BLOGS

Let's see how a blog is defined at Wikipedia.

"Blog" is short for "Web log" and is different from normal Web pages in the following ways:

• Information is displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the newest information appears at the top, like a periodical or a journal
• Blogs are interactive. Readers can add "comments" to posts creating a dialog between the blog's author and readers, and between other readers

People keep for blogs for different reasons. There are blogs as online "personal" diaries, travel logs, political forums, fashion updates, bulletins and announcements, etc.

Teachers can use blogs to communicate messages to other teachers, parents, or their community as bulletin boards, as in these examples:

• Senior English Language Fellow's ELT Mexico Bulletin
• Ixchel
• Teaching Is More Than A Profession

Teachers can also use blogs to communicate directly with their students; to publish a class syllabus, to post assignments that can be found online (articles, podcasts, videos, Webquests, etc.), and direct learners to English langauge learning Web resources for self-study.

Notice in some of the following examples, teachers post assignments on their blogs (can be just a journal question, for example), and students are expected to leave their response to the question as a "Comment" on the same blog. They can then read each other's responses and start a dialog. Or students may keep their own blogs to post their responses, and students leave comments on each other's blogs. In either case, the result is interaction.

• ELI Student Network
• My English Divan
• Sharing This World!
• Fluency FES UNAM Acatlan

Lastly, teachers can use blogs as a platform for international dialog, such as in these examples:

• Patrick Henry High & Guangxi University of Technology
• Hello Student World

To start blogging, open your own account by signing in with your full email address at http://www.blogger.com/. (Be sure to remember your login name and password!)

While Blogger gives you the option of working in Spanish or other languages, it is important that you and your students operate Blogger in English! Not only will directions and technical terms be more clear with everyone working in the same language, but even making the blog becomes a task-based language learning activity! To view Blogger in English, use the drop-down box at the top right of the screen.

Be prepared to choose a "Display name." This is the public name that will sign all posts you make on your blog and any comments you leave on other's blogs while you are signed in. (Later, you may choose to add your photo to your personal profile so that too will appear next to your comments and if you wish on your blog.)

When you "Create a blog," you will need to decide a "title" (i.e. Fun Web Tasks for English Learners) and an address (i.e. http://funwebtasks.blogspot.com). The address does not contain www and will always be followed by .blogspot.com while using Blogger. The part of the address you choose can not have any spaces, is subject to availability (must be unique in the world), and usually works best when it does not contain any additional punctuation or capitals. The title and the address do not have to be the same, but it is logical when they are the same or similar.

Practice creating a blog and add some posts! Be creative and have fun! Before you leave the workshop, see if you can complete the following:

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

• Hyperlink text in your blog (Link to other Web pages or blogs)
• Add photos to your blog
• "Embed" a video in your blog
• Leave some comments on the blogs of your colleagues

You will need to publish at least one post- even a brief "welcome" message of a few words- before you can view it online.

***Once you have your blog created give the blog address to your workshop facilitator.***

She will post a list of your blogs so you can browse the blogs of your colleages to gather ideas and leave some feedback as comments.

To hyperlink text in your blog:

Select the text you want to hyperlink. Click the small icon of the world with chain links on it at the top of the dialog box where you write your new post (next to the T with colored sqares to change font color). When prompted, enter the Web address or URL of the Web site you want to link to. Click Ok.

To add a photo to your blog:

First select a photo you want to add. Try http://www.google.com/ and click Google.com in English at the lower right. Then, at the top left, click Images. Now, type some key words for pictures you would like to post on your blog. When you find an image you like, right click on it and select Save image as. Choose a place on your pc where to save it temporarily, like your Desktop, and a name for the image to make it easy to find. Save.

(Tip: When making blogs, it is useful to keep a few windows open at once to easily search for pictures or other media as you work and insert them straight into your blog, which is kept open in another window.)

Now click the small icon at the top of this dialog box that looks like a picture (between the spell check icon and the icon of a film strip). In the new window that appears, click Browse to Add an image from your computer. Select the image you saved earlier. Choose a layout (position and size) for the picture, then click Upload image. Wait for the image to load and you can click the Done botton. Your image will appear at the top of your current post. You may select and drag the image after if you want to reposition it.

(Note1: The first time you add images to your blog, you will have to check the box accepting the Terms and Conditions. Note2: When you add pictures to your post, it changes the spacing between pieces of text and photos. You should review spacing remove unwanted space.)

To embed a video in your blog:

First, if you want to just add a video from your computer, just click on the film icon and upload it from your computer. If you’d like to embed a video from YouTube select a video you want to appear on your blog. From Google.com in English, at the top click the arrow next to more, and select Video at the bottom. Now search on key words of a video you would like to appear on your blog (i.e. create a blog). Click on How to Create a Blog on Blogger that appears at the top. Under the video screen on the YouTube page, you will find Share, click on it, then click onEmbed with html code in a dialog box under it. Select and copy all of the code in the dialog box. In a new post, type any text you want to introduce the video on your blog, then click the Edit Html tab at the top of this dialog box. On a new line, paste the html code you copied before. Publish Post.

Your embedded video will appear in your blog, like this example:

To leave comments on other's blogs:

While you are signed in to Blogger, you can read read blogs of others and any comments you write on their blogs will be automatically signed by you, so others can click to see your personal profile and look at a list of any blogs you author from that account. At the bottom of any author's post will be "Posted by Luigi," for example with the time. Next to that, will be a caption bubble and "0 Comments" or "7 Comments" or however many comments appear on that post. Click the number of comments to leave your own in the new dialog box, and Publish your comment. You may need to enter words you see there if it asks you for word verification.

Important changes to your blog's Settings:

Some changes to the settings of your blog will improve it for use in your classroom.

• Settings - Formatting - Show: Change this setting from "7 posts" to "50 posts." This will make your blog "longer," but more post titles will show on the front page and it will be easier for you to give directions to students.
• Settings - Formatting - Time Zone: Change this to "Mexico City," or to the time zone of your region. This will accurately time stamp your posts and the comments of your visitors.
• Settings - Formatting - Language: Be sure this setting is "English." This will change any peripheral text, like time stamps or "published by" lines to English. Again, it is important that the langauge be consistent to not distract students.
• Click SAVE SETTINGS at the bottom of the page.
• Settings - Comments - Who Can Comment: Change this to "Anyone." You can restrict access to allow only members of a certain blog the right to leave comments, but this is much more labor intensive, and this option allows the blog to be more easily accessed by your students or target group.

There are of course many more changes you may make as you become more familiar with Blogger, but these seem to be the most important. You may eventually want to change the layout, colors, or appearance in other ways. You might add permanent links on the columns. You may add a discription at the title, change the URL, request an email be sent to friends alerting them of updates, or to you when there are new comments.

You may want to fill out your personal profile, so your readers or students can get to know you better, including adding a photo that can appear each time you leave a comment. You may operate many different blogs from same account. When signed in, click "Dashboard" at the top right to see a list of all the blogs you manage.

Happy blogging!