Blog design ---- tips for making your blog more appealing!

Dear guests,

   In this post, I made some videos to present you some tricks to make your blog more appealing, without using extra plugins or templates! So enjoy :)

1. Blog layout -- first impression counts!
2. Edit the post content -- clarity and emphasis matter!
3. Sidebar design & comment control -- functionality aids!
4. Conclusion
5. References
6. Links for further reading

Tip No.1: Blog layout -- first impression counts! 

• Structure As a reflective journal for ICT, the blog might not be very artistic, but I still prefer a well laid out blog. There is a lot of information in the blog, I don't want my guests to feel overloaded and "run away". (Choose the templates)
• Balance A balance structure can help readers focus on certain areas of the blog. Putting enough weight on the post content side allows readers to glide through the post naturally, without being distracted from other information on the page. For making it balanced, we can adjust the widths of the blog as well as the weight (size) of different sections

• Color Color is one of the most important elements for creating the tone of the blog, readers' emotion can be largely affected by it. Light colors provide a relaxed ambiance for reading. (Color schemes)

                        

blog structure and balance  

Special tip on context color

Tip No.2: Edit the post content -- clarity & emphasis matters!

   Most readers want to read as little as possible, and they try to catch the most important points and quickly move on. A clear content  can surely make them get your point without feeling overloaded and confused. ( Headlines, alignment, remove formatting, insert image, ample white space, Link in new windows )  

Post context design

special tip for  formatting

Tip No.3: Sidebar design & comment control -- functionality aids!

• The functionality of sidebar plays an important role in blogging. The sidebar should provide visitors enough information about works in the blog, and also enable them to contact the author.  ( Add and delete gadget)

• Comment setting A good blog should allow visitors to comment and exchange ideas with you.  It can make both you and your visitors have an enjoyable time in your blog.  (Comment setting)

sidebar, pages and comment

Conclusion

      To create an appealing blog, it requires us to take good care of different factors. The overall effects depend on each component! The things I chose to share here are the things I feel most useful for creating a more attractive blog. There are many other things to be worked on as well.  I am learning to make an useful and beautiful blog myself as well, a really newbie in this field, so if you have any good suggestions for me, please leave me some comments :) 

References

No direct citation

Links for further reading

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/07/10-blog-layout-tips.html

http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=176245

http://www.scoutiegirl.com/52-more-weeks-blogging-passion

http://www.dzignine.com/

http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/

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Wallwisher ---- paper for the web

In this post, I will present:

1. What is Wallwisher
2. How to use Wallwisher
3. Activities you can do with it in ELT
4. The advantages of using it in ELT
5. The pitfalls of applying it in ELT
6. References
7. Links for further reading

1. What is Wallwisher

    Wallwisher is a website where you can build a wall. On the wall, you can add different contents and post written works, pictures, website links, audios and videos. The ones who are given access to the wall can always come back and edict the wall or share the wall via other websites.

2. How to use Wallwisher

   It is a very user-friendly website, it is easy to use! Here is a very clear and detailed demonstration by renowned lecturer  Russell Stannard. 

Please click and watch

3. Activities you can do by Wallwisher in ELT

• Serve as an extending blackboard. It is like an extending blackboard, where students can write while sitting in their own seats at the same time.

• Serve as a notice-board. Teachers can build a wall and put on notices for class and assignment information, for instance, teachers can post curriculum, syllabus, assignment details, etc.

• Gather reflective journals. A wall can be built for teachers and students to share their reflective teaching or learning journals. Or a wall with different links to their reflective journals. It is great that others can view it in the same place.

• Gather online resources. It can serve as a place for sharing online-resources where every number of the class posts useful links and different media such as audios and videos for learning. 

• Assign out-of-class activities. Teachers can extend classroom activities in Wallwisher. For example, teachers can ask students to build up a wall related to the same topic, and later present this wall in the classroom.

• Brainstorming and discussion. Students can do brainstorming and discussions through it in and out of the classroom and can always come back to review other students' ideas.

• Do writing activities. Students can do writing activities in the wall. For example, teachers can ask students to make sentences or write a small paragraph, develop a story.

• Get anonymous advice or feedback. Teachers can embed the wall in their blogs asking for feedback of the lessons. Students can start a wall for asking anonymous advice and suggestions for their questions or assignments.

4. The advantages of using Wallwisher in ELT

• Provide enough space to write. Compare with the traditional way of asking students to come to the blackboard and write things down, writing in Wallwisher, students avoid experiencing some embarrassing situations, such as lacking of space to write things on the blackboard, waiting for others to finish, or finding no chopsticks to write. Wallwisher is efficient and time-saving 

• Lower writing anxiety and boost writing efficiency. As students are writing in their own seats, they don't need to worry about their handwriting, or their appearances. Thus, they feel less anxious about writing and tend to focus more on thinking about what to write.

• Facilitate classroom learning. Because it can be used as a place for gathering online resources, during class teachers can go to their posts and link to the web pages they need for lecturing or arranging interesting activities. 

• Enhance four skills at the same time. When students are grouped together to complete a wall relative to a topic, they cooperate and interact more with each other. It provides more chances for them to practice their English in different ways: listening and speaking to exchange ideas, reading to select useful information, writing to organize thoughts and wall content.

• Increase learners' learning autonomy. When the wall gather to the links to students' homework, it means that not only the teacher can assess  students' work online, but other students can have a look at the work done by others as well. Most students will want to present better homework, and therefore using more time to practice and make more effort to refine their work.

• Foster good communication skills. For task-based activities, such as build up a wall in the classroom. To successfully complete the task in a  limited time, students in a term have to distribute the tasks equally and  communicate effectively. Comparing to the traditional activities, finding information online is a much more complex process, and requires better organization in a term. In the process of doing this activity, students  will unconsciously improve their language communication skills.

5. The pitfalls of applying it in ELT

• Technology support and internet speed. Just like other computer-based activities, the major obstacle of applying it in language teaching still lies in the technology support, such as media equipment, projectors, computers and connection to the internet. For computer-based activities, without a computer, nothing can be completed. Many places in the world, especially in developing countries, a highly equipped media rooms are still not affordable for some schools, let alone families in poverty. Only when we tackle down the technological barrier can we fully enjoy the advantages of applying it in language teaching.

• Content control. If every student has the right to post information on the wall, it is possible that sometimes students may post similar resources or less user-friendly links, and other students may find it less useful to follow the links. In another case, students may post inappropriate contents  and cause cyber bullying, it may be hard for inexperienced teachers to stop cyber bullying as well.

• Layout control. As everybody can post things on it whenever they want, the "wall" may become a bit messy and unattractive. It is a bit time consuming to reorganize the layout of the wall. Another situation is that some students may accidentally delete other students' posts as well, and there is no "undo" button to rectify the mistake.

• Too small wall for a large class. If there are over 30 students in the class, the wall may be too limited space to put on longer posts. 

6. References

No direct citations

7. Links for further reading

1. http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/12/wallwisher-brings-the-flexibility-of-notes-on-paper-to-the-web/

2. http://padlet.com/wall/ry8fxw7k9v (a sample of using Wallwisher)

End

Jing ---- take screenshots and record screencasts

In this post, I will introduce:

1. What is Jing
2. How to use Jing
3. The advantages of using it in ELT
4. The limitations of employing it in ELT
5. References
6. Links for further reading

 1. What is Jing

   Jing is a smart software for taking screenshots and recording Screencasts. The free version of Jing allows users to capture images on the computer screen or record up to five minutes of onscreen video. Users can upload the videos or images through screencast.com and gain link for viewing them again.

   Download Jing is totally free, so try it out! :)

2. How to use Jing

Jing is a user friendly software. Users can find it extremely easy to operate Jing. Here is a clear demonstration of using Jing.

3. The advantages of using Jing in ELT

• Teachers can provide more explicit feedback. As Jing allows teachers to record Screencasts, teachers can provide feedback by giving instructions vocally while pointing out the language points being explained on the screen. Through using audio and visual effect, students can get a clearer view on the quality of their homework, therefore it becomes easier for them to digest the knowledge and correct mistakes they made.

• Students gain more interest in revising their homework. In the traditional way of correcting homework, after receiving the corrected homework back, students usually will not reread their homework. However, when students receive video demonstration, their interest of learning feedback from teachers can grow higher, and they become more engaging into reviewing their homework.

• Build up stronger bond between students and teacher. Unlike the cold paper work, in the video, teacher's emotions are exposed more directly to students. For instance, if a teacher praises the students' work, students can remember deeper and may become more active to express their ideas to the teacher. The bond between teacher and students can become stronger.

• Enhance peer interaction. As the videos made by Jing can be uploaded onto screencast.com, students can click the link and watch other students' work . Teachers can help students to start discussions related to the revised homework and encourage them to exchange revising experience and share ideas. Teachers can also ask students to revise each other's assignments. In this way, in order to revise correctly, students unconsciously make more effort on gaining understanding of the class content.

• Boost teachers' engagement in revising homework As teachers have to do a video, they will surely spend more time on reviewing the work and organize the language before giving feedback in the tape. In this way, teachers become more engaging in the homework revising activities.

• Make a quicker and easier distribution. No matter where are the students and teachers, as long as they can surf online, revised homework can be sent back to them on time. It is unnecessary for them to go back to school to pick things up.

• Facilitate out-of-class activities. Teachers can ask students to use Jing to do a presentation or ask them to record their introduction of some useful tools they want to recommend to the class.

• Ask students to do reflective thinking. It is extremely useful to enhance their memory about what they learn in the classroom by speaking out what they learnt in the class, while pointing out the notes they made in the classroom.

4. The limitations of Jing in ELT

• Too short. Using the free version of Jing, users can only record a video up to five minutes. It may be too short for revision of long assignments.

• Increase too large amount of work for teachers. As it might become very time consuming for recording the homework. For instance, if teachers make some spoken mistakes, they have to retake the tape. 

5. References

No direct citations

6. Links for further reading

http://yueluictinelt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/jing.html

End