Elsa's Lifelong Learning Journey

“TELL ME AND I FORGET. TEACH ME AND I REMEMBER. INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN.” –BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Blogging VS discussion board activity Is blogging the same as discussion board activity? Oliver and Coble (2016) explain that a blog is a kind of social media tool that allows one to share ideas with authentic audiences and to engage those audiences in conversation. Most blogs look something like journals, with a series of “posts” appearing on the blog in reverse chronological order. Typically, blogging software is very easy to use, but also flexible enough to allow for customization in both style and structure. Thus, the blog possesses customization features that discussion board activities lack. In that way, blogging is more attractive than discussion board activities. On the other hand, Hoekman (2017) observes that “ the physical view or layout of the course discussion boards is identical throughout each course as this is dictated by the learning management system inte...

“NEVER GIVE UP ON A DREAM JUST BECAUSE OF THE TIME IT WILL TAKE TO ACCOMPLISH IT. THE TIME WILL PASS ANYWAY.” –EARL NIGHTINGALE I really never planned to become an ESL teacher, but looking back at my life, I can say that I made everything possible to become an instructor. Before teaching, I had brief jobs as a cyber-cafe manager and a cellphones salesperson. At the same time, I was offering private tutoring for children and teenagers in English as a Foreign Language. Being a private tutor could be in some cases, emotionally draining. But the pocket money was good! I think I was 5 years old when I got my first blackboard as a birthday gift. I think that was the start of my love for teaching! I officially started my career as an English instructor around 2002. I worked for an elementary school called "Las Cuatro Estaciones". Class size was very small, and I had to teach EFL from first grade to seventh grade. I had also started studying in Universidad de Guayaquil...

“YESTERDAY I WAS CLEVER, SO I CHANGED THE WORLD. TODAY I AM WISE, SO I AM CHANGING MYSELF.” –RUMI I probably started blogging circa 2008. Back then, I was a huge geek and I was immersed on rock and goth music, but it was very hard to find people with similar interests. Social media was "on diapers". After finding out that a Finnish band that I was fan of had had a concert on Quito, I knew I couldn't find reliable information on rock concerts and events in Ecuador, and since I was moving a lot on the goth scene, I felt empowered to start a blog on news about the rock and goth "world".  This is a picture of me for "El Universo" newspaper circa 2012.  I was an English instructor by day and blogger/goth queen by night. I had a good number of followers (back then social media was just starting to get popularity) and I got to get into a lot of concerts for free in exchange of an alternative press coverage. Having a blog made me feel powerfu...