As teachers, the amount of reach we have to our learners is traditionally limited to the contact time we have in class or during office hours. If we are able to extend this potential for contact to times away from class, we can increase students' opportunities to use the language as well as create communities of users.
In this post I'd like to suggest two key ways in which this can be done.
Firstly, Blogs!
Via blogs, we can effectively categorize and share diverse amounts of information with a group of students. From videos, to links, to even songs, students are able to experience a wider variety of content at their own pace. This can be used to extend class content or even to just support it. In addition, students are able to engage by commenting or even taking on an administrator role.
Secondly, Facebook!
Closed Facebook groups provide us with an opportunity to readily create communities outside of the classroom in which students can easily engage. Whether through their computers or smartphones, they are able to comment, share,and even collaborate (via google docs) very easily.
Such resources allow us to easily extend our reach and increase our learners' opportunities to engage with the language.
