Wikis

Before this assignment I was not exactly sure what a Wiki was. After reading an article by the San Diego University College of Education, however, I now understand the definition of a Wiki and its use in the classroom. The article said that a Wiki is a web page that can be authored and edited by many people. In the classroom, Wikis are useful for things like group writing projects that are peer-reviewed. Another use, according to the article, could be a problem with multiple solutions, on which students work collaboratively.
I think Wikis are a wonderful technology to use in the classroom. I think they would be most appropriate in middle and high school classes, though, maybe upper elementary. Wikis are still developing, especially when it comes to classroom use. Work needs to be done to maintaining the security and educational value of what is put on Wikis.

To view this article go to:
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/index.htm

Blogging

I found a great article on blogging within the classroom in Education Digest. This article set a scene of a seventh grade science classroom and described three students in the classroom. One was learning English, another had a low reading level, and another was labeled as gifted. Through a classroom blog, the teacher was able to meet each student's specific needs. According to the article, "Blogs expand instructional time by providing teachers with a user-friendly online format to reinforce strategies, introduce new topics and concepts, review important class points, review for tests, and provide enrichment." The student who is learning English as well as new science terms can receive extra practice; the student with a low reading level can access help on vocabulary and comprehension; the advanced student can find links to more in-depth information.
I never realized blogging could be so useful in a classroom setting; I always viewed it as a social thing. Now I see just how much it can enhance teaching and learning. I think blogging is valuable in that it will help to students to better remember and understand what they were taught during the school day. I also think that, like the article discussed, blogging can help teachers meet individual needs. This is very difficult in the traditional classroom. A teacher cannot constantly explain things that may have been misunderstood by only a few students, forcing the other students listen to the same lesson twice. In the same way, a teacher cannot take the entire class into more challenging studies. With blogging, however, this can be achieved.
Blogging is a fairly new concept, especially in education. I think a lot of time needs to be devoted to planning these online lessons and much evaluation should be done to see how they can be improved to ensure the greatest success for students.

To read this article go to
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.7

Virtual Field Trips

An article in USAToday titled "No Permission Slip Needed" discusses the concept of virtual field trips and interviews some teachers and students who have taken the trips. The field trips not only can take students to places like the solar system and the human body, foreign countries and faraway oceans, but it also can connect students with current events. The article discusses how one class visited New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and was able to see what the people there were experiencing. Lance Ford, when interviewed about virtual field trips, said, "It really is the opportunity to bring the world to our students, because our students can't go to the world." This is so true. In the traditional classroom, learning was limited to books and lectures, and the occasional trip to a nearby location. With virtual field trips, however, a new dimension to teaching and learning has been added. The classroom becomes more exciting, more varied, and more educational. Students can experience things never possible and are able to better understand what they are learning. I think this technology is so exciting! Not only can students learn more but they can connect more with people all over the world. It gives them a broader view of the world than what they experience every day. I think it will make students more open to people that are different from them because they are able to interact with other students all over the world! It would be fantastic if all schools could have this technology. So often upper or middle class schools, filled with students who may have some exposure to a world outside their own, are the only schools that can provide this technology. Schools with poorer students, who have very little access to the rest of the world, are usually unable to afford this. It would be greatly beneficial to explore ways to provide poorer districts with the ability to take virtual field trips.

To visit this article go to
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-01-29-virtual-field-trip_x.htm