This document discusses the benefits of using blogs in language teaching. It provides examples of how blogs can aid classroom management by allowing teachers to track assignment submission dates and times. Blogs also facilitate collaborative learning by giving students opportunities to engage with multiple perspectives through peer feedback. Additionally, blogs are accessible to both teachers and students as they can be created and accessed for free online at any time from any place.

2. Benefits of blogs in language teaching
 Blogs for classroom management
 Blogs for collaboration
 Blog creation and activity


3. For teachers, blogs…
For students, blogs…
For both groups, blogs...
Aid in classroom
management
Facilitate collaborative,
peer-to-peer learning
Are free or low-cost and
easily accessible
(Gerich, 2013)
Expand the options for
reflective writing and
active reading activities
(Gerada, 2012)
Allow for tracking of
assignment submission
dates and times
(Al Fadah & Al-Yahya, 2011)
Facilitate the connection
of familiar and unfamiliar
in the classroom
(Yunus, Tuan, & Salehi, 2013)
(Amir, Ismail & Hussin, 2011)
Allow for opportunities to be
subject-matter experts
(Ducate & Lomicka, 2005)
Increase feelings of
ownership
(Ducate & Lomicka, 2005)
Give access to a discourse
community, including a real
audience
(Yunus, Tuan, & Salehi, 2013)
(Gerada, 2012)
Foster community-building
within the class group
outside the classroom
(Ducate & Lomicka, 2005)
Encourage the expression
of diverse perspectives
(Ducate & Lomicka, 2005)
Support the practice of
negotiated meaning
(Yunus, Tuan, & Salehi, 2013)

5. The titles and dates
update
automatically,
making it easy for a
teacher to see
when students
complete
assignments.

7. 
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Link to other sources of knowledge
Can be used to provide course details and documents and review
student assignments remotely
Serve as an accessible space for announcements and homework
descriptions and deadlines
Can be accessed at any time from any place, especially with mobile
devices
Allow students to find the answers to course-related questions
(repository of important course documents and policies)
Archive student work in chronological order
Automatically date (hourly) assignment submission
Can display individual student blogs on the course blog for easy access
to peer work

8. Critical
Responders
Readers
Authors

9. Teacher training -discussing the use
of chatting for ESL in
China

11. Student Topic
Sentence
Comments
The first two comments
seem to push the author
to clarify her views, and
the final comment
questions the
meaning/implications
of using the word “goods”
in this context.

12. 
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Encourage the articulation of ideas and opinions – perhaps even more so
for students who are hesitant to speak during class
Increase opportunities to engage with multiple perspectives and
knowledge sources
Build communities and create opportunities for interaction outside of class
Provide a “real” audience for students (the teacher is not the only
reader/reactor)
Help students create links between course content, their own ideas, and
the ideas of peers
Support reader commentary and engagement
Allow subject/topic “experts” to share their knowledge and learn from
other “experts”
Connect multiple classes and/or populations
Accessed remotely at any time (scheduling difficulties can be reduced)
Allows for careful reflection since interactions are not in real time

13. 
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Go to
blogger.com
If you don’t have
a gmail account,
click on the red
“sign up” button
at the top right of
the page.
If you already
have a gmail
account, sign in.

14. 
Once you
have signed
in, click on
“New blog”
(a grey
button on
the left side)

15. 
Type the title
and address of
your blog
› these cannot
be changed
later

Choose the
template
› this can be
changed later

Click “Create
blog!”

16. View your blog
See how often your
blog is viewed
Write a
new post
Get help
Change
your
template
(the way
your blog
looks)
Learn more

17. 
Accessible from the workshop blog:
› http://threeriverstesolblogworkshop.blogspot
.com/

Includes
› Student instructions for setting up a blog
› Student blog commenting etiquette exercise
› Activity ideas
› Common technical issues and suggestions

18. 
Once you have your blog set up, please
leave us a comment on the post called
“Your ideas here!”
› http://threeriverstesolblogworkshop.blogspot
.com
› Tell us about how you use or might use blogs
in your classes.

19. Al-Fadda, H., & Al-Yahya, M. (2010). Using web blogs as a tool to encourage pre-class
reading, post-class reflections and collaboration in higher education. USChina Education Review, 7(7), 100-106.
Amir, Z., Ismail, K., & Hussin, S. (2011). Blogs in language learning: Maximizing students’
collaborative writing. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences. 18, 537-548.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.05.079
Ducate, L. C., & Lomicka, L. L. (2005). Exploring the blogosphere: Use of web logs in the
foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 38(3), 410-412.
Gedara, D. S. P. (2012). The dynamics of blog peer feedback in ESL classroom. Teaching
English with Technology, 12(4), 16-30. Retrieved from http://tewtjournal.org
Gerich, D. (2013). Beyond the class blog: Creative and practical uses of Blogger for the
ESL classroom. TESOL Journal, 4.1, 175-181.
Yunus, M., Tuan, J. L., & Salehi, H. (2013). Using blogs to promote writing skill in ESL
classroom. In Fujita, H. and Sasaki, J. (Eds.), Recent Advances in Modern
Educational Technologies (pp. 109-113). Retrieved from
http://www.wseas.org/multimedia/books/2013/Morioka/EDU.pdf