Open course for EFL educators (Wikieducator)

Here's a recent message to EFL educators in Mexico taking an open (to anyone) course on professional development in Wikieducator...

Hello everyone! We are completing the second week of the Wikieducator workshop which you should now have a working knowledge of the following skills:

• Create bold and italicized text
• Create headings and lists (i.e., bullets, number, and indentions)
• Upload and insert photos respecting copyright laws (e.g., using creative commons search and/or Wikimedia Commons)
• Create internal/external links
• Begin working on your user page

The central question we are focusing on during this workshop relates to the following question: How to become a better EFL educator? The answer to this question, which will be unique for each of you, will be in the form of a personal learning network (PLN). This workshop is intended to help you develop your own PLN and to share it with others.

In your user page, add a section (i.e., heading) where you share your goals in becoming a better EFL educator in terms of being a better communicator of English, increasing your pedagogical skill set, and/or increasing your knowledge of how languages are learned. Follow up by stating what you plan to do to accomplish these goals. If your goals change over the course of the semester, which they might, just update your user page to reflect these changes.

The first of three modules, the communicator of the English language module is meant to review various web 2.0 tools that might assist you in becoming a better communicator of the English language (both in written and spoken discourse). Weekly activities will be populated throughout each module and everyone is encouraged to participate in at least two activities per module. We will schedule several face-to-face sessions as well, but these sessions are meant for those who need assistance in getting around Wikieducator.

Finally, make sure your name appears in the list and that all of your information is correct. You'll notice that we are tracking edits so you can easily see how others are contributing. You can also refer to this list to find a colleague's user page.

Well, that's it for now. Keep asking questions and we'll see you in the wiki!