• Socialize and do survey
  
• Get to know the environments we will be working in (Yahoo Groups, Wiki, Yahoo Messenger, Blogger, Tappedin, Learning Times, Alado)
  
• Quickly review main concepts related to blogs/wikis
  
• Become familiar with the main features of Blogger, and explore ways these features can initially be used.
  
• Prepare personal blogs for introduction to the community.

• Meet moderators and participants, introduce yourself by mail and post a photo in Yahoo Groups
  
• Complete the exploratory survey to pool experience, needs and expectations and place yourself on the map.
  
• Check and enroll in the different environments that will be used and visited throughout the course.
  
• Check the time/date/venue of Anne Davis chat and add your name to the Yahoo database if you are planning to attend it.
  
• Become acquainted with the EVO 2004 session on the use of blogs in ESL/EFL by doing the personal and collective tasks assigned in the webquest for 1st week.
  
• Add your personal blog address to our Blogroll in the wiki

Anne Davis
Atlanta, USA
(UTC/GMT -5)

• Contrast and compare various asynchronous tools,
  different weblog providers, styles and uses

• Gain a better understanding of what weblogs and wikis are and what the term 'interactive webpublishing' means
  

January 24th to January 30th

• Check the time/date/venue of this week's two chats and add your name to the Yahoo database if you are planning to attend them.
  
• Verify and complete the webquest tasks for 2nd week.
  
• View different blog software and providers (free and open source)
  
• Compare and contrast them to notice boards, forums, webpages, and wikis
  
• Examine various uses and categories
  (personal blogs, student blogs, class blogs, open, closed)
  
• Post links and resources to the wiki and comments on personal and community blog

James Farmer
Geelong, Australia
(UTC/GMT + 11)

Chat: Communication dynamics: Discussion boards, weblogs, wikis and
the development of communities of inquiry in online learning
environments

at Alado on Monday
January 24th at 22:00 GMT

Dana Watson
East Lansing, Michigan,USA
(UTC/GMT -5)


W. Jason Reagin
Suzhou, China
(UTC/GMT +8)

and

Yu Hua Chen (Stella)
Changhua City, Taiwan
(UTC/GMT +8)

Jam Session:Using Weblogs

at Tappedin on Wednesday
January 26th at 12:00 pm GMT

• Gain a better understanding of what RSS is and how it works
  
• Visualize different scenarios on how to use RSS
  
• Syndicate and aggregate
  
• Discuss possible applications in EFL/ESL

January 31st to February 6th

• Check the time/date/venue of this week's two chats and add your name to the Yahoo database if you are planning to attend them.
  
• Verify and do the webquest tasks for 3rd week
  
• Configure and personalize your blogs, while learning how RSS and aggregation works.
  
• Make sure there is an RSS feed link on your weblogs
  
• Begin using aggregators to subscribe to relevant links.
  
• Get acquainted with various aggregation software (like Bloglines), web-based search and tracking services (like Feedster and Technorati), and other useful tools (like Furl, Haloscan, etc)
  
• Post links and resources to the wiki and comments on personal and community blog

Will Richardson
Flemington, NJ, USA
(UTC/GMT -5)

Chat:Weblogs and RSS
at Learning Times on Monday
31st January at 15:00 GMT

Mary Harrsch
Eugene,OR, USA
(UTC/GMT- 8)

Chat: Can RSS help learners and educators? Practical scenarios.
at Learning Times on Wednesday
February 2nd at 23:00 GMT

Week 4

Images and Sounds: Latest Trends

• Get to know various software applications that support working with images and sound.
  
• Discuss possible applications/activities in EFL/ESL

• Discover examples of

  a) photoblogs
  b) audblogs
  c) moblogs
  d) videoblogs
  e) podcasting

Teresa Almeida Eça
Lisbon, Portugal
(UTC/GMT- 0)

Blogging beyond text

at Learning Times on Tuesday February 8th at 14:00 GMT


Vance Stevens
Abu Dhabi, UAE
(UTC/GMT + 4)

Michael Coghlan
Adelaide, Australia
(UTC/GMT +9:30 )

Voices from the Edge

at LearningTimes on Friday
February 11th at 22:30 GMT

Week 5

Weblogging Projects

• Explore ways of using technology in the EFL/ESL classroom by examining and discussing several projects currently underway (collaborative projects, blogging communities, E-portfolios)
  

Julie Lindsay
Dakha, Bangladesh
(UTC/GMT + 6)

Chat: Weblogs and student portfolio projects. Why and how to implement them
at Tappedin on Tuesday
February 15th at 14:00 GMT

Anne Davis

Chat: Weblogs and School Projects
at Alado on Friday
February 18th at 14:00 GMT

Week 6

Building a community of practice

• explore how to cultivate and maintain a thriving weblog-based learning community.

• Post links and resources to the wiki and comments on personal and community blog