Reflection and questions for thoughts

1. Engagement and participation
Our class is divided into four groups, and Anita, Eleanor and I are in the same group. I think this course emphasizes on both team works and individual work but we still have our own space to put all our works and assignments. Actually, before taking this course I though that the function of blogs is for people, especially for fashionable ones, to have an online space in which they can express themselves and show themselves so they may mainly put personal pictures and personal experience on blogs. However, after taking this course I find that people can use bloggers in a more meaningful and educational way. In traditional learning environment there are few chances for students to evaluate or give comments on works of their peers. We just finish assignments alone and wait for grades or evaluations from our teachers. Now we all have our own bloggers which can be viewed as portfolios, but the most amazing things is the interactive function of bloggers. We can give feedbacks to our peers. Take myself for example, when my group finishes a team work we will assignment someone to post it on class blogger, and the rest of us will go to check whether there is something wrong about the post. I also read other groups’ work which is posted on class blogger, since other groups also work hard and they really did a job. Sometimes, when we do not really know how to finish the assignment we will want to know how other groups finish their works. In this way we may get some directions. So I have to admit that I do more often observe on class blogger. I am more active in my own blogger, for I have to organize and post individual works on my blogger. The main reason is that I have authority on my blogger which I don’t on class blogger. As for small group, I often check my peers' bloggers, since they are well-organized and have some information my blogger don’t. I gave some of them my comments. For example, when Yajoo said that she encountered some problem while she was blogging, I just had the same experience, so I left a message for her and encouraged her not to feel depressed. At that time I found that bloggers are not just a “cold” learning environment because of the interactive function we can share our learning experiences and reflections. We are not only exchanging information but feelings!


2. Learning
I think bloggers do support the learning goal which wants to learn and teach through Internet. While I was blogging I always thought that what I put on my blogger would be read around the world, and therefore, I would carefully deal with the information I put on my blogger. Not only is the information I put on my blogger important but also the way I organize my blogger. Because our group sets up some principles and criteria for ESL websites and bloggers, I really hope that I blogger can fit the principles. Unfortunately, problems occurred while I was organizing my blogger. Although I use computers often, this is the first time for me to build a blogger. Problems I encountered are mainly technical problems. That is why we need partners, and I asked my partners for help. They also could not solve my problems, so I concluded that there must be something wrong with my computer. Even so, the process of blogging is interesting, since I explored different functions which helped me build my blogger. I think it is a success in learning, since we did learn many things while we interacted through bloggers. I have to confess that I don’t like spending too much time staring at the screen, but some assignments force me to spend many hours on the Internet. Besides, if my computer can not work, it is inconvenient to borrow a computer from my classmates. I also like seeing my learning peers in person, and when we discuss something we can respond to each other immediately.

3. Language learning
While I left comments on my peers' blogger and got feedbacks from my peers we were communicating with each other. From my peers’ bloggers I saw great creativity and I also tried to make my blogger more interesting and attractive like theirs. I use my creativity in the process of organizing the blogger. I figured out an English tile and a brief description of my blogger, but the description would cover my picture therefore I placed it in the “About Me”. I also put a picture of myself to signal my own identity. When I encountered problems, my partners would help me and we also exchange our thoughts on bloggers in a way of collaboration. I have to say that my English reading and writing ability improve during this course, since I finish every assignment by using English, and I also read a lot article written by my partners. We write article in different styles and sometimes I can learn a way to write a beautiful essay.