It's been some time since I last posted on this blog and it was about wikis. During this time I have been involved with the topic in several ways. I find it difficult sometimes to manage creation of content on both sides: mine and my students.

I still find wikis very useful to work with young learners. One thing I like about them is the fact that they do not require students to sign up. This is really handy because very young learners generally do not have e-mails, and if they do, they almost never use them. So creating user names and passwords for students does the trick of having them posting and editing on the site. Another good thing regarding wikis, is the fact that they allow multiple users under different folders and this allows to have different groups of students using a single wiki. 

Last year I used my wiki to work on writing with a pre-intermediate level. What I did was to ask them to post written assignments (generally paragraphs to the wiki). I found out that the quality of their writing really improved. This probably happened because they were aware of the fact that I was not the only one reading what they were writing. Publishing creates authentic readership. Besides that, I also use it as opportunity to explore tools and encourage students to create content related to books we read in class or to grammar points we were covering.

Allowing comments is also a good feature of wikis. However, students (just like most of us) are not usually inclined to comment on posts. Nonetheless, I have seen some examples of authentic exchange going on when comments were made. Still on comments, I guess I found it difficult to balance creation of content and commenting on content. I mean, time constraints is a factor on limiting the opportunities given to commenting. Students do check each other's work, but they seldom make written comments. Asking them to do that from home might work, but I still feel that they are a bit reluctant to do it. They seem to connect the use of computer at home for playing and not for doing school related stuff.

Overral I would say that my experience with wikis has been very positive. Although the examples given in this blog post relate to my experience with Pbworks, I have also started using Wikispaces with another group of students and I have found it extremely interesting. There are some disadvantages, of course, but I decided to mention them in another post. 

 

I have just started using a wiki with my Teens 1 course. Students are between 10 to 12 years old. I have used wikis with young learners before and everytime I do it, I am always surprised at their creativity and their enthusiasm in owing a virtual space. I generally create accounts for them in Pbworks. I enter their names and the site generates usernames and passwords. They really have fun with the passwords assigned to them (always a combination of the name of an animal and a number followed by a fruit,for example, snake4mango. Everytime I do this, I get the chance to teach them English and some basic digital skills. I also try to teach them something about design. Sometimes they use pictures that are too large and I give feedback saying that smaller pictures make scrolling a bit easier and content more visible. They are just beginning and they loved when I browse their recently created pages in the data show in our class. I am realy looking forward to what will come out of this round of digital experience.

From darkness to a sparkling connected ELT community Brasilia BRAZ-TESOL Key note by Claudio Azevedo blogger http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.com/ had some knowledge about computers but was only absorbing information He had the feeling he was a blood sucker. He wanted to learn about technology to share what he knew All of us had to adapt to technology : VCR, cassette players. Miracles do not happen. You have to take action. You cannot wait for the institution. Once you start doing something you start learning A blog about what? Blog about what you do best. You should be committed to provide information, be aware of trends, checking visitors, being responsible/accountable for your readers. Recognition
First from colleagues and later from a wider community. Recognition is what motivates us.

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Still miss my laptop,but while it is out I play with the latest gadget. The pic quality is not the best, buy posterior app for the I-Phone is certainly cool.

This week my laptop crashed again. I really need to get a new one. This did cause some troubles because I am a bit connected and dependent on it (not addicted). When this happens, I generally engage in other activities and find a chance to unwind a bit. I always have backups of lesson plans in external drive, so I always manage to go on without a connection. However, what amazes me is how can always maintain his/her connectivity no matter what happens. I feel that we are conneted to the web and not to the gadgets we use. The web is like an entity that is everywhere. It is always available and ready. Just last week, after some futile resistance and skepticism, I finally gave myself an I-Phone. As i write this post on this very gadget, i cannot help thinking on its unintended consequences, on the it is being by people that has not being anticipated by its creators. I really the idea of antropophagy in technology (humans assimilating technology and using in a sustainable benign and less consumerist way, like cell phones that used in for making money transfers without going through the banking system). In a week i am not using I-Phone as cell phone anymore (I removed the chip and put it  back on my old cellphone because my carrier was eating way my credits even i belied i was connected to a wireless network at home or at work), so I am using it as a mobile pc only. However it is eating my time somehow. It took me a bit to type this, but I have learned a lot. P />
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