Interactive
Learning
E-PORTFOLIO
USING SOCIAL MEDIA
ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS
THE “WHAT”
Building
an e-portfolio is a valued added component of Misty's tutorial
group sessions. The primary part of the e-portfolio is an individual blog that
you will create as a home-base for your ES1102 writing. The core of that
writing will be responses to the course writing assignments and subsequent interaction
about those with your instructor and classmates.
An
additional aspect of the e-portfolio is your interaction via the course Facebook
page. We have a general ES1102 course Facebook page (please “like” ES1102
Issues & Interactions). You should visit this site regularly, using it
to ask questions and give opinions and as a platform for sharing relevant video
and text links with classmates as often as possible. We will refer to the blogs
and the Facebook page in class.
THE “WHY”
Blogging, as you may
know, is a form of self-publishing, online. Once a writer has set up a weblog,
or blog, he or she can post on a variety of topics and receive
feedback from anyone with an Internet connection. This can be useful when
writing is shared within a particular community, whether a special interest
group, class or any other blogging group. In ES1102, blogging will serve as a
way for you to
- reflect on course content in
writing in a formal and semi-formal manner;
- develop and share your ideas with
an audience that is not limited to your instructor;
- learn about the ideas of your
classmates and your tutor;
- comment on the ideas of others; and
- refine your writing skills.
Your various
interactions with the course Facebook page, ES1102
Issues & Interactions (https://www.facebook.com/Es1102CELCNUS) or Misty's Facebook page (MistyCook NUS),
which you should friend, and within Misty's blog, where you
and your peers will park your individual blogs, have the general objective of
- allowing you to connect with
classmates and your instructor outside of class;
- encouraging you to ask questions,
give opinions and share information;
- and helping you better understand
the role of social media in shaping effective communication within the
academic community.
THE “HOW” of Blogging and Facebook
1.
Setting
up a blog
- To create your own blog website,
go to http://www.blogger.com/,
www.wordpress.com
or any other blog site. At these sites, follow
the instructions to create your own site. To make your site recognizable to
classmates, your site address could have your given name and family name
(or nickname).
- Once you have created a blog for
our course, within that, you can eventually begin to post responses
to assignments. The title of your course-related blog might
be something like “EAP” or “ES1102.”
- Eventually, send your blog address
to me and to the classmates. They will post links to your blog and that of
other classmates on their own blog.
2.
Blogging
groups/blogging buddies
In your ES1102
class/tutorial group, you will be assigned a blogging group of 4-6
members at the start of the semester. For every written post that you make, you
should read and respond to the posts of at least two members of this blogging
group. The purpose of this is for you and your blogging group members to share
written ideas with each other. In this way, you might also develop greater
familiarity with each other and assist each other in creating the most
appropriate and effective posts possible. A second purpose is for this smaller
class group to have an opportunity to demonstrate the skills needed to become a
cohesive social unit.
3. The four-stage blogging process
- Stage One: Having setting up your blog, read the blog assignment for the
first post (see schedule on the course website), and write a response of
150 to 200 words, preferably as a word document. Later you can copy and
paste this doc into the new post section of your blog.
- Stage Two: Publish your post on your blog by
the assigned date.
- Stage Three: Access
the blogs of at least two other members of your blogging group, and
read their posts for the same topic/assignment. After
reading each post, leave a comment.
In your commentary, you might answer questions such as these:
What do you think about the post? Is the language clear? How about the content?
Is the content impressive or not? Is it related directly to the assignment? Is the content clear, concise, coherent, cohesive? Is the answer complete? Are you in agreement or disagreement with any opinions stated? Is the writer courteous (and are you)?
Once you have reacted to the posts of at least two members of your blogging group, you can visit and comment on the blogs of other classmates.
A necessary condition for an assessment
of excellent in the Interaction
portion of your course grade is that you read and react in writing to at least
a total of three classmates’ posts per blog assignment.
Pay close attention to your language use. Remember, a blog is a form of publishing, and when and if you present your ideas in public, it is advisable to present them in a clear, grammatically accurate fashion. You should also use a tone that, while not as formal as that of a formal letter or official written report, should still adhere to standards for courtesy, correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence/cohesion, concreteness and completeness, the so-called 7Cs of good writing.
Pay close attention to your language use. Remember, a blog is a form of publishing, and when and if you present your ideas in public, it is advisable to present them in a clear, grammatically accurate fashion. You should also use a tone that, while not as formal as that of a formal letter or official written report, should still adhere to standards for courtesy, correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence/cohesion, concreteness and completeness, the so-called 7Cs of good writing.
- Stage Four: Return to your post to see what commentary has been left.
Follow that up, if you like, with comments back to your readers.
4.
Facebook
Please “friend” ES1102 Issues & Encounters or “friend” MistyCookNUS Facebook Page. Interact
here by posting links to relevant websites, with video and written information
on any course-related topic. Also, whenever you post, please write a one or two
sentence explanation of what you are posting.
FEEDBACK
There is formal assessment of your e-portfolio.
I will give you feedback with a focus on your blog posts' content &
organization, your language use, the timeliness of your posting and the manner
and frequency of your comments on classmates' posts.
While your interactions with Facebook in the
course are also viewed by me and others, evaluation is less analytical (in
short, more holistic). The focus is on how you make an effort to ask questions,
search for relevant video and text sources to share, and then view/read and
comment on the links provided by others, are able to value add to the course
discussions by their effort. Strictly speaking, this may not add up to points
for a mark, but it will certainly advance your learning, and it will warm your
tutor's heart!
BLOGGING
ASSIGNMENTS
I. Assignment
1: Due by the end of Week 2/Tutorial
#1
Write an analytically reflective post of 150
to 200 words on the topic “My English Language Learning Journey” or “Living in
A Globalized World: The Importance of English for Me,” or an instructor-approved
variation of one of these topics.
II. Assignment
2: E-learning Week 5/(Tutorial #1)
would like to summarize. Once you have read
through it for general
comprehension,
read through it again for detail, pulling out the author’s thesis, the
main ideas and
the supporting ideas.
2. Arrange the ideas that you
have extracted from the reading and arrange them using
any one of the models for a graphic
organizer.
3. Write a 150-200 word summary based on the
information you have distilled from the
reading. Post this on your blog by Monday afternoon of E-learning Week.
reading. Post this on your blog by Monday afternoon of E-learning Week.
III.
Assignment 3: Due within 24 hours of
the end of Week 6/Tutorial #1
Using what you have learned during the first
tutorial of Week 6 about writing
reader responses, write the first
draft of your reader response to one of the reading articles related to
globalization. This draft should be 150 to 200 words.
IV. Assignment 4: Due by the end of Week 9/Tutorial #1
Write an analytically reflective post of 150
to 200 words on either the topic “The Challenges of Doing My Research” or “Living
in A Globalized World: A Problem That Has Directly Impacted Me,” or write an
instructor-approved variation of one of these topics.
V. Assignment
5: Due by the end of Week 11/Tutorial
#2
Write a critically reflective post of 150 to
200 words on either the topic “What I Learned in The Essay Process” or an instructor-approved
variation of this topic.
VI. Assignment
6: Due by the end of Week 13/Tutorial
#2
Write a critically reflective post of 150 to
200 words on the topic of “The Next Stage Of My Learning” or an instructor-approved
variation of this topic.
