Since technology grows so quickly, it
will be used by many of our students actively. We, as teachers, should make it
an advantage. Instead of killing time on Internet, we can encourage our
students to deal with some discussions. So, they both use Internet actively and
develop their skills.
Giving an example from me, I used a
blog of mine for some courses. I posted a blog about different topics every week and I
realized that my writing skill had improved.
Also, my reading skill had improved as I read my friend’s blogs and made
a comment. Therefore, I can say that using blogs has many advantages for
students.
So, how should we use blogs and
twitter in language classes? My answer will be that we can ask students to post
about a topic that they are interested in for blogger. Also, we want students
to comment on their friends’ posts. I think, their writing and reading skills
will improve and they will find a chance to learn from each other.
For twitter, we can determine a
discussion question about any topic and we want students to write their
opinions in English under the hashtag that we created. In this way, we can
reach and follow all of our students.
To sum up, using blogs and twitter
has many advantages for students to improve their skills. If we want to make a
contact with our students, we should benefit from their daily life. Also, what
we teach becomes memorable if we give tasks on Internet regularly. They find a
chance to communicate outside the classroom. We can submit their blogs as an
assessment part and this may motivate them.
