Getting Started
Selection:
- ease of signup – this is something to consider, especially if you have large classes. Blogger is the easiest we know of.
- ease of use – learning a language is difficult enough, so why complicate things with difficult to use technology?
- social networking features – weblogs with built in social networking features will help your students connect with their peers from around the world. Without them, students may float like corks in the Pacific Ocean.
- privacy – features that allow students to publish privately, or to a specific access group, may be useful in certain situations, particularly with young learners.
- cost – why pay for weblog software when some of the best applications are freely available?
- hosting – there are different hosting options. We recommend most teachers find free hosting options that contain little or no advertising.
Sign-up – it’s as easy as signing up for a Yahoo or Hotmail account
Posting – it’s as easy as sending an email
Commenting – weblogs aren’t weblogs without the commenting process.
Subscribing – knowing how to subscribe to your students’ weblogs is an important time-saving technique. Don’t attempt classroom blogging with the use of a feed reader!
Related Articles:
- Weblog Applications for EFL/ESL Classrooms: a comparative review – this recent article compares freely available weblog applications and makes recommendations for EFL/ESL teachers.
- Blog Assisted Language Learning (BALL): Push button publishing for the pupils (pdf) – describes an EFL blogging project in the Middle East.
- Using Livejournal for Authentic Communication in EFL Classes – another article describing an EFL blogging project, this time in Japan.
- Creating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student Blogs – describes how weblogs were put to use in a Japanese university EFL writing course.
- Elgg – A Personal Learning Landscape – this article examines Elgg as a potential weblogging/social networking tool for language learners.
Tutorials:
- How to Set Up a Free Blog at Blogger.com – this tutorial shows all the necessary steps. Watch the video or read the text (pdf).
- How to Set Up a Free Blog at WordPress.com – this tutorial video shows all the steps clearly.
- How to Set Up a Class Blog using Learnerblogs.org – a clearly written set of instructions.
- Web 2.0: The Read/Write Web – Bloggin A blog in support of a presentation at the 2006 Technology in Education Conference by Karl Fisch
- Karl Fisch’s Powerpoint presentation on setting up a class blog.
