Assignment 4 blog

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Rocío Duarte Assignment N° 4: Web 2.0 Applied to English Teaching MY BLOG: http://rocioduarte-enjoyenglish.blogspot.com/ WHY THE USE OF BLOGS ?? A Blog (short for web log) is an example of social software, a computer tool which allow people to connect, to communicate and to collaborate online. It's essentially a web page with regular diary or journal entries, which may consist of written text only, or they may include pictures or photos or even audio and video. It can be defined as an ideal blended-learning approach since they are easy to set up and operate and can be an effective way to communicate, for instance, with learners outside lesson time. Why using blogs with learners? Because when applied to the classroom - a blog can be set up and used by teachers and learners. - They can be used to connect learners to other communities of learners, for example to a class in another country. - the ideas and content can be generated and created by learners, either individually or collaboratively, since most blogs allow readers to comment on blog entries, including a blogroll or a list of links to other blogs which the blog writer admires. Blogs can be categorize into : class blogs, edublogs, tutor blog and students blog according to who are the writers or readers of it. There are some obvious advantages to using blogs in the classroom, since they provide a “real-world" tool for learners with which to practice their written English. Using a blog can establish good practices of learner autonomy. Learners have to be proactive in accessing the information the teacher has posted to the blogs and following the links to online resources. Using the comments features, learners can provide feedback on the blog entry. They can add their own ideas, thoughts, vocabulary, etc. One of the issues to bear in mind when setting up student or class blogs is that of correction - how much help are learners given with their written work? A further area to consider is assessment. Blog postings can be used for evaluation. If the teacher intends to evaluate blog entries as part of a writing assessment, as with any written work the criteria for evaluation need to be made clear to learners in advance. Sources: -Dudeney G. & Hockly N. (2008) How to teach English with technology. Person Education Limited. -Sharma P. & Barrett B. (2007) Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the language classroom. Oxford. Macmillan Education.

Transcript of Assignment 4 blog

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Rocío DuarteAssignment N° 4: Web 2.0 Applied to English Teaching

MY BLOG:

http://rocioduarte-enjoyenglish.blogspot.com/

WHY THE USE OF BLOGS ??

A Blog (short for web log)  is an example of social software, a computer tool which allow people to connect, to communicate and to collaborate online. It's essentially a web page with regular diary or journal entries, which may consist of written text only, or they may include pictures or photos or even audio and video. It can be defined as an ideal blended-learning approach since they are easy to set up and operate and can be an effective way to communicate, for instance, with learners outside lesson time.

Why using blogs with learners? Because when applied to the classroom 

-  a blog can be set up and used by teachers and learners.-  They can be used to connect learners to other communities of learners, for example to a class in another country.-  the ideas and content can be generated and created by learners, either individually or collaboratively, since most blogs  allow readers to comment on blog entries, including a blogroll or a list of links to other blogs which the blog writer admires.  

Blogs can be categorize into : class blogs, edublogs, tutor blog and students blog according to who are the writers or readers of it. 

There are some obvious advantages to using blogs in the classroom, since they provide a “real-world" tool for learners with which to practice their written English.  Using a blog can establish good practices of learner autonomy. Learners have to be proactive in accessing the information the teacher has posted to the blogs and following the links to online resources. 

Using the comments features, learners can provide feedback on the blog entry. They can add their own ideas, thoughts, vocabulary, etc.

One of the issues to bear in mind when setting up student or class blogs is that of correction  - how much help are learners given with their written work? A further area to consider is assessment. Blog postings can be used for evaluation. If the teacher intends to evaluate blog entries as part of a writing assessment, as with any written work the criteria for evaluation need to be made clear to learners in advance. 

Sources: 

-Dudeney G. & Hockly N. (2008)  How to teach English with technology. Person Education Limited.-Sharma P. & Barrett B. (2007) Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the language classroom. Oxford. Macmillan Education.

The four Web 2.0 tools I have chosen to use for my students to create using the web are :

ANIMOTO

This is a tool which turns photos and video clips into professional like video slideshows in just a couple of minutes. It is easy to use, becoming the perfect tool for creating videos and presentations. Students can also mix relevant messages among the pictures.It can be applied for free.

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ACTIVITY: Fashion Show! (Using Animoto)

In the classroom, the teacher and the students will organize a fashion show: students will bring different kinds of clothes (formal, casual, for making sports, etc), and divided into different groups they will have to pared and tell the rest of the class what they are wearing (specifying colours, sizes, etc). The teacher will take pictures of the students wearing those clothes. Using these pictures, the students will have to create a video showing the different moments of our fashion show. They will have to add in the slides the name of the "model" and the clothes she or he is wearing (e.g: Rocío; a red t-shirt and black trousers)

How to use the site:

1- To start go to http://animoto.com/ and create an account for free.

2- Go to the “CREATE VIDEO” option and select a video style and choose the “30-second video" option.

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3- Then, you have to add the pictures you want to use and arrange them in the order you want them to appear in the presentation, you can add music (from your computer or from the site collection) and finally add some text.

The activity will be evaluated as Fair, Good, Very good and Excellent according to :Language Accuracy.Mastery of the tool.

PROFESSOR GARFIELD

This tool is a comic creator. It's very attractive for kids and easy to use. The students can create different situations, choosing different backgrounds and characters. The comic can later be printed for different uses. It's for free.

ACTIVITY: A day in Garfield's life (Using Professor Garfield)

Divided into different groups the students will have to create a comic in which they will tell the daily routine of Garfield and its friends ( during the morning, the afternoon, the evening and the night). They will create the comic in the computer, and then they will print it in order to organize a comic book about Garfield and its friends!

How to use the site:

1- Go to http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_comics_lab.html and LOG IN writing a user name.and choose the " COMIC CREATOR" option.

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2- Then you have to edit each panel by choosing the background, the character and the kind of speech bubble you want to add.

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3- Write the name of your strip and save it. Then , print it.

The activity will be evaluated as Fair, Good, Very good and Excellent according to :Language Accuracy.Mastery of the tool.

PENZU

This is an interesting tool to write journals. A journal can be anything the students want it to be, since they can write whatever comes to their mind whenever they want. It can be a daily diary, a travel or expressive journal, etc.

The main advantage of this tool is that while a computer, or a paper-bound diary can be lost or stolen, the entries are always safe with Penzu, since you can access it Anywhere( Wherever you have internet, you have Penzu. With a simple design and paper-like interface, Penzu is extremely intuitive, easy to use and free!

ACTIVITY: Short Stories! ( Using Penzu)

After having been working with short stories to understand the use of simple past, the students will have to write their own stories, choosing the plot and the characters they like. They will use this tool to orgnaize a " Digital book of short stories" .

How to use the tool :

1- To start you have to go to https://penzu.com/journals ( I've already created a journal for you to write your stories in different entries) If you want to create your own journal go to https://penzu.com and create your account.

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2- Choose an avatar for your account and write a title for your journal.

3- Start writing your journal! You can add pictures if you want!

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The activity will be evaluated as Fair, Good, Very good and Excellent according to :Language Accuracy.Mastery of the tool.

XTRANORMAL

This is a great tool to create videos, since it's a movie maker. The students can choose a character, choose his or her voice and write or record a dialogue, monologue or story. They can save it, take a break and finish it later. Then, they can publish it.

The basic movies can be created for free.

ACTIVITY: All about me! (Using Xtranormal)

The students will have to write a presentation about themselves. They will include all the personal information they want, such as name, age, the things they like and they don't like, habits, daily routine, abilities, etc. They will use Xtranormal to create an animated monologue, choosing a character, his voice and background.

How to use this tool:

1- You have to go to http://www.xtranormal.com/ and sing up.

2- Click on "Make Movie" and select your character, the set, the voice of your character and then start writing your story, a dialogue or a monologue.

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3- You can publish it!

The activity will be evaluated as Fair, Good, Very good and Excellent according to :Language Accuracy.Mastery of the tool.