Blogs and wikis in the classroom

Not Just Social…..

BlogsShort for weblog

Online journal

Post thoughts, ideas, discussions

Embed videos, podcasts, tools,

Share files

Allows for comments from readers

Why blog?Online portfolio of work

Journal

Reflection on work (student or teacher)

Collaborative

Enhances communication skills

Integrates learning between home and school

Parents can see their children’s work

How to use itBlogs for learning – we have used them for reading logs, for AoS2 VCE Unit 1 English – Technology and Communication

http://lyrlay.global2.edu.au- used to record professional practice (VIT?)

Your blog can be private or public- but really – why private?

Can be a class blog or an individual blog

You can design it to suit your needs and tastes

You can choose who comments and approve or delete comments

wikisCollaborative

Class resource

Passwords for students

More static than blogs- pages edited as you need rather than one post ordered chronologically

Pages for each topic

Add videos, files, podcasts etc.

Moderator chooses which comments to upload- discussion board is provided

Can check history and revise

Social bookmarking software

Allows users to share resources and ‘tag’ web pages for later use

Create groups – topics, classes, interests and users then share the pages they find

Teachers can use this for topics and students can pool resources

Diigo has added functionality – highlight and add post-it notes

Could be used for homework – look at Diigo – go to site, read instructions on post it note, answer questions.

I have even created webquests using it.

Delicious is another very good one

All have widgets to place in your toolbar so you can save with one click

Social bookmarking

cont.Can get rss (really simple syndication) feeds

Keep up to date

Can join other groups

Students could create their own groups

Collaborate with students in other countries

Can tag bookmarks to organise them into categories selected by user

Where to now?http://global2.edu.au Has blogs for classroom use

Created especially for teachers

Class blog

Teacher blog

Student blog

http://wikispaces.com

http://delicious.com/ - social bookmarking software

http://www.diigo.com more social bookmarking with added functions of highlighting

Netvibes to keep track of it all. This can be set as a home page http://www.netvibes.com