Starting Multiliteracies 2010

I’m really excited about starting this new edition of the course. I have had some personal issues during the past week, so I’m already lagging behind, even though the course has officially started today.

After a little revamping of this blog (adding a  Twemes RSS feed, removing a couple of things) I wrote a new page on my e-portfolio here and added a brief blogpost to the Multiliteracies Ning. If only there were 40 hours in a day!

Nings

 I have found a very interesting discussion of Nings in Gabinete de Informatica.net, accompanied by a video explanation. Both of them are in Spanish, but several of the members of Multiliteracies are Spanish speakers so that should not be a problem.

I believe this will be a good option for my classes. I have to use a  “private, closed” platform with most of them (institutional requirements) but I think the Ning will give me more flexibility.

I’ll update this post as soon as I get started with it.

Collaborative writing (Week Three)

Blogging

I have to confess I have never used a blog with any of my classes.  My main concerns so far have been student privacy and the inability to upload documents.

Carla Arena’s article highlights the real-life nature of writing when it is done on a blog, as it involves writing for an audience and not just the teacher. However, as Graham Stanley points out, one of the dangers of blogging is that student interest may soon wane, unless frequent tasks are required from them.  Why RSS is crucial for a Blogging Classroom, suggested by Yulia , seems to be an area to explore seriously.

Another important advantage mentioned is to encourage interaction among classmates, including shy students. Again I believe the teacher’s role is crucial, as teenagers in some cultures may be reluctant to express their opinions on their classmates’ work: they may feel it affects their marks or the teacher’s perceptions on it.

A serious disadvantage is the difficulty to correct mentioned by Stanley. I feel – though I have no real experience of  it – that wikis may be more suitable for that purpose. On the other hand, if we are aiming for fluency, a learner blog  may be exceptional, and encourage responses to content rather than linguistic accuracy.

As regards photos, I suppose we should be extremely cautious with underage students.  I have found the following recommendations by Claudia Ceraso extremely useful.