1. Do you... blog?

2. In this session we will look at... A (very) quick history of blogging What blogs are generally used for How they might be exploited in education What a blog is

3. What’s a blog? A blog is: “… a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.” Wikipedia, 2006.

4. The History - where did blogs come from?  since the early days of the WWW  started life as “homepages” and developed into online journals  July 1999 - free, commercially available 'blogging software' arrived  Blogs of all types - personal, educational, journalistic, and commercial - have mushroomed since then

5. Some examples  Experiences e.g. blogs from Baghdad - giving an insight into life during war, travel blogs.  Fans / fanatics - e.g. football fans charting team success / failure.  Special interest - professional e.g. technology, literature and writing; personal e.g. food, wine, hobbies/pursuits etc  Publishing - outlet for writing/creativity.  Personal- thoughts, opinions.  Educational - mainstream and EFL/ESL abound.

6. Educational blogs... … typically divided into 3 categories: Teacher / tutor blog Student / learner blog Class blog - by teacher for students - by student(s) - by class members

7. Teacher / tutor blogs Class schedule Regular reading practice Channel of communications between tch & stds. Web links Syllabus guide Self study guide

8. Student / learner blogs Individual / group projects Learner diaries Writing practice Give students greater sense of ownership Allow quieter students to express themselves

9. Class blogs Bulletin board Class discussions Action research / learning Publishing platform for student work Develop writing skills

10. Here’s one I prepared earlier An example of a teacher to class blog advanced students (teenagers). Themed discussion Teacher provides content and students comment. http://7e8as.blogspot.com/