Hello again, Dear Reader!

Welcome to my second post of the night. I know it’s not typical of my posting habits but we had two tasks this week.

(Read about my other task, online collaborative writing, here.)

I don’t even know where to begin about this task… While my groupmates are my good friends, we clashed on every step.

We were given three options: We could do a Public Service Announcement, a How-To-Do video, or a fictional story. Firstly, we couldn’t decide on which option to choose, then decided on a fictional story. We wrote a script (with a few minor clashes) but the script was too long and it didn't fit the task instructions. (I told you it was getting too long, guys! Anyways…) Then we had to scrap that idea (Sophie, The Protector of Nyxea Wisest of the Wizards Baramir Solaris, and the Evil Witch… you will never be forgotten.) and start again with our Plan B: A PSA on bread waste in Turkey.

At this point, we were already feeling low about this project since we spent so much time on a script that was unusable but we kept going. We did our research, wrote another script, and met at the library to record and edit the video. We were in a group study room from 9 am to 6 pm, working, snapping at each other, laughing, whining, and taking small breaks to prevent arguments. It was… an experience.

At the end of the day we had a minute-long PSA on bread waste, which I am proud of. Even though it’s just a minute, we really worked hard for it. (I never want to see a picture of bread again, especially bread in garbage. I feel traumatised.)

We used several tools for this project but Google Docs (for all the writing) and CapCut (for editing) were our main tools. I suggest both, even though CapCut can be tricky sometimes.

A huge thank you to my friends Elena Çetinkaya and Baran Doğu for all their hard work. An extra shout-out for Baran, our Teach Boy who did most of the editing! Even though we had our moments, it was lovely to work with you. Love you both!

Would I give this task to my students in the future? I am not sure. Researching, writing the script, and narration were valuable for language usage but editing seemed too technical and time consuming, and almost pushed us into arguing with each other even though we are really good friends.

I think I will stick with podcast tasks. 🙂

I hope you enjoy our PSA! (You can also watch it on YouTube.)

I am waiting for your comments. What do you think? Would you use digital storytelling in your EFL classrooms?

With love, Bea x

Online Collaborative Writing: An Introvert's Dream Task! 😊

Hello, my Dear Reader! 💙

I missed you! Even though I started this blog as part of a course, it quickly became a habit/hobby of mine. I love sharing my tasks with you, which is great because this week I’ve got TWO! Yay! (I was TOTALLY chill about it! And NOT anxious at all !!!!)

(You can click here to read about my other task, digital storytelling.)

We were assigned an online collaborative writing task, and out of two options, my dearest groupmates (Elena Çetinkaya and Baran Doğu, you may check their blogs by clicking on their names) and I opted for writing a film review for a university magazine using Google Docs, mostly because it was familiar!

We use Google Docs for almost every group project we are tasked with. It’s functional, practical, and easy to use. It’s also my favourite writing tool!

Film reviews are also familiar to me. (I told you I am a nerd.) I love reading film reviews, and I really value other people’s opinions while choosing a film to watch. (Follow me on my Letterboxd account! We can be friends there too!)

As you can imagine, I had SO MUCH FUN with this task. I was in my room, sitting on my bed with my cats, listening to music, drinking chamomile tea, and working. It’s literally an introvert’s dream task!

Lucy was very supportive :)

Google Docs is a great tool that is integrated with Google Drive and Gmail, which makes it easy to use and accessible for collaborative writing. Plus, it provides a chat and a comment section, which my friends and I didn’t use before this project. We used to select a different colour and write our comments on the page itself. It worked for us but using the chat and comment section properly was neat! I will definitely continue using them.

I have added a screenshot at the bottom of the post to show you our process, but you can read our full review directly on Google Docs by clicking HERE.

I want to thank my group friends Elena and Baran, it was great working with you. Thank you for letting me pick the film. Love you both! And of course, thanks to my friends Melis Açıkkaya, Buse Beyaz, and Gülşen Demir for their valuable comments and feedback. We really improved our review thanks to you.

With love, Bea x