Blogs and Wikis in Education Project

One of the coolest things about using blogs is that you can insert links into your text that will take the students to what you are talking about. You can just make your words into a link and that way they can explore it whenever they want to. Depending on their learning styles some students may want to read the article then go and explore the links or other students may want to explore the link before they read more about it. Blogs allow the students to choose what makes the most sense to them. It is nice when schools have blogs, this way both the parents and the students can stay easily informed. I know that it is expensive to make paper newsletters and to mail them all out. Blogs would be a way to avoid these extra costs. By having students write their own blogs it makes them feel like their writing is important and significant. It is worth "publishing" online. If blogs can make students want to write and be encouraged to write than why wouldn't we want to support it.

An RSS reader is something that automatically tracks updates on websites. I think it makes sense to be to think about it as the live feed on facebook. Basically it keeps you updated on what is going on, on the websites that you wanted it to watch. Another example of this is ebay when you watch things and then it lets you know if other people have bidded on them. An aggregator is the system that keeps track for you and relies the information. Linux is an example of an aggregator.

A con of using blogs and wikis in education is you have to be careful not only what you post but what your students are posting as well. It would be bad if the students posted inappropriate things on their blogs or wikis. A lot of supervision is needed to make sure that they only serve educational purposes. Another con is that you have to have the resources either inside the classroom or outside for students to be able to use both blogs and wikis.

There are many more pros in blogs and wikis than cons. It gives student the opportunity to write freely and in a comfortable setting. It may also validate their work and make them feel like it is more important. Another pro is that is a jumping stone for more technology. If students feel comfortable blogging then they might shortly feel comfortable making websites, etc. Technology is a big part of our everyday life and all ages should be able to use it. Blogs may be a good first step for our younger students.