Blogs and Wikis have become exceedingly
popular in secondary and elementary classrooms. Seeing this technology move
into schools is really helpful for educators to creating critical thinkers and
21st Century Learners. There are a lot of factors to consider when a
teacher is deciding to implement this technology in their classroom.
There are many great reasons to use blogs in
the classroom. The biggest reason to incorporate blogs is that they create real
audience and purpose in the students’ writing. It gives the kids a real life
reason to write. Knowing that other people, maybe even all over the world, are
reading their writing is very motivating. Blogs also promote discussion between
students in a “low-risk” environment. They have time to think about their
comments and students who are shy and rarely speak up in class can participate
in a class activity in this way.
There are also several disadvantages to
consider regarding blogs in the classroom. Using this kind of technology might
be beneficial in the long run, but teaching kids to use this technology and
have proper “netiquette” is a time consuming process. Internet safety is always
a concern. Many systems will need to be in place for blogging to be successful.
And the biggest disadvantage to blogging in the classroom is the required
access to technology. If a school does not have devices for students to use,
then blogging will not be possible.
Some of the ways I have seen blogs
integrated into the classroom include students having their own individual
blogs for posting their writing and their classwork. There have also been blogs
created by teachers to foster parent/teacher communication. I have also seen
many blogs created by teachers for teachers listing lesson ideas, worksheets,
and classroom décor. Or there could be blogs created by teachers to give
information to students, like assignments information, but the students do not
post their work on the blog.
My students are in third grade with minimal
student access to technology capable of blogging. So after much analysis I have
come to the conclusion that blogspot would be the most appropriate blog host
for the situation. Having a teacher created blog to communicate with parents,
or other teachers would be the most reasonable.
There are many advantages to using wikis in
the classroom. Collaboration is the biggest advantage. Because wikis allow
multiple authors, students can work together on a project even if they are not
in the same place. Wikis are also good for delivering information about a
specific topic. This could be a good resource for students to access online at
school or at home. Creating and editing wikis is a 21st Century
Skill that students need to possess to be technology literate. It also gives
students the opportunity to judge the reliability of information they find upon
researching. So the hard work of training students to use a wiki would be well
worth it in the long run. Parents would also be able to see what students are
working on at school. Anything to create better home/school communication is a
good resource to invest time in.
One of the biggest disadvantages to using
wikis in the classroom is Internet safety. This is an issue with both blogs and
wikis, but there are programs that make blogging safer for students to do
online. Wikis are still pretty susceptible to outside forces. Managing students
on the World Wide Web is always a challenge. However, technology and Internet
are ever-present and becoming more prevalent in education, so it is just
something we are going to have to learn to deal with. There will be quite a
character test in the students, because everything on the wiki is editable. If
a student writes a paragraph on the wiki, another student could remove the
author student’s name and write their own if they so desired. Teachers would
need to constantly be on the watch for this type of behavior, and also for
consistency and continuity of information being posted on the wiki.
Some ways teachers are using wikis in the
classroom include for specific content projects. A teacher might post a wiki
about astronomy for their students to reference, or have the students compile a
wiki of information about astronomy. Another way I have seen wikis used is in a
storytelling format. Because wikis are more non-linear in nature, you could
create a Choose Your Own Adventure story with many different links that lead
you to different sections of the story.
The wiki host that would be best for my educational
setting is wikispaces. It is very user-friendly with many users and tutorials
that would allow me to successfully create a wiki to use with my students. I
would not have student created content on my wikispace, but rather student
resource information.
I am currently planning on integrating blogs
into my classroom in the fall. I do not have access to enough devices to have
my students have their own blogs, but I will have a class blog to help create
purpose and audience in my students writing. I will upload their writing to the
blog and students will feel more obliged to write knowing that people will
actually be viewing their work. I will also put a cluster map on the page so
whenever somebody views the blog, a red dot will pop up on the map.
There are lots of ways I could use wikis in my classroom. Most likely, I
could create a content wiki that my students could access from home to do
research or help them with their homework. I also like the idea of the Choose
Your Own Adventure wiki. So my students would start writing a story as a class,
and then decide independently on where they would like that story to go. We
could create the wiki as a class and input their stories. This kind of writing
creates real audience and purpose and motivates the students to do better
writing.
Blog Bibliography
Blogging in the classroom. (2012, October 14). Retrieved July 2, 2013, from Ladybug's Teacher Files website: http://www.ladybugsteacherfiles.com/2012/10/blogging-in-classroom.html?m=1
Curran,
K. (2011). Blogs in education. Eixir. Retrieved from
http://www.scis.ulster.ac.uk/~kevin/Elixir-blogs.pdf
Todras-Whitehill, E. (2005, August 3). New tools: Blogs, podcasts and virtual classrooms. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.bobsprankle.com/banners/nytimesarticle.pdf
Zeiger, S. (2012, February 24). Using tech in the classroom: Turning students into bloggers. Retrieved July 2, 2013, from The Smart Learning Guide website: http://www.smatoos.com/?p=7849
Wiki Bibliography
Ferris, S. P. (2006). Uses and potentials of wikis in the classroom. Innovate. Retrieved from http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/CentreforEducationalDevelopment/e-Learning/E-LearningFileStore/Filetoupload,134940,en.pdf
Smith, W. (2012, January 5). Have you tried using wikis in your classroom? (A. Grove, Ed.). Retrieved July 2, 2013, from Bright Hub Education website: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-teaching-tips/112203-teachers-technology-guide-to-the-educational-uses-of-a-wiki/
Tomaszewsk, J. (2012). Fresh ideas: Using wikis in the classroom. Retrieved July 2, 2013, from Education World website: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/using-wikis-in-the-classroom.shtml
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