Teaching with Blogs

Last week, I attended an e-Teaching Symposium held at UIC entitled “Teaching with Blogs: Tips and Best Practices from the Trenches. The presenter Dr. Jason Rhode – assistant director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at Northern Illinois University – gave us a very good presentation about this great CALL tool. In this Symposium the presenter shared lessons learned from incorporating instructor and student blogs into an online course as well as practical recommendations for those considering utilizing blogs in online learning. The presenter also reviewed sample instructor and student blogs and demonstrated a number of activities designed specifically for blogs.
I thought that this was a very good opportunity for me as a future ESL/EFL teacher and I really learned a lot from this seminar.
The symposium is posted on blogger. You can view it by clicking on this link http://uicblogs.blogspot.com/

blackboard

I really think that blackboard is a very good learning tool that can help language teachers and teachers of other subjects create personalized and engaging learning experiences that can result in better learning outcomes. I actually read a little bit about blackboard and I found that it is not only one of the most popular learning management systems in the world, but also its brochure mentions that currently more than 700 teachers are using it for over 2000 courses, a dramatic progress from only six in 1999 (http://www.blackboard.com).
The good thing about Blackboard is that it is equipped with some tools so that it can function as an authoring tool for the learning content, an administrative tool, and as a means of communication. The content authoring features in Blackboard can be used for pure online or blended learning. As an administrative tool, Blackboard is capable of recording all students’ access to the materials and it can help teachers - especially language teachers - see their students’ progress so that they can make further reflections.
As a communication tool, Blackboard provides emails (in one-to-one and public exchanges) and discussion boards. In addition, I read that Blackboard can also integrate other communication tools from other operators that can enable users to communicate using voice bulletin boards or voice emails.

Videoconferencing

As a non-native teacher of English, I would use videoconferencing in my EFL classes in order to invite native speakers to be my online guests and participate in a specific class discussion. I believe that by doing so students will be able to practice their listening and speaking skills and will have valuable opportunities to participate in discussions with native speakers of English. I do not think that I will be using videoconferencing outside of the classroom because some students may not have high-speed Internet connection, which will cause several technical problems. The other problem with videoconferencing is that it’s a synchronous tool and students may not be able to participate in the video conference outside of the classroom simultaneously. I think that I will use Tokbox or Meebo in my classes because they are Free and easy to use.

E-Journaling

In the article "A Web-Based Approach to Strategic Learning of Speech Acts" the authors documented how E-journaling can be effective in helping students improve their pragmatic skills of speech acts.

I think that e-journaling can be useful in an ESL setting. My favorite type of E-journaling is blogs. Based on my experience in the CALL class and specifically in creating blogs on a weekly basis, I really think that blogs can be very useful for ESL students. They can learn from each other’s ideas and feedbacks, and they can also share their opinions with the rest of the world, as it is not restricted to the classroom. I think that ESL instructors should incorporate blogs in their syllabi and encourage their students to use them in their classrooms.

Wikis

I personally support using Wikis in ESl/EFL classrooms and I think that it’s a great CALL tool that can help students collaborate and work together at a distance. I can totally see myself using it especially in my future writing classes because I believe that it will create a useful learning opportunity for my students.

I think that teachers should not assume that students have the same computer literacy and should spend some time teaching students how to use this tool. I think that this is going to be a great investment that will pay off later when students benefit from this tool and start using it efficiently.

My main concern about Wikis is that students may get intimidated if any of their group members edited or deleted their parts. Another problem is that students may make some unnecessary changes that other group members may not approve. So, teachers should encourage students to be accepting of other students’ participations and guide them in using this collaborative tool.

Project Proposal

I’m planning to use HospitalEnglish.com to teach advanced medical students enrolled in a computer equipped medical English classroom that is part of an ESP program. The purpose of using this web site in addition to other websites mentioned below is to develop students’ vocabulary, reading, listening, pronunciation, and speaking skills associated with asthma disease. First, students will be introduced to key vocabulary associated with asthma disease and will hear the pronunciation of these words. Then, they will listen to a podcast that presents overview information about asthma, followed by multiple choice questions and fill in the blanks exercises. As a follow up activity, students will be divided into groups of 3; each group will be asked to read different authentic articles about asthma and present them in class. By doing so, students will get to practice their reading and speaking skill and will benefit from each other’s presentations by learning more information about this disease. I believe that HospitalEnglish.com, TheFreeDictionary.com, and QsWorkout.com will enhance language acquisition for the targeted students because they will provide them with a variety of activities that incorporate several language skills specifically designed for the targeted students. Moreover, after this lesson, students will learn how to use HospitalEnglish.com for independent learning.


Link to web sites that I will be using:

TheFreeDictionary.com

Asthma Quiz

Online Asthma Articles

Airport Transportation Podcast

The following podcast is designed to provide low-intermediate ESL/EFL students with information about airport transportation options in the United States.

Helpful vocabulary from this lesson:

Click on each of the words below for a link to the online free dictionary.


Transportation
Get around
Travel
Comfort
Airport
Shuttle
Taxi
Limousine
Expensive
Option
Book(v)
Reserve(v)
Order(v)
Service
Guest
Fixed
Rate
Receipt
Cheat
Destination
Style

Pre-listening activity:

Before you listen to the podcast, answer the following questions:

• Do you like traveling? If yes, Why? If no, why not?
• When you travel, how do you usually get around from the airport?

Now please listen to the following podcast:

Airport Transportation Podcast


Post-listening activity:

After listening to the podcast, please answer the following questions:

• List the transportation options discussed in the podcast?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?
• Which one do you prefer? Why?


Useful links:

• Airport shuttle companies in the USA
• Taxi Services in the USA
• Limousine Services in the USA