Open for discussion
I am bringing the question Marco sent to YG into the community blog because I think it is worth commenting upon in an open space. I would like to remind you that Marco only joined the workshop in the 4th week. I have copied my answer in the comment area. You might want to revise your experience and share with him your impressions.
"As I'm still trying to figure out the different merits of blogs, wikis, discussion boards, etc., I wonder if the moderators would give us their comments and opinions, based on your overview of the participation. For instance, the community blog did not seem to get used so much later in the course. And I never figured out how to use the wiki. How would you see it being used now, B, now that the course is over? Wouldn't the community blog be the best way?
From the point of view of creating an online community, community of practice,learning experience, how would you judge the results of actual use?"
"As I'm still trying to figure out the different merits of blogs, wikis, discussion boards, etc., I wonder if the moderators would give us their comments and opinions, based on your overview of the participation. For instance, the community blog did not seem to get used so much later in the course. And I never figured out how to use the wiki. How would you see it being used now, B, now that the course is over? Wouldn't the community blog be the best way?
From the point of view of creating an online community, community of practice,learning experience, how would you judge the results of actual use?"
posted by Bee at 11:33 AM
1 Comments:
If you just open a blog and start writing...this will prove to be a
very solitary experience. Writing your thoughts, reflections or reporting on events makes much more sense if you are able to read
other people in your area of interest, connect and comment on insights. Your writings in the blog are your voice, your opinions,
your work that you can share in a conversation in cyberspace. As I was writing this, I was also reading my Bloglines and came across Nathan's and Nancy's
posts, on which they reflect on the article. http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2005/03/brain-of-blogger_03.htmlNancy got it from Nate and both offer their perspectives on it. A nice example of what blogging and the article are all about.
The idea of the workshop was primarly to focus on getting acquainted with different ways pople use blogs in EFL/ESL (styles of writing/projects) , developing collaborative skills, documenting and reflecting on this and through syndication sharing this process within the group. The basic questions that guide us still are:
http://www.beewebhead.net/Evo05/introduction.htmBlogs and wikis are decentralized, much more under the control of the user than discussion forums and YG so it is important to understand their nature. Each of the different tools has its own function. The wiki was used during the workshop as an asynchronous collaboration tool for editing/drafting common reports and also as a collective
repository of all points that came up during the different phases of
the workshop. It contains comments to articles read, projects, FAQ. It is being collaboratively constructed and teachers can continue updating it ad infinitum as they come across other articles, tools or want to open new pages. It is our EFL/ESL reference. Maintaining it alive depends on the community. To use it, just sign up and edit.
The idea of the collective blog was initially to report on events, make announcements, link the chats that took place and it can be used to pursue issues of interest to the community as a whole, bring up discussions about controversial topics, like the one Pete set in his Slings and Arrows blog. We can use it to discuss topics that emerge from our next meetings at Tappedin. It's like an open portal of the community to the outside world. Up to us to decide how to use it best. We are all experimenting with this new technology and adapting it to our needs as we go along...we, moderators, do not have the control, nor all the answers. However, we believe it is in this interplay, in this conversation, in the different perspectives, insights and in the questions that are asked (and that each one of us tries to answer according to our level of expertise) is how we can learn and grow as a community and by extension transform our everyday practice in the classrooms.
Post a Comment
<< Home