In Wu’s article (2006), ‘Blogs in TEFL: A New Promising Vehicle’, he provides EFL learners and teachers some possible ways to use a blog in classes, with a discussion about its advantages and potential shortcomings in practice.
Actually, I appreciate the way Wu categorizes the educational blogs: tutor blog, learner blog, and class blog. When being practiced as a tool in EFL classroom, tutor blogs can be a convenient teaching aid in updating assignments, class notes to reduce students’ confusion, and also any accessible hyperlinks to provide resources related to tasks. Besides, useful feedback collected from students’ recurring mistakes can be given and read for the entire class. All of these can be recycled in the future teaching. The class blog is supposed to be used in a collaborative way such as: in conversation-based classes, it is used as a free-form bulletin board for learners; it is convenient for intermediate learners or above to facilitate project-based language learning; and it can be used as a virtual space for an international classroom language exchange.
On the other hand, the writing and information is argued to be not professional, which results in students’ writing skills superficial and not accurate. In addition, the criticism that students receive could be “unproductive, hurtful or even offensive”, which may reduce their confidence and interest in the course. This is what we as teachers or instructors need to consider.
Actually, I appreciate the way Wu categorizes the educational blogs: tutor blog, learner blog, and class blog. When being practiced as a tool in EFL classroom, tutor blogs can be a convenient teaching aid in updating assignments, class notes to reduce students’ confusion, and also any accessible hyperlinks to provide resources related to tasks. Besides, useful feedback collected from students’ recurring mistakes can be given and read for the entire class. All of these can be recycled in the future teaching. The class blog is supposed to be used in a collaborative way such as: in conversation-based classes, it is used as a free-form bulletin board for learners; it is convenient for intermediate learners or above to facilitate project-based language learning; and it can be used as a virtual space for an international classroom language exchange.
On the other hand, the writing and information is argued to be not professional, which results in students’ writing skills superficial and not accurate. In addition, the criticism that students receive could be “unproductive, hurtful or even offensive”, which may reduce their confidence and interest in the course. This is what we as teachers or instructors need to consider.
A good idea to have relevant resources uploaded onto a tutor blog so that learners can get access to for their assignments. Students could also be grouped up for a collaborative writing task, which they could discuss about on a Class Blog. I'm reckoning if tutors can also regularly check learners' progress on the Class Blog, giving suggestions when necessary.
ReplyDeleteI love the classification of tutor blog, learner blog, and class blog. I think it is inspiring to buid a class blog and see how it runs.
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