1. Identify and describe three interesting/innovative ways blogs and/or wikis are being used in K-12 classrooms.
Edublogs.org lists ten ways that blogs are being used in classrooms. I've included the ones I find most interesting below:
- to post materials and resources
- to host online discussions
- to create a class publication
- to get students blogging
- to share lesson plans
- to integrate multimedia of all descriptions
- to organize
- to get feedback
I had such a great experience that I ended up keeping my blog and I try to post a couple of times per week. Blogs allow our innermost thoughts, ideas, and creativity to be shared across an open network and are accessible by anyone with a computer and an interest in similar ideas. They are less stuffy and formal than traditional papers, and there is a live audience beyond the teacher - I've actually got three people (whom I have never heard of nor met following my blog).
And it works at the lower levels as well. Several high school English teachers have set up blogs for their classroom and have helped their students set up individual blogs as well. They use the main blog to post a writing assignment, reminders about upcoming reading/classroom activities, and comments regarding class discussions. The students, in turn, access the main blog, read the prompts, and write in their own blogs. Generally, teachers have students post, and then require them to respond to two other bloggers' posts. Some teachers do not have their students create blogs, but instead, have students respond in the comments section of the main blog. Students are often more candid than they would be in a more formal assessment, and more descriptive than they would be if called on randomly in class. They also allow for students to post photos, videos, or other multimedia to enhance their writing, or simply serve as a visual representation of a student's response to a text, an event, or an emotion.2. Describe how you might use RSS readers/aggregators within a classroom setting.
RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication." It is used to update frequently published information, most frequently, from blogs and news headlines, in a standardized format. An aggregator is a website that is used to collect these headlines. From Wikipedia: "The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's URI or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds."Basically, instead of having to visit numerous sites to check for updates and information, a teacher or student could visit his/her aggregator for an organized collection of headlines and descriptions in one location.
RSS aggregators are great for all sorts of teaching purposes. They could be used by a class to follow news about a certain topic or time period that they are studying, or by the teacher, to keep up with changes in educational policies, to keep up with the blogs of other educators, to keep up with author blogs, to keep up with topics in a teacher's field, or simply to keep up with the news (especially helpful for history/current world problems teachers).
3. Describe at least two pros and two cons of using blogs and wikis in education.
Pros:
Both blogs and wikis allow students to interact with one another, with a live audience, and with the text by allowing collaborative work (wikis) and through comments (blogs) and links to others who are writing/blogging about the same topic. They allow students to interact with authors, scientists, and others who have taken their work to the level of 2.0. Before the internet and before collaborative spaces were created online, this was nearly impossible without an enormous amount of funding and luck.
Wikis, but especially blogs, maintain a record of student writing and activities: essentially, these online spaces act as a permanent portfolio of student work that can be accessed from any location at any time by any employer, friend, parent, teacher, or other interested party. They are a great way to showcase student work and ensure that it doesn't get lost in the paper shuffle.
Cons:
As with anything new in education, blogs and wikis will need to "prove," their worth - to parents, administrators, and possibly other teachers. There will be parents who deem these online spaces unsafe for their children. There are issues of anonymity vs. public record: should students post under their own names so that their work can later be found doing a simple search, or should students remain anonymous to protect their privacy from unwelcome eyes?
Then there is the issue of access. Blogs and wikis require online access, but prior to that, they require enough computers for the entire class to access. If the classroom is not equipped with enough computers (few are) library or computer lab time will have to be scheduled. If the school has a conservative firewall, this too will have to be navigated.These physical considerations must be taken into account. In addition, there is the matter of the digital divide. Some students will have computers at home and may be eager to work on their blogs and/or wikis on their own time. Other students have no access to a computer, let alone an internet connection. How will you handle requests from students to spend outside time making their blogs/wikis extra special?
Despite these concerns, perhaps because of these concerns, I find that the pros for using blogs and wikis outweigh the negatives. Exposure to technological devices that might serve students both personally and professionally in the future is incredibly important and rewarding. Digitally literate students will have not only technology at their fingertips, but the ability to explore, create, analyze, and adapt to all kinds of situations. What teacher wouldn't want that?
Pros:
Both blogs and wikis allow students to interact with one another, with a live audience, and with the text by allowing collaborative work (wikis) and through comments (blogs) and links to others who are writing/blogging about the same topic. They allow students to interact with authors, scientists, and others who have taken their work to the level of 2.0. Before the internet and before collaborative spaces were created online, this was nearly impossible without an enormous amount of funding and luck.
Wikis, but especially blogs, maintain a record of student writing and activities: essentially, these online spaces act as a permanent portfolio of student work that can be accessed from any location at any time by any employer, friend, parent, teacher, or other interested party. They are a great way to showcase student work and ensure that it doesn't get lost in the paper shuffle.
Cons:
As with anything new in education, blogs and wikis will need to "prove," their worth - to parents, administrators, and possibly other teachers. There will be parents who deem these online spaces unsafe for their children. There are issues of anonymity vs. public record: should students post under their own names so that their work can later be found doing a simple search, or should students remain anonymous to protect their privacy from unwelcome eyes?
Then there is the issue of access. Blogs and wikis require online access, but prior to that, they require enough computers for the entire class to access. If the classroom is not equipped with enough computers (few are) library or computer lab time will have to be scheduled. If the school has a conservative firewall, this too will have to be navigated.These physical considerations must be taken into account. In addition, there is the matter of the digital divide. Some students will have computers at home and may be eager to work on their blogs and/or wikis on their own time. Other students have no access to a computer, let alone an internet connection. How will you handle requests from students to spend outside time making their blogs/wikis extra special?
Despite these concerns, perhaps because of these concerns, I find that the pros for using blogs and wikis outweigh the negatives. Exposure to technological devices that might serve students both personally and professionally in the future is incredibly important and rewarding. Digitally literate students will have not only technology at their fingertips, but the ability to explore, create, analyze, and adapt to all kinds of situations. What teacher wouldn't want that?
It is a pleasure to read your posts. The use of blogs and wikis within an English classroom are powerful ways to engage students with critical thinking and writing activities. I know that you will find amazing ways to engage your students with these tools.
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