Editing comments at Edublogs

I’ve already shared all this at B4B, but I’d better post it here so that I can find it when I need it…

Carla Raguseo pointed out that (unlike Blogspot), Edublogs allows you to edit comments posted either by yourself or others to your own blogs (Blogger does allow you to delete them, but not edit). It took me a while to find out how to go about it, and this is what I learned then:

1. Click on Administration/Manage/Comments
2. then click on Edit for the comment you want to modify or “Mass Edit Mode” to edit it all comments…
3. The editor for comments has lots of icons that enable WYSIWYG when editing comments, quite similar to what you get when entering posts (just more limited, no options for embedding.) Pretty easy to format a just entered comment! I’d just tried HTML for link in the comments, and they worked! There’s no preview option, but it’s you can always edit them later!
4. You can even “unapprove” already published comments!

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Comparing Blogger and Edublogs: At Blogger, I can delete comments I’ve entered to any blog (not only my blogs) by clicking on the grey trashbin in the comments blog… Is there any way to take my words back in comments I post to other people’s Edublogs, apart from emailing the owner and requesting they delete my comment? Not that I need to, just exploring the options! I think I’m finally “falling in love” with Edublogs… not as intuitive as Blogger, so I’ll stick to that one for my class blogs for the time being, I hope I’ll be posting more regularly to my Edublog myself!

Gladys

Blogging, Learning to use Edublogs | Comment (1)

Teaching writing, teaching life…

Co-presenting with Bee Dieu for Blogging for Beginners, Aaron Campbell said:

“Over time…
Authoritarian and Vertical Classrooms
Create Authoritarian and Vertical Minds”

(click here to watch their wonderful presentation on “Involving students in Blogging“)

Having watched _{(click on the grey triangle over the image below to see the video)}:

Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us (4:31 mins)

by Digital Ethnography (a working group of Kansas State University students and faculty dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography, led by Professor Wesch) today,…

I wonder whether we writing teachers can keep denying that…

“Over time…
teaching unilinear writing, fixed in time
creates unilinear thinkers, unwilling to question
and mistrustful of lifelong learning”.

Gladys (rethinking my teaching practices !)

_{NOTE: first time embedding a video in one of my blogs!}

Computer-mediated writing, I've been reading..., Learning to use Edublogs, Online communities | Comments (5)

Wikis as collaboration tools

Educared@ndonos: el wiki y la colaboración

The document linked above reports on a project I have implemented during this school year, integrating a wiki (hosted at http://theoryofeducation.pbwiki.com/) into the curriculum of “Theory of Education”, a subject I teach at a private teacher’s training college (all lessons are held in English, to favour the trainees acquisition of the foreign language). I wrote it in Spanish to submit it to a competition held by Educar-Intel. (don’t look for my name among the winners! )

The class was made up by 23 first-year students, who had just entered the institution. We met only once a week for 80 minutes, and the school had no access to computers.

By integrating a wiki into our curriculum tools (adapting a writing task assigned on previous school years) , I aimed at:

• transforming my f2f course into a blended course
• fostering group cohesion
• promoting peer collaboration
• introducing teacher trainees into the educational potential of new technologies

You may prefer to have a look at the slidesI created to go with the report. Even if you cannot understand Spanish, the images on slides #3 and 12 can help you see the effect on wiki integration on the student’s perception of the writing task.

As indicated in the report, the experience was really positive. I’m determined to repeat it again in future school years!

Gladys

Computer-mediated writing, Teachers and technology, Wikis | Comment (0)

Learning around the clock for school?

“A school … plans to offer pupils teaching around the clock“, BBC News report today. It seems that a college in Hampshire (England) is to open from 7am to 10pm and offer lessons via the internet throughout the night.

As a consequence of this measure:

• learning modules would be available online at any time; students would be required to attend classes for some activities, and the rest would take place on the Internet.
• teaching and administrative staff at school would work flexi-time;
• families taking holiday during term-time could structure their kids’year so that they still get the full 190 days the English system requires. Likewise, teachers would be enabled to arrange their holidays more flexibly.

So much for the news story… Now here come my questions:

1. Has this ever been tried before? I’ve always passionately advocated for blended learning, but this sounds going too far for a first step for me…
2. Has anyone given a thought to the social aspects of learning, and the development of values which can only get developed through f2f interaction? The article fails to report what percentage of f2f meeting will be required (it just says some courses will still be taught in the traditional way, though school hours will be longer)
3. Will there be fewer schools, to make up for the increase in length of school hours offered?
4. Who has supervised the methodology the of online learning to be offered? This really intrigues me…

All new roads look a bit dark and unsafe, I guess… I just hope I hear more about this as the plan is carried out (the project is expected to last two years).

Gladys

I've been reading..., Online facilitation, Teachers and technology | Comment (0)