Blogs, Wikis & Websites - EDED20491 Week 3 Post #4

Blogs, Wikis and Websites - Summary and reflection on Group 1 tools

This post is a reflection on using Blogs, Wikis and Websites for teaching. The following table summarises the main features of these three technologies.

Table 1: Main features of Blogs, Wikis and Websites

Blogs	Wikis	Websites
Can have multiple authors. Usually a single author who posts. Can invite people to be guest authors.	Can have multiple authors and each author can add, edit or delete material.	Can have multiple authors. Usually a single author. Can give permission for others to edit.
Students and others can write comments and ideas.	Students and others can write comments and ideas.	Generally static. Only editable by the author. Cannot be added to by students or others.
Chronological order of blog posts.	Latest version is current. Does have history to retrieve past edits.	Not chronological. Can be added to and changed in any order.
Suits learning activities such as reflective journals where students are required to regularly reflect over a period of time.	Suits a variety of purposes. Can be used to create a resource where people add to the wiki. Can be used for collaborative learning such as commenting on a task.	Doesn't support collaborative learning on its own. Could be used as tool to link to/from another technology.
Supports transformational learning. Can be used to encourage the students to higher order thinking skills.	Supports transformational learning. Can be used to encourage the students to higher order thinking skills.	If the learning is scaffolded websites could be used to get the students to be creating a new artefact in the form of a website which would require them to think in complex ways.

Thanks to Gary Holmes for the idea to present the material in a table.

Educational Principles - Learning Theory & TPACK
In EDED20491 I am learning in a course that is designed to be interactive and immersive. Participation in the collaborative activities each week enhances my ability and encourages me to reflect on the multiple ways that learning can be facilitated in an online world. Wendy has done this through the clever use of blogs, wikis and websites. This course has modelled how I could utilise these technologies in my teaching in a way that encourages the students to use HOTS (higher order thinking skills).

I think that each of these tools will be useful in my digital toolbox. But it is difficult to argue the case for one technology over the other two without a context for what to teach and to whom. The TPACK model is based on understanding the pedagogy, content and the technology and it relies on having a context for your teaching.

Each of these three technologies has the capacity to allow every student to work in their own space. Each could be utilised to support individual learning goals for the students in my classes. As Gary wrote in the forum:

If you get to know your learners well enough you will realize what diversity you have in your class. Your job is to provide the best support for every student to do their best. That gifted or talented student will need you to extend them. That student who lacks social skills will need you to find away to move them along their own learning path,I have seen websites with a tab for every student and the teacher differentiates their support and guidance through an individual work plan. It is a lot of work but fantastic fun. (Gary Holmes)

When working with Blogs, wikis and websites I will need to scaffold their thinking to reflect the learning they are required to demonstrate. This will be done through thinking routines such as PMI, SWOT analysis or Six Thinking Hats or through carefully constructed question sequences. The thinking routines will help to support my students in developing the kinds of thinking I will be expecting of them and will help to scaffold their learning. These tools and thinking routines should become second-nature, and become skills to assist their thinking for life.

Teaching context

Another consideration in the choice of using these tools is whether or not they are allowed to be used by the school itself. Some blogs, wikis and websites are not allowed and are blocked in schools. As I have not yet started my prac teaching I do not know if my host school supports the use of blogs, wikis and websites for learning and teaching purposes.

To use these tools I would need to ensure that the students would be working in a safe environment. This may mean restricting who has access to the blogs, wikis and websites that the students are using. I would also have to model good practice in acknowledging other people's work and restricting the amount of material I use from any site. Always model safe, legal and ethical practices in the classroom and digital work spaces.