Have Fun with English!A blog or a plog?

Teresa Almeida d'Eça19th APPI Conference

Creativity: A Password to SuccessLisbon, 21 April 2005

Meet the Webheads in Action online!

Susanne

(Denmark)

Elizabeth

(CA, USA)

Aiden

(Taiwan)

James Benenson

(France)

Hala

(Sudan)

What is Have Fun with English? 1

for me, it's a teacher-student blog

however, some consider it a cross between a Web page and a blog

then... should it be called "a plog"?!

What is Have Fun with English? 2

Buth: When Tere created her T-S blog, blog providers were not as advanced as now, in the sense that the comment feature was not developed! Therefore, a blog is not the same as a webpage, at present,  as it used to be, earlier; it  has become a useful, pedagogical tool that helps students and teachers to communicate and interact with one another outside the classroom in an easy, fast, and simple way. This is why they are great tools to integrate in EFL courses, based on blended teaching and learning.

Bee3: I agree with you totally Buth...and think that it was difficult at the time to make the small kids open a blog by themselves and keep it...so Tere's idea was fantastic. It was a transition between the webpage and the blog as we know it now.  They sent her mails which were pasted on a webpage she opened for this purpose and formatted as a blog. She even included sound. Blogger did not have a comment area or sound at the beginning either. So Tere is a precursor of the blog in EFL :-) A true webhead.(Comments taken from Webcollaborator project 114, in preparation for the co-presentation Bee, Buth and I did on Blogs and Blogging for the Belnate Conference in Minsk, Belarus, 4Nov2004)

How did it all start?

Aaron Campbell's Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes

gave way to Let's Blog! (7th grade: 3rd-year EFLers), my first experiment in blogging

real challenge: Have Fun with English! (5th grade)

would I able to spark motivation in absolute EFL beginners?

would I be able to keep the flame on?

Why a blog for absolute beginners? 1

generate a two-way communication tool in the target language outside of class: T St

stimulate practice of the language learned in class 'anytime, anywhere' BUT class

have a place to give students a voice of their own, to speak about their own interests, etc

create an open door to an authentic and broad audience that can comment and suggest

Blog provider or custom-made?

a custom-made blog meant

more layout flexibility (we are talking about Mar 2003: things have changed quite a bit)

more control over content (young learners)

fewer problems for me (I controlled home pages, but not blogs!)

I chose 'custom-made' in spite of the additional workload!

What sort of layout?

simple (a 3-column layout)

colorful (different color fonts)

attractive and lively (images & icons)

What type of content?

anything

that is of interest to the students

in English!

the only 'obvious' imposition on my part

The first page

my first posting (28Nov03)

announcement of the blog invitation to send messages interactive exercises (Hot Potatoes)

the first message from a student (6Dec03)

Unexpected but welcome add-ons!

photos

interactivemap

voice mailwith avatar

drawings

exchange

voice mail

e-cards

photo story

mysteryguest

BLOG

Photos

birds made with fruit (Dec03)

Tommy in the snow (Feb04)

Wojtek and sister in the snow (Mar04)

a Portuguese class (Mar04)

Drawings

from João Vasco (9Mar04) the Homework page

A European exchange

a Portuguese-Polish exchange (10Feb04)

bringing young people together online

linking them to the global village

started during the EVO BaW2004 teacher training workshop

the Polish side replies in voice emails (accompanied by the corresponding text)

Voice mail 1

how 'voice mail' began for us HandyBits: a very easy-to-use voice mail program

introduced by Agata, the Polish colleague 'download & play'! two versions

standard kids

Horizon-Wimba (EduVoice demo) has also been used by me (25Dec04 & 7Feb05)

Voice mail 2

the first message from Poland

from Tommy (10Feb04)

Hello, friends! My name is TommyWarcholak. I am 7 years old. I likecomputer games.   I am from Przemysl, Poland. Bye! Tommy

the first message from Poland

from Wojtek (11Feb04)

Hello! How are you? Thanks foryour email! I'm Wojtek. I live in Przemysl,Poland. I'm 9. I like computer games andsports. I like football and basketball. Bye, friends! Wojtek

Voice mail 3

the first message from Portugal

from 5F (1Mar04)

Hello friends! Thank you for yourmessages. How are you? We (halfof 5F) are fine. Please send more photos! What are your favoritecomputer games? Good bye friends! Have anice week.

the first message from Portugal

from 5G (1Mar04)

Hi, friends! How are you? This littlegroup of 5G is very well. Is there Carnival in Poland? InPortugal it's very fun: peoplewith costumes in the streets. We like rabbits, but we areafraid of snakes. See you!!!  :-)

Voice mail 4

Student Teacher (Feb05) Rodrigo to me me to Rodrigo João Vasco to me

My colleagues My students (Feb-Mar05) Leanne Dafne 6F to teachers Easter poem (Tommy & Agata)

Voice mail 5

SitePal: the latest innovation voice mail with animated avatars / images

demo version choose you avatar record your voice message listen to your avatar saying it save it send it by email

Rodrigo

Pedro L.

JoanaAiden

e-Cards (+ singing)

Happy birthday! to Wojtek (9Mar04) to Tommy (6Jan05)

singing 'happy birthday' to go with the cards to Wojtek (9Mar04) to Tommy (6Jan05)

Easter from Susana & Ana Luisa (Mar05)

Photo story

a family holiday: Piodão, North of Portugal (6Feb05)

created with Photo Story 3

no examples from students yet!

Interactive map

students post the names of the teachers who send them messages and see where they are in the world

created at Bravenet

variation: some students and teachers have entered their own names

Mystery Guest

finding out information from a message person's country of birth country the person moved to

next step an Internet Treasure Hunt to find out where my friend

Sharon lives

CALL lessons

a separate activity, though often closely related to the blog

extra practice for all, in class, with diversified activities last year = 10 extra English lessons (during Estudo

Acompanhado) this year = same number of lessons (once a week during

the 3rd term)

Final curiosity: the need for flexibility

a compromise between high and low tech (to allow all students the chance to send messages and see them answered online)

handouts of an email template (low tech)

the next best thing to the real email (high tech)

the students loved the idea

it caught on!

Conclusion

a simple experiment in writing to practice the target language has taken on different dimensions in a year's time

all of them have contributed to added motivation and learning, and the opening of new horizons

the unexpected has become reality and has gone beyond my 'wildest dreams'!!!

Thank you!

Teacher-created blogs

BLOGS Bee Online: A meeting place for students to share opinions and chat

(Barbara/Bee Dieu) Blog for Internet Class: Comments on projects and assignments students

are working on (Chris Jones) Supelec NetClass: All the interesting things engineering students have been

doing (James Benenson) Sus Nyrop's K-Log (Susanne Nyrop) Taiwanbuzz: Listening to News and Current Events (Aiden Yeh)

PHOTO BLOGS Cake Baking (Leanne Mackenzie) Fabulous trips (Rita Zeinstejer) Webheads (Teresa Almeida d'Eça)

AUDIO BLOGS Adelaide, Education and Life (Michael Coghlan)

References

My Website http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/

Have Fun with English! (the current blog) http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/fun-with-english5.htm

Let's Blog! (the precursor) http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/school/blog7.htm