What I read
Although I've read a lot in preparation for it, this post has a different purpose. I want to welcome you to your EAP class on Saturday mornings.
So, welcome.
And this term, two of my EAP classes are sharing the blog, so don't worry if you don't know all of the other blog members who are posting and commenting. That's also usual in modern university classes classes, which can be large. For example, in Michael Sandel's course "Justice" at Harvard University, there are about 1,000 students: their class blog must have been very busy!
So, welcome.
And this term, two of my EAP classes are sharing the blog, so don't worry if you don't know all of the other blog members who are posting and commenting. That's also usual in modern university classes classes, which can be large. For example, in Michael Sandel's course "Justice" at Harvard University, there are about 1,000 students: their class blog must have been very busy!
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My response
Thank you for joining our weekday class in Reading and Writing for academic purposes. I hope you find the next six weeks useful, productive, also challenging, and perhaps even fun.
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My question
I hadn't planned on a question, but I guess I should follow my own template for our blogs. Perhaps it's worth asking you to write a comment on your previous experience or ideas on using online discussion boards. As you will see in our book, online discussion makes an appearance early on in Unit 1 (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013, p. 9) and there is a more extensive coverage of this common part of modern university courses on page 66, so I do have a question.
Also, in her foreword to students on page 4 (or perhaps page 6), the series editor, Dorothy E. Zemach, gives some strategies for successful learning, one of which is to "be an independent learner" (in Bixby & Scanlon, 2013). This class blog is one way for us to do this. As Zemach suggests in her comment, it is one way for you to "find and then share information about ... different topics." Some of the topics you will write about here are the unit topics, but I also Zemach's suggestion that "reading for pleasure and using the Internet in English" are important, so your writing here will not be limited to the topics of the units that we study over the next six weeks.
Do you agree with Zemach and the authors of our book and myself? Is a class blog a useful addition to our class this term? (This is two sentences, but it's only one question for you to respond to.)
You can respond as soon as you accept the invitation I will soon send you to join this blog.
Do you agree with Zemach and the authors of our book and myself? Is a class blog a useful addition to our class this term? (This is two sentences, but it's only one question for you to respond to.)
You can respond as soon as you accept the invitation I will soon send you to join this blog.
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Reference
- Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education
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