Online Journaling in the ESL Classroom

At the Spokane ESL Regional Conference 2012, I was able to present on the kind of journaling I am having my upper-intermediate/advanced level students engage in. The title of my presentation was “Online Journaling: An Integrated Skills Approach to Independence” (view my prezi).

Summary:

A traditional journaling assignment is a wonderful means to get students to write more or more freely. An instructor may connect some reading or a discussion of some sort. In dialogue journaling, the instructor carries on a written conversation with the student, encouraging students to find their voices, again with the possibility of connecting reading or speaking in a later step. Yet, in these forms of journaling, the instructor functions either as the primary target audience and/or as some sort of referee/mediator/editor. I’d like to expand the skills horizon of journaling and free it from the looming oversight of the instructor. Therefore, I have been developing an approach to journaling that integrates listening, reading, writing, and speaking, not to mention intercultural awareness, on an online platform. In fact, it facilitates student acquaintance with and development of a variety of listening, reading, writing, and speaking forms and formats. Furthermore, the instructor steps out of the picture almost entirely, a move that fosters student autonomy, which in turns allows the connections and conversations between students to grow organically over the course of the quarter. 

Brief description of the actual online journaling process:

I use pbWorks as the platform, which enables me to give each of my students his/her own journal page that he/she can write on and that all others in the class can view and comment on. 

Students listen to reports/podcasts/lectures from a selection of websites (VoA, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, and TED). They choose their listenings themselves. The expectation is that they listen at least once without reading along. If a transcript or text is available, they read and listen at least once. Then they journal in two parts: a brief summary and a response (including, of course, the URL). This is due every Monday. During the week (by Friday), each student reads the journals of two others and comments on each. They are encouraged to respond in an academically-appropriate manner and even to keep the “conversation” going by commenting on the comments on their own pages. 

Later, students choose one of the topics they have encountered during the quarter for a presentation. 

Assessment:

Once this project is underway, it takes on a life of its own. I step into the background, and students interact with each not for the grade but because they enjoy it. I’m always impressed by the level of energy, interaction, and professionalism that develops throughout the quarter. 

I feel that this integrated skills style of journaling is quite successful. My students, although they grumble a bit at the beginning of the quarter, seem to appreciate both the skills development and the independence. 

Adaptations:

I’m fairly certain this approach would work well for students at all levels (except perhaps absolute beginners). For the more advanced, it could be made a bit more challenging; for lower proficiency levels, less difficult listening opportunities could be used and instead of a two-part journal, one with leading questions could be used.

Questions:

• What have been your experiences with journaling? With online journaling?
• Can you suggest other websites that would be good for listening (listening and reading)?
• Any suggestions/comments?

[picture from http://www.soulschoolonline.com/toolbox/journaling/]