Group blogs don't work in education?

Last week I managed to find the time to attend James Farmer's presentation on blogging for the TESOL evo2006 Blogging session. (You'll have to create an account at Learning Times to watch this session, but it's well-worth it)



It was a shame that there were some audio problems, but all-in-all the session was very thought-provoking, but I think it raised more questions than it answered.



James was clear and provocative in his opinions on what a edublog should be and how you should use it, and equally so on how you shouldn't use one, and what it isn't.



For me, I had a problem with his insisting that group blogs (when they are not publications, if I heard him correctly) just don't work.



I disagree and think I have been involved with and seen many group blogging projects in education that do work.


Now don't get me wrong here, I do believe that the true power of blogging, and the ideal, lies in giving the individual the freedom to express him or herself, and that the best way of doing this is to give the student a space which they own and which allows a great degree of personal freedom for them to organise it as they wish and to post about things that really interest them.



However, I'm also convinced that this ideal is not possible in all learning or teaching situations (I'll outline this thinking in a future post), especially in the field of EFL, and I really didn't like seeing James's rules been delivered as edublogging law to a group of educators that have (mainly) just started to embark on their edublogging experience. I suppose my main problem with it was that it did come across as a bit of 'blog expert bullying' rather than an opinion.



I said during the session that I thought there was a strong argument for some teachers starting off in EFL edublogging to begin with a group blog. Again, I'd like to outline why I think this in another post.
Meanwhile, I know there has been a lot of discussion about this at James Farmer's blog, and that James has also written a paper. I read this only briefly when it was published, so I think before I start writing any more about this subject, I need to read all of this...(and see if the arguments can change my mind)...



...to be continued...

...when I find the time...between moderating the ELT Podcasting session...

Social Bookmarking: with del.icio.us

I just finished writing a post to explain to participants of the evo2006 ELT Podcasting group why we have decided to use del.icio.us, and realised that it was probably worth sharing with people here too:



Its use is not as obvious at first, but I find del.icio.us to be such a useful tool. I am going to try here to attempt to write a tailor-made explanation of why we're using this site:



1) Basically, the best way to approach it at first is as an online bookmarks/favourites space. Sign up for an account and you can store all your favourite links here instead of them being tied to your own computer (this is especially useful if you work in different places, or use several different computers)



2) But, this is only part of the story of why this site is so good. It's called 'social bookmarking' software and that gives us a clue to its real strength, especially for educators:



- Del.icio.us uses tags (key words). Saving links with a unique tag (podcasting_elt, for example) means you can share a body of links with a specific group of people.



3) Del.icio.us is perfect for finding out what the latest 'hot' links are - search on a specific tag (try 'podcasting', for example) and you'll find it works as search engine, the difference being that all of the results were selected by (usually savvy) Web users. Once again, perfect for keeping abreast of what's really new on the Web, without having to wade through irrelevant sites picked up by Search Site bots.



4) Finally, del.icio.us offers a way of people not only reading what you are writing, but also what you are reading. Stick a link to your del.icio.us account on your website or weblog, and people can see the interesting things you come across. Do this on a site aimed at students, with a unique tag and you have an easy way of providing them with up-to-date content relevant to their needs.



5) The easiest way to keep track of our http://del.icio.us/tag/podcasting_elt
links is to add the RSS feed of this into a newsreader (also known as an aggregator). This will let you keep track of everything without having to constantly revisit the site to find out what's new. If you don't have an aggregator, try http://www.bloglines.com, which is an online aggregator/news reader.



6) Make things really easy and download a del.icio.us toolbar to your browser : http://del.icio.us/toolbar/ (this is for the Firefox browser)

Thankyou Manolo!

I really didn't think I'd be able to do this.

Spending Christmas in a small Galician town and knowing that my future mother in law has no computer,I thought it impossible that I'd be ble to check my email or blog.

But here I am blogging as I kill time waiting for that traditional Christmas lunch,thanks to my new toy,the PSP and a wifi connection courtesy of an unsuspecting neighbour called Manolo

I wanted the PSP mainly for another reason (I write a page about computer games in a Spanish magazine)

Edublog Awards 2005

I was very pleased to see my podcasting blog pod-efl nominated for an edublog 2005 award.



There are some really great blogs on the shortlist, which makes me even more pleased to have been selected for the best audio/video blog category. Looking at the shortlist, I think my vote in that category would probably go to either Ed Tech Talk or David Warlick's Connect Learning. I was surprised to see that Bob Sprankle wasn't nominated in this category, but then his Room 208 podcast, which is probably the most influential student podcasting edublog has been nominated in a different category.




Voting is open until December 17th

Hats off to WiAOC

I think everyone who participated in the Webheads in Action Online convergence (WiAOC) was deeply impressed by the undertaking. Of course, with so many events happening, it was impossible to attend all the presentations, although I know a lot of people tried to skip on sleep to be able to attend some of the presentations. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if part of the 'Becoming a Webhead' session of evo2006 includes a session on 'How to sleep less and spend more time online :-)



As I was travelling (in Bilbao, for some talks to teachers on blogging), I didn't get to attend many sessions, but the great thing about this event is that most (if not all) of the presentations have been recorded for posterity, and are available to listen to. I've just started doing this, and am trying to find the time to listen to more, as there are so many great presentations. The conference Moodle is also still active, and it's worth checking in there if you haven't already done so.

Apart from my presentation on interactive listening mazes at Tapped In, and being asked to participate in the Dublin Brunch, which was broadcast live on NEAR FM, and Irish radio station with 20,000 listeners, I managed to get to the opening session by Curtis Bonk on Blended Learning, available to listen to at Learning Times (this requires registration, but is well worth it. There were some great ideas presented and discussed here.



I also attended the sessions on:



'Teacher blogs in action' by Renata Suzuki and Karen Garcia (again available to listen to at Learning Times). This was an extremely interesting presentation, which turned into a stimulating debate about various aspects of blogging.



'Going Global with the Webheads in Action' (this link will take you directly to the recording of the session, at the Alado Webheads voice classroom) by the one Webhead that I've actually met in person, and who was instrumental in getting me involved with blogging, Teresa Almeida d'Eça. I think Teresa's presentation took a lot of people's breath away as she outlined her activities with the Webheads. This was a great session, and one that should inspire a lot of people to become involved with Webheads in Action...




And catching up, I have been able to listen to:



Bee and Aaron's presentation about Dekita and P2P in EFL/ESL(direct link to voice room recording), also available to listen to through the Webheads room in Alado. The Dekita project presentation should be essential listening to anyone involved in blogging with students, especially if the idea is to publicise and create connections with other weblogging classes and students around the world. Inspiring stuff, as always.



the Worldbridges podcast of the session by Dave Sperling, someone who did more than anyone to promote ESL online activities in the days when the Web was young. He talks about the tenth year anniversary of his ESL cafe, and some of the changes that he has gone through since it started. It was interesting to hear how he is now able to earn a living from the site, and that he has not been teaching ESL since 1999.



And if the quality and interest value of the other presentations is anything like those I've already listened to (I don't doubt it), I think I'm going to have to take a month and listen to them all. It was truly an inspiring event.

Tapped In transcript: Interactive Listening Mazes

Here is a link to the chat transcript of today's session on Interactive Listening Mazes at Tapped In



I really enjoyed myself - thanks to everyone for taking part

Podcasting article

I've just had an article about podcasting published on the British Council / BBC website Teaching English.



When I first came across podcasting, I was more interested in podcasting as a way of providing extra listening material for students, but now I find I'm more attracted to the idea of publishing student work using podcasts. In the same way that students publishing a blog have to take into account an audience, students involved in creating a podcast also have to consider who is going to be listening. And the very fact that there is a real audience out there means they take more care when it comes to preparing the material and recording it than if it was solely meant to be listened to by their teacher.


I have started several podcasts, but the one I'm most enthusiastic about now is the Theme Tourism one.