Blogs

Course Description > Blogs

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• Content

  A blog (or web log) is an online diary or journal that is regularly updated by an individual, or by a group of people. A blog used in education is known as an ‘edublog’, and include teacher blogs (a blog set up and contributed to by a teacher or lecturer), student blogs (blogs set up and maintained by individual students) and class blogs (one blog contributed to by all the members of a class). This short online course looks at teacher, students and class blogs, and how they can be used by teachers both in and outside the classroom with learners. We also examine RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and learn how to use this to subscribe to blogs. The practical, hands-on course explores:

  • free web-based software for blogs - what it looks like, how it works, where to get it
  • real examples of blog projects, set up by language teachers from around the world, for young learners, adults, Business English learners, teacher trainees, and a range of other disciplines
  • RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and how this can be used to subscribe to blogs
  • how course participants might use blogs and RSS with their own learners.

  Course participants will design and produce their own blog during this course, using free Internet-based blog tools.

• Audience

  The course is aimed at all teachers of English and/or other languages worldwide interested in learning how to use an ICT tool such as blogs in their teaching. It is suitable for newly-qualified teachers wishing to increase their employment opportunities and develop their ICT skills, as well as experienced professionals looking to expand their teaching repertoire at the same time as they gain some experience in online learning and ICT.

  [ find out where our course participants come from with our participant map ]

• Timetable

  This course covers two weeks (see dates above). You are expected to spend approx. 5 hours per week (a total of 10 hours per course) on online individual and collaborative group work, including offline reading and reflection. Deadlines for task completion are weekly, and you can log on at any point during the week to work on the course.

  You will use our online video conferencing platform for a course chat once during the course - the exact time for this is negotiated with the group. To take part in a video conferencing session you will need a headset with microphone (headsets with a USB plug are the best option), or a stand-alone microphone and speakers. If you have a webcam, you may want to connect that during the video conferencing session, but this is optional—you will be able to see and hear your tutor even if you only have a headset. Video conferencing sessions are always recorded which means that even if you can’t attend, you will be able to watch the recording later online, in your own time. Our video conferencing platform is accessed via a web page—you do not need to download or install anything to use it during the course.

• Learning Objectives

  During the course, you will:

  • learn what a blog is, and the difference between teacher, student and class blogs
  • explore a number of blogs especially developed for language learners
  • learn about RSS, and how to use it to subscribe to blogs
  • take part in a short blog project as a participant
  • create your own blog, for use in your own teaching context with your own learners, using a free Internet-based blog tool
  • learn to effectively use the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle as a course participant
  • experience an online video conferencing session

• Skills

  The course is taught entirely online, using the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle. You won’t need any prior experience or knowledge of online learning, although basic experience of email and Internet use would be helpful. Technical and pedagogical support is available for the entire duration of the course.

• Language Requirements

  Competence in written and spoken English, whether English is the applicants’ first, second or foreign language: successful applicants’ levels of competence in English must be of a standard sufficient to enable them to fully understand and complete the course work.

• What You Need

  • An Internet connection, preferably broadband
  • A headset (best is with a USB connection) or stand-alone microphone and speakers
  • A webcam is optional
  • An up-to-date browser
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • An up-to-date media player (e.g. Windows Media Player or similar)
  • A word processing package (e.g. Microsoft Word or similar)

  You will use an online video conferencing platform for chats with course colleague and tutor(s) several times during the course - the exact time for this is negotiated with the group. To take part in a video conferencing session you will need a headset with microphone (headsets with a USB plug are the best option). If you have a webcam, you may want to connect that during the video conferencing session, but this is optional—you will be able to see and hear your tutor even if you only have a headset. Video conferencing sessions are always recorded which means that even if you can’t attend, you will be able to watch the recording later online, in your own time. Our video conferencing platform is accessed via a web page—you do not need to download or install anything to use it during the course.

• Certification

  The Consultants-E will issue participants with a Certificate on successful completion of the course. Successful completion of the course is defined as completing 80% of the course work to an acceptable standard.

• Enrolment & fees

  You can enrol online via the Blogs course enrolment form. You can then pay the course fee of 145 € online via PayPal. The course fee covers all course content and documentation, video conferencing sessions, full tutor support and ongoing feedback.
  
  

  We use PayPal  as our secure online payment service. PayPal are trusted World-Wide for Internet transactions. We do not store your credit card details in any way. This increases your privacy and makes your purchase more secure.
  
  Under European Union legislation, you have the right to cancel within seven days of our contract with you. If you cancel your enrolment you will have your payment returned. To be refunded please provide full details of your enrolment including all reference numbers and PayPal correspondence to enrolments@theconsultants-e.com.

  Note: We are occasionally obliged to cancel a planned course if we do not have the minimum required number of participants (six). Cancellation will normally occur two- three days in advance of the course start date. In the event of a course cancellation you will be offered the opportunity to have a full refund, roll your enrolment over to the next course date, or transfer to another course with a discount.

• Deferrals

  If during your course you find that you need to defer due to special unforeseen circumstances such as bereavement, illness, or relocation, you may apply for a deferral on your course. This will mean joining a later course, and starting from the beginning. A deferral fee of 50% will apply.
  
  The deferral fee needs to be paid within one month of a deferral being granted. You then have up to one year (12 months) in which to take the course  again.
  
  In the case of seeking a deferral, you need to contact your course tutor, and copy in admin@theconsultants-e.com so we can deal with the administrative issues involved in a deferral.
  
  If you need to defer before your course starts, no deferral fees will apply apart from the bank costs incurred by the initial fee payment, whether via PayPal or bank transfer.