And the Winner is....

Wiki, Blog or Weebly?

 

Having looked at blogs, wikis and weeblys, I'm trying to reflect on the types of situations that would be suitable to each.  They are all very similar really and so it is difficult to pin down specific uses for each.

The teacher could certainly use a weebly to create a class page that had links to homework set or  upcoming events and a certainly a page with the learning goals and success criteria would be most useful in communicating these goals to students and to parents.

In trying to think of a situation where the students would themselves use these platforms, there are issues that come to mind.  Such as the time it could take to allow students to learn how to use the site, as not all students will be computer literate and this could highlight huge gaps between learners abilities.  Most notably, will my school allow the students access to such sites as blogger, wiki and weebly.  I have already heard people talking about not being able to access them in their schools.  So really, their use becomes victim to the macro forces at play in any particular school.

Each of these examples have the ability to be used as a collaborative workspaces for students, although certainly wiki has a greater capacity to be used in this context.  There would need to be an emphasise on rules and expectations however, as the ability to delete someone else's work is extremely easy.

When I think of using wiki's in the classroom I immediately think of creative writing activities, such as story innovation.  I think this could work really well for providing sentence starters  or stems and having students add their own endings.  This could also provide opportunity for HOT if students discover their intended sentence has already been used.

If students are brainstorming, surely there are better to do this in person, rather than 'on the screen'? However, if the class were brainstorming with a class from another school, town or even better, country then the technology would be absolutely fantastic (organising logistics for this could get tricky though).

I believe the face to face interaction that the 'in school' class provides is invaluable, and so I find it hard to imagine students collaborating 'online' with their own peers.  However, if this technology is available to them at home, they could upload homework or pictures in their own time.  One teacher (http://mrsroncone.wikispaces.com/Ways+to+use+a+wiki+in+your+classroom) even noticed her students doing their school work willingly (without being asked) at home (shock, horrror).

 As I noted in an earlier blog...http://lovetheclassroom.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/to-wiki-or-not-to-wikithat-is-question.html

 "I'm wondering about the lack of human (face to face) interaction.  A detrimental effect on the ability to 'read' body language and facial expressions. The ability to share with people from all over the world is no doubt a useful and 'barrier breaking' tool.  I believe this will go a long way towards lessening prejudices.  Prejudices often come into play subconsciously and unintentionally.  We often align ourselves with our 'in-group'  and online collaborative work spaces may prevent these unintentional prejudices from surfacing, thus providing a fair and unbiased cooperative learning arena."

 

I have struggled to think of (students') uses for these tools in my context as computer lab time was a very rare occurrence.  However, if I was lucky enough to ever be in a classroom that had its own computers (even only a handful, [stares dreamily into space]) I would certainly utilise the technology of blogs in particular for recounts of specific events.  I would also love to use a wiki or a weebly for a class newspaper, where the students could assume the roles of reporter, photographer and of course, editor.  Parents could log on and check out coming events and read samples of the child's work in regular "featured student" section (similar to student of the week).  Maybe each student could add a 'put-up' on at least two student's pages using the class wiki.

I even had a few ideas (Wiki SAMR also viewable here) while playing with my wiki here: http://lovetheclassroom.wikispaces.com/Student+A

Needless to say the opportunity for building literacy skills (including online ethics and etiquette) are limitless.  I have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about these tools, as previously I was completely unaware how they could be used in a classroom.I think the blog (see SAMR at http://lovetheclassroom.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-use-of-blogs.html) and the weebly (http://lovetheclassroom.weebly.com) (http://resourcesdontlastforever.weebly.com)  would have to be favourites for their ease of use.  But (and the jury's in…) wiki is bringing up the rear and could be in with a chance.

 And so, in conclusion

On the whole, I still need to think more about situations where the students' use of ICT is going to 'add' to their learning or perhaps redefine  it.  These three examples of ICT, need to be used to help students learn in a way they could not do before and not merely as an engagement tool.  A recent comment from a peer, noted that many students are already so familiar with ICT (digital natives) that it may 'not actually engage' them.   Of course, not ALL students will be digital natives either, so that will take time to address.

Having said all of this, it cannot be ignored that the future is ICT and it becomes increasingly important that students are taught the variety of skills that are 'digital literacy'.

 

Image retrieved from http://blog.accusoft.com/posts/2013/july/who-makes-your-decisions-part-2.html