Blogging for Educators (as part of the Electronic Village online workshops) 2008 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/

Blogging for Educators

(as part of the Electronic Village online workshops)

2008

Blogging 4 Educators A 6-week online workshop aiming to introduce participants to edu-blogs http://blogging4educators.pbwiki.com/ Target Group Teachers with no extensive experience in blogging Participants are assumed to have skills necessary for basic communication via a discussion group and Internet browsing skills. Work context Hands-on opportunities for educators who are new to blogging

A 6-week online workshop aiming to introduce participants to edu-blogs http://blogging4educators.pbwiki.com/

Target Group

Teachers with no extensive experience in blogging

Participants are assumed to have skills necessary for basic communication via a discussion group and Internet browsing skills.

Work context

Hands-on opportunities for educators who are new to blogging

Technological setup Main Communication Channel: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogging4educators Supporting Blogs: http://blog4educators.blogspot.com/ http://blogging4educators.edublogs.org/ Group Bookmarks Delicious - http://del.icio.us/blogging4educators

Main Communication Channel:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogging4educators

Supporting Blogs:

http://blog4educators.blogspot.com/

http://blogging4educators.edublogs.org/

Group Bookmarks

Delicious - http://del.icio.us/blogging4educators

Technological setup (cont.) Synchronous Communication and Support Yahoo Messenger (informal Chat) Skype (mainly u sed f or office hours and informal chat) WiziQ (for weekly m eet-u ps and guest speaker talks) Other communal places Pageflakes - http://www.pageflakes.com /Blogging4Educators Twitter - http://twitte r.com/BlogEd08

Synchronous Communication and Support

Yahoo Messenger (informal Chat)

Skype (mainly u sed f or office hours and informal chat)

WiziQ (for weekly m eet-u ps and guest speaker talks)

Other communal places

Pageflakes - http://www.pageflakes.com /Blogging4Educators

Twitter - http://twitte r.com/BlogEd08

Task / Purpose Provide free teacher training opportunities for educators through an online hands-on workshop (learning by doing– practical knowledge as a result of active engagement) . Introduce educators to edu-blogging in a meaningful way

Provide free teacher training opportunities for educators through an online hands-on workshop (learning by doing– practical knowledge as a result of active engagement) .

Introduce educators to edu-blogging in a meaningful way

How we engaged We provided mentorship : 24/7 Moderation Personalized “Welcome” messages Strong support thru different communication Channels

We provided mentorship :

24/7 Moderation

Personalized “Welcome” messages

Strong support thru different communication Channels

How we led other to engage We engaged participants ( in a progressive way through weekly activities): Exploration of the possibilities provided by different blog services, aiming at th e : Creation and posting on both individual and collective blogs; Comment management / comment writing; Template personalization; Tagging and, RSS. We connected participants to experts (interaction with guest speakers) External Validation Different perspectives Real time interactions

We engaged participants ( in a progressive way through weekly activities):

Exploration of the possibilities provided by different blog services, aiming at th e :

Creation and posting on both individual and collective blogs;

Comment management / comment writing;

Template personalization;

Tagging and,

RSS.

We connected participants to experts (interaction with guest speakers)

External Validation

Different perspectives

Real time interactions

Results Almost immediate application of what participants learned to their own practice / reality Development of a kind of a Community feeling – which has evolved into a parallel new space: NING http://blogging4educators.ning.com/ (where the conversation continues ) Closer bonds (and friendship) among some participants, and definitely among moderators

Almost immediate application of what participants learned to their own practice / reality

Development of a kind of a Community feeling – which has evolved into a parallel new space: NING http://blogging4educators.ning.com/ (where the conversation continues )

Closer bonds (and friendship) among some participants, and definitely among moderators

Lessons learnt Moderating online requires a lot of background work and preparation - team spirit is CRUCIAL (the sense of community/ feeling of belonging/ cohesion starts within the moderators team) Supporting and nurturing participants’ learning process are VITAL to a positive learning/moderation experience Flexibility , understanding and tolerance when dealing with participants’ needs and requests are VERY IMPORTANT Showing one cares and keeping the communication channels open welcomes people to progressively interact in a more spontaneous way

Moderating online requires a lot of background work and preparation - team spirit is CRUCIAL (the sense of community/ feeling of belonging/ cohesion starts within the moderators team)

Supporting and nurturing participants’ learning process are VITAL to a positive learning/moderation experience

Flexibility , understanding and tolerance when dealing with participants’ needs and requests are VERY IMPORTANT

Showing one cares and keeping the communication channels open welcomes people to progressively interact in a more spontaneous way

Reflection Although this workshop worked for many of members, we weren’t able to reach to all the participants who joined the workshop in the same way. This might have been due to: The amount of emails exchanged daily Different learning styles Lack of time

Although this workshop worked for many of members, we weren’t able to reach to all the participants who joined the workshop in the same way.

This might have been due to:

The amount of emails exchanged daily

Different learning styles

Lack of time