In the period of intensive development of technology in the world, the classroom activities also changed. Nowadays teachers are trying to involve students in the learning process using various technological tools. Teaching English language forwarded for improving four skills speaking, listening, reading and writing. Blogs - are one of the most spread methods for improving writing skills. However, using blogs are essential tool only in the beginning of the study, in order to continue writing skills development the necessity of academic writing is essential.
While studying in the School Leadership course we were involved in both types of writing: academic and blogging. As for me, I mostly enjoyed writing blogs, because you are free to choose the topic of your blog, the style of your writing. You can share your blogs with other master students and get feedback from them. Sometimes one blog can incorporate students with the same interests. However, I think the themes should be limited in one sphere or field. Also, one of the disadvantages of blog writing is feedback. You did not get constructive feedback from your instructor, only from your peers. Your group mates provide you general feedback, so, you can not see a real picture of your improvement in writing.
Despite
the fact that blog writing is more pleasant part of writing, I can not deny the
importance of academic writing, especially in our course. Writing assignments in academic style
prepares us for thesis writing. On our course each assignment were commented
with previous one. We had an opportunity to connect our topics with our
research and other courses. Our instructor was really interested in our
development and provides us feedback with recommendation for further development.
I just remember my first points for assignment one in academic writing. At the
end of the course, with a help of our instructor and peers, I can see
improvement of my writings. Now, I pay attention on the thesis statement,
structure of my writing.
Academic and blog
writing are the tools that teachers use in order to develop students` writing
skills. However, I think that blogs are better to use in the beginning of the
course or school year. Writing blogs will help to overcome the barriers and
allows students to feel more confident in writing. And after that students will be prepared to
start academic writing course. So, it would be better to organize the program
of Academic English, where the first writing assignments will be blog writing
followed by the academic writing task. Only in condition that, if instructor
will also provide student feedback on blogs. And length of apprenticeship will
be prolonged. I want to thanks my instructor for helping me during these
courses and of course my friends who always were ready to help me doing peer
review of my works.
References
Lai, H. M., & Chen, C. P. (2011). Factors influencing secondary
school teachers’ adoption of teaching
blogs. Computers & Education,
56(4), 948-960.
Warschauer, M. (1997). Computer‐mediated collaborative learning: Theory and practice. The Modern
Language Journal, 81(4), 470-481.
Warschauer, M. (2010). Invited commentary: New tools for teaching
writing. Language Learning & Technology, 14(1), 3-8.
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