Assessment

So - you've set up a class blog project - now how are you going to assess it?  You may consider providing a rubric that describes what a good post is and what good comments are and assign point values based on your rubric.   I'm using this rubric in my ESL class this semester.

Krista Kennedy, an instructor in the Department of Writing Studies, created this presentation about using blogs in the classroom and offers good suggestions about the pros and cons of using individual, group or class blogs.   At the end of the presentation, she offers examples of rubrics she's created for assessing student blogs.  

In second language teaching, pointing out grammar-errors on a blog can prove to be difficult.  How can you get into the post to highlight the errors?  A blog doesn't offer the same flexibility as a wiki does in this respect.  But, as jchambers points out in his blog post, "Using Diigo for Intensive Language Feedback" there are other tools to provide this type of feedback.  We won't be covering diigo in this course, but if you're interested in using blogs and providing more pointed grammar feedback,  you might consider using diigo.  

How would you assess a blog?  

Blogging in the Second Language Classroom

As Lee LeFever points out in his Common Craft video, there are many different types of blogs out there, both for professional and personal use. And there are many different ways to use blogs in the second language classroom or to inform your teaching.

Student blogs

Check out these examples of student blogs:

Spanish students - This teacher uses the blog to make class announcements, etc. but also features a student blog of the week. Check out the links at the top of her page.
http://spanish1olah2009.edublogs.org/

ESL students at the U of M, practicing listening and summary skills (group blogs):

http://multiculture731.blogspot.com

ESL students in St. Louis, practicing vocabulary words (individual blogs):

http://websteresl.blogspot.com

A French blog for primary students in Scotland (how is this blog different from the others?)

http://mfle.typepad.com/ggs_french/

Japanese and English collaborative blog between students in Australia and Japan (class blog):
http://moshimoshigday.edublogs.org/

This previous post, Samples of Class Projects using blogs, includes a good example of an online role play and a kids book club. This post, Sample Blogs, has more examples of blogs used in education.

What do you like/dislike about these examples? What problems do you think educators face using blogs in the classroom? Have you ever used a blog in your teaching or for your personal use? How might you use a blog for educational purposes?