As you can see by the use of this Blog I have already explored and utilized this web tool in a number of different aspects. Posting reflections, pictures, video, my first Ning trial, etc. Wiki's seem to take things another step further....where documents and many other things can easily be uploaded, organized and accessed by students. I like the idea of a blog as being a place to share ideas in a journal like format.....wikis seem to be a bit more complicated, but useful in their own way. I have explored many of the classroom blogs and wiki's shared on our class website and I like certain features of both tools.....I think where I am struggling is with which one will serve the best purpose for my needs. I don't want to get to bogged down with creating an online space for my classroom....but I want to utilize these new skills effectively. ugh. I decided to Google 'blogs vs. wiki's' and here are a few pages that came up:
http://wiki.wetpaint.com/page/Wiki+vs+Blog
http://www.opencontent.org/wiki/index.php?title=When_to_use_a_blog_vs._wiki
This gave me a good needed laugh:
This also helped me wrap my brain around blogs vs. wiki's:
I am now thinking that using a wiki along with the use of a blog is probably the best solution for me.
4 comments:
I agree that it really may take both to meet your needs. In some cases you really do just want to give out information, maybe to parents. Sometimes you want the kids to take part in running the discussion/content, thus the wiki. I'm thinking of keeping a blog for my more skills-based class and a wiki for my more advanced class(es) so they can actually input. I think the wiki could serve as a blog though, I'm just not sure how yet...need more practice.
I am also struggling with the blogs and wikis and how I would use it in class. I am thinking that I would start with a blog first and have students comment on our chapter or a special topic.
Thanks for the videos! I have been struggling with the best tool for my classes also, and the second video was definitely helpful. She brought up the grading question, which I honestly had not even thought about, so I need to consider that facet of the assignments also. I agree with the first comment that it seems a wiki can function as a blog of sorts also, I just need to explore a little more to figure that out!
Gordon- I'm new to the idea of incorporating blogs or a class wiki as well. However, I created a rubric for helping keep track of all the blog posts. See it here http://www.scribd.com/doc/34396770/Blog-Self-Assessment-Template
I can't take entire credit, I adapted it from a discussion self assessment that is required from one of my other classes this summer.
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