Hi All,

Sorry for the late announcement of the third week’s assignment, but we decided to wait until everybody has completed their previous tasks. However, there are still some participants who haven’t completed their tasks yet. We are sure that all the pairs will have submitted their response papers by tomorrow so that we can proceed with the arranged program. We have published several responses you have written about word processors on our blog page and learned a lot while reading your invaluable opinions.

We are going to have a WiZiQ session on blogging at the weekend, and we are going to determine the exact date and time considering your votes again. Therefore, we would like to inform you that you can vote for the most appropriate date and time for you on the poll to which you can easily access on our yahoogroups page (http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/collaborat ivewriting09/ surveys?id= 2150003).                                      

As you know, our topic for this week is blogs. We both believe that as teachers, we can design a wide range of collaborative activities using blogs, leading our students to create a social learning environment while protecting their own identities.

As for this week’s readings, we have uploaded Carla Arena’s thoughts – a one-page document from Dudeney and Hockly (2007), on the files part of our yahoogroups (http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/collaborat ivewriting09/ files/) and also put a link on the links part (http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/collaborat ivewriting09/ links) on which you can access to  Graham Stanley’s essay on blogs including practical uses and functions. There is also another research study, which you can find on the files part, and you can read this experimental study on blogging if you are interested in and, of course, have time.

Throughout the week you are expected to work individually first, and create your own blogs for this course. You can copy/paste your introductions with your pictures and your papers concerning word processors, all of which are on our blog site (http://collaborativ ewriting09. blogspot. com/), to use on your blogs. Please announce your blog address to all the participants via an email to the group.

You are going to analyze the two resources we have uploaded in the files and links parts (papers by Carla Arena and Graham Stanley), and then write a very short response paper to the thoughts and opinions presented there. By Saturday evening (20.00 GMT, 31^st January), you must write this short paper including your own thoughts on blogging tools in collaborative writing, mentioning at least one authentic activity that can be carried out through blogging and to be adapted in a writing class. Then, you are expected to write your comments on at least one participant’s response on his/her blog page.  

Having completed these three tasks (creating your blog, writing your response papers and commenting on at least one paper), you must write a fifty-word story for the mini-saga competition to be held at the end of the week. Participants are going to read your stories and vote for the best one so that we can choose the winner.

You must select one of the topics below for your mini-saga which will be exactly fifty words (no more, no less than fifty – you can calculate the number of words using MS Word, to which we will also refer):

-          three things about your teaching that you think really interesting

-          the worst / the best lesson you have experienced as a teacher or learner

-          the moment you think that you should proud of your students

Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me or Sedat if you have any questions, remarks or comments.

p.s. If you do not know how to create and use basic functions of blogs, there is a video extract about it from Dudeney and Hockly (2007). Click here to download the video.