Beyond (the) Blackboard: Blogging as a Course Management System in the Foreign Language Classroom

Daniel R. Walker

daniel.walker@colorado.edu

University of Colorado at Boulder

Conference of the South Central Association for Language Learning Technology

16 February 2008

Advantages of Traditional Course Management Systems Organization Standardization

Instructor familiarity Student familiarity

Tools Use of templates Support

Disadvantages of Traditional Course Management Systems Interface Forces one to think in modules Hierarchical menu structure Compatibility issues Students often dislike them

The Decision to Use Blogger Cost Compatibility Ease of Use Customization Appearance Relationship with Google “family”

Google Calendar Google Reader YouTube FeedBurner

Two Approaches to Using Blogs Top-down blog

Information primarily goes from instructor to class

Internet & Society Course (Northwestern U)

Bottom-up blog Information primarily goes from class to

instructor Info 204: Networks (Cornell U)

U of Colorado: Spanish 2120 Fourth-semester

course Eight-week summer

class Seventeen students Hybrid approach

Fixed elements / right-hand side

Changing elements / left-hand side

Fixed Elements: The Basics Feedburner / RSS Personal information Email address Office hours

Fixed Elements: News Authentic texts in the

target language Access to current

events Instructor controlled

through Google Reader Material used as

content for extra-credit questions on quizzes

Fixed Elements: Administration Easy access

Administrative documents

Essential webpages Use of PDF

documents Integration with

Webfiles

Changing Elements: Informational Posts Offer more

information about material seen in class—all in the target language

Offer students links in order to stimulate further exploration

Changing Elements: News Posts

Changing Elements: Course Schedule Posts

Changing Elements: Hybrid Posts

Changing Elements: Organization Labels

Created by poster Posts may have multiple

labels Allow students to easily

locate posts Archives

Organized automatically by Blogger

Arranged by date

Blogmentarios: Writing, Brainstorming, and Discussion

Student Reaction

Links Class Blog: Spanish 2120 (Summer 2007)

http://span2120.blogspot.com/ Blog Project Overview (“Language and

Technology”) https://webfiles.colorado.edu/walkerdr/www

Blogs as Course Management Systems (Google Notebook) http://www.google.com/notebook/public/07209419

910697440508/BDRCcIwoQ762Vo-gi