Blogs and Wikis (NAGC Computers and Technology Network)

Blogs and Wikis

“Blah, blah, BLOG!: What’s All the Fuss About Blogging?

Undoubtedly you have heard of blogs, but for those of you who have not, quite simply, blogs are Internet based journals that provide a free and simple way for individuals to share their thoughts, ideas, and lives with the world. While no one knows for sure how many blogs have been created, Technorati.com, is currently tracking nearly 67 million. In 2006, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that about 8% of the users of the Internet or nearly 12 million American adults maintain a blog. The numbers are even higher for Internet users aged 12-17 with 19% creating their own blogs and 38% of online teens reading the blogs of others. The ease of use of this tool has allowed for massive amounts of user generated content to be created and is one of the primary reasons that Time Magazine declared the 2006 Person of the Year as “you.”

Blogs are a dynamic and interactive tool for creative writing and personal expression. Considering that such a large number of youth are independently choosing to utilize this writing tool outside of an educational setting, perhaps educators can capitalize on the motivating factors associated with this technology. Rather than simply jumping on the blogging bandwagon, let’s consider how blogs might effectively be introduced and utilized in your classroom.

1. Provide a Place - Choose a Blogging Service
Before you begin blogging you have to choose from the multitude of services available. Play around with a few to see which will best meet your needs and the needs of your students. Here are some services to consider.

Google’s Blogger (http://www.blogger.com)

Edublogs (http://edublogs.org/)

Wordpress (http://wordpress.com/)

If this is your first experience with creating blogs, you should take some time to experiment with the functionality of the tool. Consider creating a blog to post announcements, assignments, and other information for your students and their parents. New entries are simple to create and post as a word document and are instantly available to anyone who has your blog address.

2. Provide a Purpose
Now that you have experienced success in creating a blog, now is the time to get your students involved. One might begin by posting a series of discussion questions on topic of interest, and rather than having students submit individual responses that only you read, have them post their reactions in the comments section of the class’s blog. The responses then become open for all of the students to see. These posts may fuel lively discussion both online and in class. For gifted students that are often reluctant to share their ideas in classroom discussions may be encouraged to participate in online discussions and become very vocal as they are allowed to take time to fully construct their ideas. Another idea is to create a book chat blog on which students are able to post reviews of books and others are able to comment on their reviews.

3. Give it time
As when introducing any new technology, don't expect immediate results. Also, be sure to allow students time to play with the idea of blogging before placing serious expectations on the students' use. Once the class is comfortable with the idea of blogging, you might have each student create their own. Rather than keeping a class journal, you might ask that students do so utilizing their blog instead. The use of technology may encourage students who are reluctant to keep a journal to do so. While the spirit of blogs is rooted in unbridled personal expression, for classroom use, you may want to provide an instructional framework and some ground rules for your students.

4. Watch it grow
By creating structure and support for the use of blogs, you may find that students are motivated at all new levels. When students write and maintain a blog, they are encouraged to find their own voice and express themselves on a whole new level. As with using any technology, you should determine how blogs might provide a more efficient and effective means for delivering what you already know to be good teaching. Blogs are by no means a miraculous teaching tool, but blogs may be just interesting and innovative enough to encourage even the most reluctant writer to become engaged in the writing process and share their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world. Blogs may be just the tool needed to spark your students’ imagination.

A few of my favorite blogs related to educational technology

Will Richardson

http://weblogg-ed.com/

David Warlick

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Wesley Fryer

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/

Karl Fisch

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/

Let's Live Blog.....

How might blogging be used in the classroom to facilitate learning?

WIKIS

A wiki is a webpage with an edit button.

Wikis In Plain English

Choose Your Wiki Service

While there are many wiki services from which to choose, three of them have risen to the top of the heap for use in education.

http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki

Full featured, free wikis for educators with NO ads! Currently my favorite Wiki provider.

How To Create Your Own PBWiki in 5 Minutes

How To Create A Classroom Calendar

Frequently Asked Questions About PBWiki

Wikispaces

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K

Wikispaces is currently giving away 100,000 free for K-12 classrooms.

http://www.wetpaint.com/

Full featured wiki tool with great freatures and templates.

Ad free for educators.

Ideas Around Classroom Uses of Wikis

Adapted from Teaching Hacks' Wiki

Use for student projects where group members need to contribute at different times and from geographically diverse locations.
Use for collaborating on ideas and organizing documents and resources from individuals and groups of students.
Use as a presentation tool where those who attend a workshop can contribute to future versions of the workshop. It's as simple as this.
As a group research project for a specific idea.
Manage school and classroom documents.
Use as a collaborative handout for students.
Writing: student created books and journaling. (i.e. Wikibooks)
Create and maintain a classroom FAQ
As a classroom discussion and debate area.
A place to aggregate web resources.
Choose a topic on Wikipedia, break the topic into facts, students verify the facts using their information literacy skills, and make changes accordingly (Citing sources).
Create a classroom calendar with PB wiki for due dates and assignments.