(LECTURE) Weblogs in ELT

LECTURE: 23 March 2009

Fielder (2003) defines weblog as a 'reflective conversational tool for self-organized learning' which nest captures the constructivist spirit with which the tool can be used for fostering autonomous, self-directed learning approaches.

WHY BLOG????

1. Blogging creates a 'social semantic web', (Downes 2004), where content and identity are bundled together.
2. presents them with opportunities to converse with people outside the classroom in a meaningful way
3. create a sense of ownership
4. situated in an authentic, flexible, and upredictable social context,
5. create a sense of community that would be less likely to emerge in a conventional classroom setting - Nardi Schiano, Gumbrecht & Swartz (2004)
6. engage people in collaborative activity, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate -William & Jacobs (2004) p.232

ADVANTAGES

1. authentic communication context
2. motivating factor
3. learner autonomy
4. access to infomation
5. class management

DISADVANTAGES

1. lack of participation from readers outside the classroom
2. technical and financial problems
3. IT and internet literacy
4. escessive volume of infomation
5. pedagogical requirements
6. preparation time