Rita Zeinstejer thinks blogs are a great tool for teachers

Language teachers are increasingly resorting to internet technology to polish up their teaching practices. One strong advocate of the web is Rita Zeinstejer, of Rosario, Argentina, who has been an ELT professional for more than three decades. Blessed with a warm smile and carefully polished English, she says that "In the in the age of Communication the net has become the most practical, cheapest, the fastest source of information...Blogs allow students to publish their own ideas, thoughts and words on Internet, by typing directly into the browser using free user-friendly internet-based blogging services, thus creating both a resource for teachers and a record of learning..."

Nevertheless, blogs and the net are still relatively novel tools in Argentina. Zeinstejer,an EFL teacher at the Asociacion Rosarina de Cultura Inglesa in Rosario, gingerly accepted to chat with this journalist about her views.

"Pardon me...are you Rita Zeinstejer?"

"Yes..."

"Well, I wonder if we could chat a bit about your work."

"Certainly."

"I understand you use blogging to teach English. Could you explain?

"I am proud to belong to a community of practice that is called "Webheads in Action," which is made up of a group of teachers from all over the world who get together regularly to talk about different topics connected with Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and ICT, that is, Information and Communication Technology, the use of the computer for language learners. What makes this community exciting is that all members interact, ask and answer questions in a very generous way."

"I see...but how did you get into blogging?"

"I learned about blogging working with this group and owe practically everything I know to them. "

"What about your own blog?"

"Actually, I have several but the one I created for my students has to do with teenage topics. They talk about what they like to do during English classes, their outside activities; now they are talking about what happened in London. They know that they can say what comes to mind and share their ideas with others. That way they learn sociology and language at the same time, applying their language to meaningful situations. A blog is an interactive means to communicate with other bloggers, as threaded discussion is open: students can post their comments in other blogger' sites, they can share links, they can get experts to visit their blogs and leave their comments. This interaction allows for critical thinking, increases students' interest, and fosters ownership and learning by receiving input and insight from others."

"Your other blogs?"

"I have also created a blog for a group of teachers in Rosario doing research on the teaching of English by computer. We meet once a month and have been working on voice messages, an innovative tool that allows the recording, sending and receipt of short vocal messages. This is a new and very promising feature of computer learning."

"Have you noticed much resistance?"

"From teachers, mainly. It's easy to coax students to blog but teachers are much more reluctant."

"Why?"

"Well, on the one hand it is a time consuming activity and on the other teachers are reluctant to spend time on something for which they lack adequate skill."

"What is the biggest advantage of blogging?"

"Woh!"

Rita thought for a minute, while the interviewer allowed his imagination to stretch towards some unknown point.

"Perhaps you could mention the possibility of getting people from all over the world to communicate, to find new friends. What is the purpose of learning English if you can't communicate? Teachers tend to focus their attention on grammar, vocabulary, phonetics and forget that the main use of language is to communicate with others."

"A sort of globalized communication forum."

It seemed time to end the conversation and click into a blog, to explore and find out what the world of blogging is really about. But before the silver haired man clicked off his recorder, Rita Zeinstejer looked up saying:

"You know what? I'm a bit of a black sheep. While others spend their time correcting mistakes, I try to help my students to achieve, to get their messages through."

It's easy to contact Rita. Just put her name on an internet search engine. Her own page is http://www.zeinstejer.com
Her mail: [e-mail]