welcome to esol group

ESOL Group --Online Wisdom Community : 

ESOL Group --Online Wisdom Community Juan Du

Welcome to esol group : 

Welcome to esol group The Goal of the Esol Group online community is to build cross-cultural understanding of adult English-language learners by sharing of information, knowledge, skills, and experience with common interests and goals.

Main Site : 

Main Site NING Go to www. esolgroup4id.ning .com Ning is our learning network. It functions and interface are very similar to more widely –known social networks (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, etc). We will use our Ning Network to forge learning relationships with each other and with our partners ( cultural insider vulunteers). All resources / insights /final assignments will be posted on you Ning blog. All the discussions, questions, and sharing information will be posted on your Ning Froum.

Logging into our online Esol Group Ning Network : 

Logging into our online Esol Group Ning Network Step 1: Type the URL address for our Ning Network directly. http://esolgroup4id.ning.com/

Step 2 : 

Step 2 Enter your E-mail address and password. Click “sign in.” Please make sure the email address is the one you received the invitation from Ning/ facilitator.

Step 3 : 

Step 3 Once you get into Ning, it will directly go into the my network: dashboard. This is the place that you can add membership, customize and make you r own one. It also updates the number of members and the total activities in Ning.

Step 4 : 

Step 4 Go to the top bar containing 9 big categories. Click the one you want to navigate , use , and participate.

Adding Photos and Videos on Ning : 

Adding Photos and Videos on Ning Adding photos and videos are easy and simple just by clicking the + add videos (photos) in the upper right hand corner.

Blogging on Ning : 

Blogging on Ning Step 1: Sign into Esol Group online Ning. Step 2: click on “Blogs” to open the Ning Blog page.

Step 3 : 

Step 3 Click on “add a blog post” to create a new post. Click on “ Edit blog posts” to edit existing saved and published posts. Click on the right hand bar to see the latest posted blogs.

Step 4 : 

Step 4

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Enter you blog post and title. Use the module names as a you post titles( in the beginning or at the end) so that they can be easily identified. Click “ Save as Draft” if you are not finished your post . ( you can open it again later in “ edit blog”. Click “publish post “ once your entry is completed and ready to be shared with others. Suggestion—type your blog posting in word and spell-check it first,. Then copy it into your entry field.

Discussing on the Forum : 

Discussing on the Forum The steps of navigating and participating on the Forum are the same as blogging on Ning. The only difference is forum is designed to post questions, wonders, and confusions, which basically meet the needs of peer interaction. While Blog offers you a platform to post the resources ,sharing experiences and reflections.

Wikispaces : 

Wikispaces Wiki spaces will serve as another platform for participants garner information, share experience and conduct discussion.

How to use wikispaces : 

How to use wikispaces Step 1: logging onto Esol Group Wiki Spaces by directly entering URL www.esolgroup.wikispaces.com Step 2: Enter your E-mail address and password. Click “sign in.” Step 3 : watch the Wiki tutorial to know how wiki spaces works . http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour .

Step 4 : 

Step 4 Click on “discussion” to get access to discussion forum Click on the topic you are interested in under “subject” to read previous discussion. Click on “new post” to create new discussion topics.

Attention: : 

Attention: There is not editing or saving as a draft function under the wiki discussion forum. So please do check what you are going to post before uploading.

Additional resources : 

Additional resources As one of the requirements of the esol group online community , participants need to go online search for resources and information as an initial yet important step to involve in the community. The basic search engine examples will be Google and Yahoo!., but there are other specific and safer search engines, such as, Noodle Tools (noodletools.com) Tek Mom's Search Tool for Students (tekmom.com) Ivy's Search Engine Resource for Kids (ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html) NASA Kids (kids.mfsc.nasa.gov) Sea World Information Database (seaworld.org/search/query.html)

Here is a tip that will save you time! : 

Here is a tip that will save you time! Go to AltaVista (altavista.com) Use the host command to search for websites with specific extensions (such as .gov) In the search box, type in: host:gov + "gators" This will pull up all the websites with the extension ".gov" that talk about gators This will lead to more reliable, targeted information

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Any questions ?