Class Blogs

In order to graduate from the ICT in the Classroom course, it was necessary to plan and implement a technology based lesson. The area of blogs really interests me as it is a project the learners can take personal control of and contribute to outside the classroom. Having read about lots of successful class blogs from the Webheads discussion group I decided to set up my own.

I created a class blog as a kind of hub that provides the students with links to learning English resources (http://bscbrightonclass1.blogspot.com/) - please note it is still under construction as there is not a lot on it at the moment!

Secondly, I asked each student to create their own personal blog. Here they will be asked to write a homework assignment each week, but of course they can contribute further themselves if they wish. Every time they write a posting, I am automatically emailed. I then check the language and email it back to them. It is up to the student if they then go back to edit their language or not.

However, as I teach in an language school with continuous enrolment, using blogs poses additional problems. Namely, when any new students join the class, they have to set up a new blog costing valuable class time. Therefore, I designed a simple "How to" guide to setting up a blog which the students can complete in their first week with a personal introduction:

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This has proved a success with many of the students contributing over and above what is expected of them. I am looking foward to experimenting further with the different tools that work with blogs.