Fostering Student Creativity Using Blogging
Erin Lowry, English Language Fellow, Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano, El Salvador Wiki: http://elowry.wikidot.com Class Blogs: http://englishseven.blogspot.com, http://niwrite.blogspot.com Personal Blogs: http://irwyn12.blogspot.com, http://elowry.wordpress.com A blog is an online journal that incorporates text, images, audio, video, etc. Blogging is a motivational tool that lowers student affective filters, allows for purposeful and creative language development that extends beyond the classroom, and creates a comfortable bridge to other kinds of writing. This hands-on workshop will introduce educators to methods of creating, implementing, and managing blogs and related Web 2.0 tools in the language classroom, giving students a worldwide audience for their work.
Some Definitions
Podcast: audio files that can be downloaded and listened to on an mp3 player or computer RSS: a way of alerting others to new content on a web site by giving content summaries Social Software: allows users to interact, share, and meet other users using web-based applications Web 2.0: 2nd generation of web-based communities and hosted services that facilitate collaboration and sharing between users Widget: : dynamic content that can be added to a web page, originating from an outside source Wiki: allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages, often collaboratively
Anatomy of a Blog Entry Title
Entry
Dated Entries
Multimedia Content
Link for Comments
Organizing Labels / Tags
Free Tools for Creating Blogs and Adding to Them
Places to Keep Your Blog http://www.blogger.com http://www.blogsome.com http://www.livejournal.com http://www.typepad.com http://www.xanga.com http://www.wordpress.com http://www.suprglu.com http://www.flock.com Podcasting http://www.podomatic.com http://www.odeo.com http://audacity.sourceforge.net Adding Pictures, Video, and Widgets http://www.bubbleshare.com http://www.flickr.com http://www.photobucket.com http://www.communitywalk.com http://www.youtube.com http://www.widgetbox.com http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open Social Software Tools http://del.icio.us/ http://bloglines.com http://www.43places.com http://www.facebook.com http://www.myspace.com http://www.hi5.com
Manage all of your blogs from one site Web browser that allows for blog management
Find, send and create podcasts Create and send podcasts Free software for recording and editing sounds
Photo slideshow with audio and textual commentary Upload and download photos to create albums Another photo sharing service Create and share personalized maps Upload, convert, and store videos Add extra features to your blog Add features such as GoogleCalendar
Store your bookmarks online Search, subscribe to, create & share news feeds List places you want to visit & share about past travels Communicate with friends & exchange information Another social networking site Yet another social networking site
What Can I Do with Blogs?
Notes: