Because the links that I've tried to visit weren't in use any more. For instance: http://thenewtanuki.blogspot.com/ or http://beeonline.blogspot.com/ -- where the last posts are of 2005...
It was like walking in a desert, where among the shifting sands you see the ruins of once great civilizations....
Thus I wonder... Blogging probably is a tool to reach certain goals for a certain group for a certain period. And as it is mentioned in the previously mentioned article Blogging for ELT -- one constantly needs to update it and keep it alive, otherwise it looses its relevance. And thinking about the habits that young people develop these days... they are very interactive and do not require long thought processing, neither do they write or read as much as their previous generation... They are the people of quick information and visuals. In this age of constant change it is probably impossible for things to stay as they are....
Therefore my thoughts would probably be... that for a blog to stay alive it should have a purpose, strong incentive and relevance to a class.
Dear Line,
ReplyDeleteI really like your sentences that you were like walking in a desert, where among the shifting sands you see the ruins of once great civilizations. This sounds so great.You design and photos are so great, too.
I completely agree with you that blog is probably a useful tool for achieving certain objectives. In my second thought, I feel sorry why young people are not interested in reading as much as the previous generations were. I also think that the young learn from what they see or hear and that they also do not pay attention about the content, they only pay attention about the form and they also manage everything as fast as they can.
I also cohere with you about the last sentence you mentioned that in the world of fast change it is impossible to for something to stay as it is.
Cheers...
thank you for your thoughts and comments it is great to see what other teachers think on the topic, whether they encounter similar issues, thoughts and emotions that come along :).
ReplyDeleteI am trying to "make" my students read :) -- but now alongside "normal" books I am introducing my students to interactive reading online -- so far they are really interested in this... probably because it is shorter and more interactive :)
Great job Lina
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your Ideas and experience with us.
I am very interested on what you write and i also like the use of colors and pictures on your post.
Best regards,
Nasser
http://webskills4teachers.blogspot.com/
Lina, I love the shifting sands analogy. Books do seem much more permanent whereas links can disappear overnight. As an online teacher I have had many frustrating moments when some of the best online texts for my classes suddenly vanish without warning (sometimes in the middle of using them!) I agree the relevance is so important with any task we give our students!
ReplyDeleteJanine I love Lina's work too especial the shifting sand.Talking of the text disappearing without notice has been my worse frustration .Imagine typing a whole text when you want to publish it disappearing and the way am slow in typing GOSH!!It real frustrates me almost giving up.How do i help that?
DeleteHi Lina :
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a great week working on web search and creating learning objectives.I did not make myself the time to visit all the blogs last week, so I decided to restart now. Congratulations for your blog. It is very appealling and it has nice colors.
Best regards.
thank you, Denise, I actually did -- I am enjoying it more and more every time. Thanks for your nice comments.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you mentioned the word VISUAL. Not only are there visual learners, but students today require a visual incentive for inspiration. If a learning environment is not visually tempting, it is unlikely to attract any students or motivate them to contribute their own input. I try to encourage my students to publish visually attractive and meaningful blog posts. Publishing on the world wide web puts some pressure on the students. Copy-pasting is no longer an option. Content has to be fresh and original in order to get readers. Blogging is the key to creativity.
ReplyDelete