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Moldovan EFL Teachers Graduate from Blogging School

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Over 150 teachers of English from various regions of Moldova attended the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Blogging School Conference in Chisinau, Moldova on February 21st, after successfully completing “Blogging School” training for EFL teachers.

Over 150 teachers of English from various regions of Moldova attended the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Blogging School Conference in Chisinau, Moldova on February 21st, after successfully completing "Blogging School" training for EFL teachers.

So, what is "Blogging School"? Over six months, Moldovan teachers learned how to use blogging as a teaching tool for their classrooms and then shared their newfound knowledge as graduates at the Blogging School Conference. English language high school teachers and university professors from around Moldova attended the conference to learn more about using online tools to teach a foreign language.

US Embassy Assistant Public Affairs Officer Kate Bartlett opened the event by encouraging Moldovan educators to experiment with innovation in their teaching, adding that the US Embassy was happy to support this educational initiative.

From the hands-on workshops and discussions, it was clear that graduating from Blogging School resulted in new skills and perspectives on the use of technology and innovation in the classroom for the Moldovan teachers. Blogging School graduates led workshops on their area of acquired expertise, and included sessions on:

Using online teaching as a component of or as an alternative to traditional education;
Choosing online tools for video-based student projects;
Employing blogs as platforms for summative and formative assessment;
Improving students' speaking skills through tools such as Voicethread, Utellstory, and Voki;
Enhancing students' vocabulary through online applications; and
Selecting online tools to develop reading and writing skills.

In addition, two high school students who actively participated in the project by running their class blogs held a workshop on managing a classroom blog. Both students emphasized that blogging is fun and easy and should be part of each Moldovan classroom.

About the Blogging School Project
Organized by American Councils Moldova, Access Program trainers in collaboration with Peace Corps volunteers and Fulbright scholars led the Blogging School. This innovative project was funded by a grant from the US Department of State. The US Embassy to Moldova will fund a second version of the EFL Blogging School Project for Regional Teachers in Fall 2015.

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