Blogging and PD
From LiteracyTentWiki
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1132] Blogging and PD
From: Marian Thacher mthacher at otan.us
Date: Wed May 16 00:17:41 EDT 2007
I'm glad you brought up the topic of blogging, Missy. I receive a good
amount of my own professional development from reading blogs, and even
from blogging myself (you can check out my blog at
http://marianthacher.blogspot.com), but it's a hard sell for teachers,
because it requires some concentrated time online, which is hard to come
by for many of us.
An example of a professional development blog that I really like is
http://collegetransitions.blogspot.com/. It's by an adult ESOL teacher who
got a job at a community college, and she reflects on how well our adult
ed programs are preparing our students for college. It's a great
springboard for discussions on this topic. As you can see, there are a few
comments, but not many. But discussion could be going on in other ways.
Another delivery model that I've seen work well for programs is the simple
solution of creating a Yahoo group. They communicate via the email list or
discussion board, share files and photos and a calendar. This is not a
course, just an online way of having discussions and sharing information
asynchronously.
Marian
- The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
- <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov> on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 12:07 PM -0800 wrote:
- I think this is a very cool idea, Holly. When I tried to start up a blog for ESL teachers here in SD, it limped along and then finally expired. A few teachers complained that they didn't know how/couldn't figure out how to sign up and post comments. Many never even tried. We should have introduced it at a F2F session, and then required everyone to sign up and practice posting. Your idea sounds very intriguing, even if it isn't fleshed out yet. . .
- Missy Slaathaug, Pierre, SD
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1141] Re: Blogging and PD
From: Leecy Wise leecy at fone.net
Date: Wed May 16 10:58:45 EDT 2007
I am catching up with posts for the latest back after running into a
few glitches.
Marian, your blog is very engaging and beautiful, and I enjoyed
adding the ESOL teacher's example. On blogging, I support some of the
comments I've heard about reluctance of people to participate. I
coordinate an online GED pilot in the Four Corners and have made
several attempts to get the instructors involved in weekly dialog. I
use a listserv, but I also started a blog, with absolutely no
success. Only one teacher was willing to work through the
registration and add a comments. So we are back to email.
I've noticed several posts about Moodle and the cost of that and
similar programs. Let us also not forget the free availability of
Second Life and similar environments that allow people to participate
as avatars. It's a lot of fun, but, again, getting them through the
first event is the trick. It's also important to train people not to
go flying around indiscriminately until they know the environment well.
Leecy
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1155] Re: Blogs and engagement
From: Dr Elizabeth Hanson-Smith ehansonsmi at yahoo.com
Date: Wed May 16 22:44:38 EDT 2007
Hi folks--
In trying to get a handle on the threads in this day's digest, I noticed several references to blogs, and thought it might be useful to talk a little further about the using of blogs and blogging in pd, and they relate to our discussion topics.
Several of us mentioned the need for engagement and one idea was the use of video taping (digital?) of lectures on a topic, but I think while this meets the very real needs of distance learners to access the content of training, there has to be some way to meditate on the content, and that's where blogs come in.
I've collected several examples of teacher blogs--places where teachers ruminate about their own work, as in Marian's example. This kind of blog is, coincidentally, also a way to ascertain that your training is working. See Holly's email below--getting your trainees started in blog writing could be built into a f2f session as easily as not (and that goes for Moodle, too, which has a blog function, though rather primitive). In fact, at the TESOL convention pd training over the years, our EVO group has started wikis, blogs, and Yahoo! Groups _before_ the on-land session so that people come prepared.
I used to carry home piles of journals to read, but now it's so easy to look at what's in people's heads in a blog. That doesn't necessarily mean blogs are a good way to carry on a conversation, as Leecy reported. It's just not immediate enough for most, so the engagement and excitement is lost quickly. I guess one lesson is in choosing the right tool(s) for the job. To me it seems that blogs are best for reflective thinking on a topic, while email is far better for discussion with others.
My favorite reflective teacher's blog is by Susan Lister--she describes her lesson plans and how students react to them in execution:
<http://teacherintraining.edublogs.org/>
I've listed several other reflective teachers' blogs here:
<http://going-the-distance.wikispaces.com/Reflective+Blogging>
My favorite reflective student blog (actually a podcast) is from Rita Zeinstejer's class--her Argentine students collaborated with students in Ohio on the subject of South American culture and politics:
<http://caeb2006.podomatic.com/>
You will need to scan down to Mauricio's entry on April 30, 2006, and those below it to read more about their responses to talking with US students. You can really feel the excitement, even from those whose English is rather poor. If you click on a blog entry title, you will see comments on some of them (and you can add your own without signing in). And of course you can hear the students' voices in the podcast.
Isn't it amazing that students can do a complex blog like this while (some) teachers are still afraid to dip their toes into the Web?
Cheers--
--Elizabeth
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1228] Re: Blogging and PD
From: missy slaathaug missythird at gmail.com
Date: Mon May 21 14:08:01 EDT 2007
Thanks for the comments on blogs. I finally did start up a simple google
group for South Dakota's adult ed ESL teachers. I don't often get responses
or discussion to the questions I pose, but at least I know that they get the
information that I send out. They know where the delete button is if they
don't want to read it! And they don't have to sign up to be in the group,
which helps. Every now and then I get some postive feedback about the
tidbits I send along, so I feel it's worth it.
Missy
