experimental phase  Metablogs  The teacher’s journal  The teaching blog  The course blog ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 8: Blogging as classroom support Some Advantages Reference: valuable information always accessible Empowering tool: students’ writings can be published Afterclass companion: the blog creates a sense of belonging to the community of readers Collaboration: students suggest alternative learning paths Informal learning: students make constant decisions about what to read ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 9: Disadvantages: the blogger’s time eaters Building an interesting and responsive website requires assigning time for…  Planning  Continuity  Maintenance  Comment moderation  Email ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 10: Blog and classroom: the teacher’s decisions  Will students read the blog in class?  Can we include the blog among compulsory tasks?  Assigning homework through the blog, will it work? Let me introduce you to Georgie, a five- year-old digital native… ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 12: Innovations: Learning Online Blogging is about making something new -not  simply replicating classroom procedures The web is a medium that can blend learning  and playing A user-centred environment: students control  their reading choices and participation Excitement and discovery reinforce motivation  for online learning ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 13: Characteristics of a blog project in the foreign language classroom fceblog http://fceblog.blogspot.com  Originally addressed to my First Certificate Exam preparation course at AACI – Asociación Argentina de Cultura Inglesa.  A group of 15 students aged 16 and 45+ ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 15: A) Purpose Each student has access to further practice in  areas he needs to consolidate, even though they are not included in the main content points of the current lessons Opportunities to use the language in a real  communicative context with students learning in other countries Via links, students read suggestions and  comments from other teachers preparing them for FCE The class chooses the best compositions to  publish students’ work ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 16: B) Contents The blog functions as a guide to access  further practice in English at an advanced level.  All links are annotated with suggested objectives for reading and reflection about informal, autonomous learning ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 17: C) User’s Policy The blog has a theme as well as a defined  audience  Participation and comments have rules which everybody knows (published in a Manifesto)  Students’ privacy (identity, email and image) is protected  Attribution and links to all sources ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 18: D) Writing Style The teacher’s language: neutral to  informal. Direct questions to the reader  Entry design: dialogues, emails, letters, articles  Widgets: integrated to the blog objective. (e.g. online clock to time yourself in exam practice) ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 19: The students’ response: some stats Visits Jun- Dec 2006:  5400 Origin: Europe, USA,  South America Most revisited  pages: Grammar and Phonetics Most commented on  pages: Guest map ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 20: First steps The blog was presented as a complement to the class 1. and an invitation to practice. It is not compulsory to visit or comment. Since March 2006 untill July, the site –still invisible to 2. Google- was visited almost exclusively by my students During the two-week winter break, students visited the 3. blog every day The FCE Blog Stats Source: Statcounter.com ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 21: Outcomes (1): Motivation cycle Students ask in class  what a blog is and how to get started Top commenters receive  Classroom Discussing Interaction the blog more attention in class by their classmates Students value the  teacher for editing a tailor- made blog for their Commitment students ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 22: Outcomes (2): Informal learning Change of habits: students started reading foreign newspapers and consulting online dictionaries Critical attitude towards information sources: students commented about the best sites found and how they used them Students “teach” in class what they learn on the web ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 23: Challenges (1): The teacher as the expert learner Integrating technology implies a change in  the teaching and learning model  Students can teach how they use technology. The teacher must find value and meanning in those tools  The new teacher learns constantly and accepts that students can know more  Everyone is an expert in something ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 24: Challenges (2): Inside the Blogosphere - Web literacy New teacher roles New student roles  Informal learning guide  Self-directed  Moderator  Content creator  Model of online conduct  Autonomous ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 25: Challenges (3): The future of the blog fceblog A virtual learning environment  The blog outlives the course  Possibility to establish a global collaborative network with teachers and students  FCE exam results impact: Will the grades improve? ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 26: Conclusions: Is blogging worth it? Blurs the distinction  Learning with Technology between spontaneous discovery and formal Discovery teaching Students and teachers  Formal Informal exploring web literacy Learning Learning skills together Autonomous learning  fosters life-long learning ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 27: Epilogue: End of the course, but not the blog… After exploring technology integration, will the students… …make steps towards online learning? …understand that learning is a process and not a product? …visit the class blog again once the course is over? ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 28: An encouraging comment in the blog -Hello! I’m Marta from Poland :) This summer I wrote FCE and passed it with 'B' result. Do you think it is a good mark?? -Good mark indeed, Marta. Congratulations! Hope the fceblog helps you enjoy learning English. -Thank you, Claudia. I will enter this site in order to get to know more knowledge about English language. (See source in GUEST MAP, first comment) ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 29: Reflections: Blogs allow us to have classrooms without frontiers but… To have a blog is to assume the responsibility of asking these questions frequently: Why are we doing this? Who for? How long? The blog is simply a tool. It is the teacher’s task to make sense out of the use we make of it. ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slide 30: Thank you

Slide 31: fceblog http://fceblog.blogspot.com fceblog@gmail.com References Original presentation http://fceblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/are-you-teacher.html Notes and sources http://eltnotes.blogspot.com/2006/08/blogging-for-teachers.html http://claudiaceraso.pbwiki.com/The+FCE+Blog Illustration from George Sfarnas at http://beingfive.blogspot.com ©2007 CLAUDIA CERASO en http://fceblog.blogspot.com

Slideshare.net (beta)