Blogs and Wikis in Education

1) Identify and describe 3 interesting/innovative ways blogs and/or wikis are being used in K-12 classrooms.

One interesting way that blogs are being used in K-12 classrooms is that a student can post an assignment from home and the teacher can read it. This way the teacher can respond to the student instantaneously, which they can give the student advice on would they might need to change or fix for the assignment. A second interesting way that bogs are being used in K-12 classrooms is that blogs can create a lively group discussion, with readers able to jump from blog to blog via connecting links to see what others have to say. Such sites as edblogs, which allows students to blog readers are now able to jump from one online blog to another. I think that this is very beneficial because it allows students that usually don’t like speaking in class to voice their opinions in writing. The last way that blogs are being used in K-12 classrooms is that students can post daily journal entries. I think that this can be used after doing an activity students can post how they thought it went and what they would change with the activity.

2) Describe how you might use RSS readers/aggregators within a classroom setting.

RSS readers can be used to help students scan or read many sites at once. It reads through the headlines or the headline and a short description. If the website works for the student they can then click it and get the full regular website to view. This might be a great way to help students search for a specific topic that they are looking for and might not be finding much information on it.

3) Describe at least 2 pros and 2 cons of using blogs and wikis in education.

The first pro of using blogs is that it is a great way for the student and teacher to communicate. It is also great for the students to communicate with each other. It connects the classroom in different ways and allows the students different options. The second pro is that it is a great for students that do not like to communicate in the classroom to be able to give their input or discuss with their peers about a topic in a blog. One of the cons of using blogs is that the blog can be read by others and will be on the internet. The student might not want others to be able to read their blog, which there is always options to make it private, but some students still might not like this idea. The second con of using blogs is that it isn’t the same as communicating with each other. Some students might get very comfortable using the internet and now want to talk in class or participate unless it is on the computer.