A Journey Through Online
Language Learning
This handout describes Google's 'blogger' blog
How can I create my own blog?
1. Create a Google account (if you haven't got one yet)
2. Go to https://www.blogger.com
3. Sign in 'to use Blogger with your Google Account'
4. Open your e-mail account to activate you blog.
Tasks
Only if you can't find out how to do it, use the instructions overleaf. Often there are more ways than the one described.
1. Login to Google account
2. Find your blog
3. Move a few times between the Dashboard and the Blog
4. Add two posts: one with just text, the other with an image from the web.
5. Change permissions to your blog so that only blog authors can see the blog.
6. Add a gadget
7. Embed a YouTube video
8. Delete a post
A small selection of useful blogs in language teaching and learning:
http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/ John Wells blog with topics around phonetics. An entertaining experienced blogger.
http://p.messum.googlepages.com/home Interesting views around a pronunciation-teaching method called 'silent method'
http://iltl.wordpress.com/ (Example on using a WIKIS in language teaching. Not yet 'official', but looks quite useful)
http://teacherlingo.com (a blog for teachers; contains language-related topics)
Instructions
1. http://www.google.co.uk | sign in
2. One possible way to find your blog:
Go to www.blogger.com
http://www.google.co.uk | More | even more |Blogger
3. One possible way to move between Dashboard and Blog:
View blog | Design | Dashboard
4. Text: New Post | [Write some text in the editor] | Publish
Image: New Post | [icon 'Add image'] | [Copy the web address of an image] | [insert it in the URL input field of the Add-image window] | Publish.
Find an image on the Internet: e.g. at http://www.google.co.uk | Images | [flowers or some other term]. Click on the selected image until you see just the image in the browser. Tip: a good image width for the blog is 300-400 pixels.
If you run out of time use the following link: http://www.webdesign-elements.com/flowers-2-photos.png
5. Change permissions to your blog so that only blog authors can see the blog.
Dashboard | Settings | Permissions | [In box Blog Readers select Only blog authors]
6. Dashboard | Design | Add a gadget
a. Add a 'link list'
b. Give the link list a title, e.g. 'Useful links'
c. Enter a 'New site name', e.g. Web 2.0 training videos
d. Insert 'http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/general.html' and click on 'Add link'
7. Embed a YouTube video:
a. YouTube:
Find an interesting YouTube clip. Next to the video window, underneath the 'URL' you find the 'Embed' code (starting with
b. Blogger:
Dashboard | New Post | [Select tab] Edit Html | [Paste the YouTube code in here].
8. Dashboard | Edit posts | [Select one or more posts] Delete
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