Proficiency students blogs:

Here are the links to my Proficiency students' blogs, although they haven't written much yet:

Berta

Gonzalo

Judit

Anna

Finished! Here is my adapted workshop:
ELT Weblog Workshop

Some students from the Liceo Garibaldi in Naples, Italy have started their own weblog, although they seem to be spending more time posting to Bee Online. It's become active again, and is a great example of how a weblog is being used to promote intercultural exchange.

Blog workshop

I'm doing a blogging input session this Friday at the British Council in Barcelona, so I'm too tied up with that to post, but once I have the material, I'll make it available here.

Applications: Blogging By The Numbers: "While it is difficult to calculate exactly how many individuals are using Web sites as journals, Blogcount estimates that there are roughly 2.4 million to 2.9 million active Weblogs as of June 2003. "

My comments: I've not been blogging much here lately because all of my classes have been starting up and that's taking up most of my time, although I have been blogging with them (surprise surprise), so I'll start posting the URL's and my comments up here before long.

One thing I will say, is that I have now got the introductory Blog class down to a fine art after doing it four times. It (obviously) takes more time with lower level learners, but a 90-minute class is ideal to get everything done. Here are some tips:

a) I take the class to a computer room and show them a couple of example blogs
b) I tell them that they're going to set up their own, individual (student) blogs and go to Blogger
c) They set up their blog and post and publish an introduction
d) Then I show them how to change the settings and ask them to invite me and one or two of their classmates to their blog.
e) If we have time, they accept the invitation and post to their classmates' blogs
f) Their homework is to go back and write something to their blog and to their classmates' blogs. I also join them and write some comments.

I now have the following groups blogging:

1) Proficiency 1 (British Council group)
2) Sound & Image Upper Intermediate group (Polytechnic subsidiary ESP group): They'll be using it as a platform to post their pictures and comment upon them. In the end, I chickened out and am going to use a coursebook with them as well.
3) Audiovisual Production/Direction Pre-Intermediate group (Polytechnic subsidiary ESP group):
4) Erasmus Catalan Culture group Blog (this is a class blog and is going well)

I'm going to tie them all together with a tutor blog (or a class blog) for each group - I'll add links to these later

Firdamatic: the Design Tool for the Uninspired Webloggers

My comments: Just punch in your options, title and out comes your blog! An easy way to a new design. How long before it'll offer automatic postings too?