Deborah Healey's article "Autonomy in Language Learning" covers some points that most of us are aware of, even if we've never put labels on them. Self knowledge and self-motivation play a large role in effective learning, and sometimes students donnot guage their own skill levels honestly; these are all important concepts to remember in the creation of a (hopefully) autonomous learning environment.
Healey's discussion of the 5 recommendations for optimal technology-assisted language learning seem a little focused on the idea that software will take the place a of a teacher as the source of feedback and thus give highly specialized feedback. This seems to ignore some of the opportunities for authentic situations that would also help with motivation. It has a more Web 1.0 feel to it, at least. I do like her call for partner work on computers, and I think that setting a culture of expected cooperation goes a long way... but of course that applies to almost any learning situation. I think that Healey has some good principals to consider, but in this class I feel like these are reminders that maybe should have come earlier in the coursework.
One additional idea that could spring from Healey's repeated suggestion that a teacher or program keep track of progress for a student to aid in their motivation is that the students could keep a blog of their own authentic successes and challenges in Web 2.0 interactions. This type of a diary or journal would help almost any learner of any activity appreciate their successes and identify their continued needs.
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I like your suggestion for blogs to be used as a type of ongoing assessment. Blogs are being used in many classes as types of e-portfolios, though with a little investment there are better, easier-to-use systems out there for this purpose.
However, I do believe that blogging is a good way to keep ongoing track of our learning and could/should be something that spans a lifetime and not just a class or school.
Why do you think that this reading/topic would be better earlier in the semester? This is the type of thing that is so easy to change. However, in the past I've reasoned that many students are prepared to talk about this in context of the available technologies until later in the semester. I'd love to hear what you think and that could mean moving it up for the next class.
Dan
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