teacherstuff

Blogs and wikis are both ways of showcasing student work, sharing ideas, and engaging students. You can add text and upload files to both sites. WIkis are meant to be a source of collaboration. Students can go into a wiki and can edit documents and projects if you have given them access to do so. And don't worry if a student accidentally deletes info on a wiki- luckily they keep a log of all edits and you can revert back to a previous one. Blog are great for informing, because posts almost always are shown in reverse chronological order- so you don't have to scroll down for new info. Students can leave comments on blog posts, but unless you make them authors on your blog or they have their own blog, that is the extent of their collaboration. And if you are big on the RSS bandwagon- as far as I know blogs will show up and wikis won't.
 *  What are the similarities and differences between wikis and blogs?
 *  How would you use them to enhance your instruction and engage your students?

I used this class wiki with my second graders to collaborate and learn from each other. I LOVED it- it was kindof a nightmare at first with 25 second graders, but it was great to host student portfolios and allow students to go in and edit their information. I had students work on collaborative math problems. I found it was easier to use the projector and go into our wiki to edit as a class BEFORE I let them do it on their own. I used a blog to inform parents. Sometimes I would post questions for my students, and they would comment. I loved that parents could have a glimpse into our classroom and know what was going on- and we could share our blog with grandparents who lived far away. Biggest challenges- student access to a computer (our school had two labs but even then it was a challenge to get in- set up the lesson- and have them work before our time was up.) Already used them!
 *  What are some challenges you see with using wikis or blogs?
 *  What would you need in order for you to start using them?