CARISSA TOMLINSON, MLISEMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LIBRARIAN

Wikis and Blogs in Education

Agenda

IntroductionsBlogs vs. WikisWikis and Blogs in the classroom

Lots of examples Some problems to watch out for

Things to consider Which wiki / blog software?

Hands on with WetPaint wikis

Blogs and Wikis

Both allow for easy web publishing capabilities without the need for programming skills

Both allow for some level of author/reader interactivity through comments

Both can be hosted on the web through 3rd parties or can be installed on a server and run solely in-house.

Blog versus Wiki

Blogs generally have one author and editor

Blogs generally have one page where all information is placed

What is written on a blog appears in reverse chronological order- little control over main content on page

Blogs are time sensitive- new information will be more visible

Blogs are used for one person to highlight news and other date sensitive material while allowing the readers to make comments on that news.

Wikis tend to have multiple authors and editors

Wikis generally have multiple pages

Material on a wiki can be easily manipulated and moved around the site

Wikis aren’t date arranged, not time sensitive.

Wikis allow multiple people to collaboratively create and edit a comment enabled webpage

Great tools for many different classroom needs

Course Management wiki Post links to assignments, exercises, announcements, etc-

similar to using Blackboard. Easily integrate multimedia

Video Photos RSS feeds from relevant journals, blogs, news sources Class calendar

Make it interactive Chat widget could be used for online office hours Post reading questions- require students to answer in the

comments of the wiki (students can then learn from one another)

Make a poll or a quiz that students can answer directly on the wiki

Class wiki examples

East Carolina University -English 1200 http://eng1200.wetpaint.com/

Marty Roberge –Towson- Department of Geography GEOG 672 -

http://mroberge.wiki.zoho.com/Mill-Ponds.html

Course Management Blog

Could be used very similarly to wiki, but must be created in a time conscious way (as class progresses)

Can not easily be reusedhttp://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/

Discussion Blogs

A place for questions to be posed and students to discuss in a virtual environment.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/wind0061/hist3152/

Reflective Learning Blog

Students are asked to reflect or “journal” on a particular topic every week.

http://danielkiely.wordpress.com/

Student Group Project Wiki

Keep all work in one spot- don’t worry about exchanging emails

Keep research/bibliographic information in one spot Share a project calendar Brainstorming area – especially useful for web based classes

or classes without much group time Document tracking makes it easy to write a rough draft and

turn it into the final Keep all contact info accessible online Cheryl Wood - Department of Educational Technology

ISTC 201 - http://201summercampus.wikispaces.com/ ISTC 702 - http://istc702summer08.wikispaces.com/ 

Other ideas…

Blogs for communication with students/ parents

Wikis for test preparationFaculty collaboration Department/ University outreach

Wikis in the Classroom

Difficulties mentioned by Dr. Roberge “students having technological difficulties” “students not 'trusting the process': they worry

that their contributions won't be noticed by me, and their wiki work won't be recognized. Even though I can quickly call up a screen showing what everyone has written and edited.”

“students worrying that their work will be erased, or that if they edit someone else's work, that person will get angry.”

“students feeling directionless because the wiki has no inherent structure”

Wikis and Blogs for education?

Allows for active learning through the interactive capabilities between students and/or students and teacher

Easy to use technology – easy way to get something on the web.

“Classroom” available anytime from anywhere Useful not only in the classroom but for staff

projects, training, committees, outreach and numerous other ways

Wikis/Blogs- Things to Consider

Need to be carefully constructed Plan an outline What is the purpose? Blog vs. wiki Make sure that it is easy to navigate Decide what features are important Decide who has access to what sections

Wikis and blogs can be either hosted on an in-house server or hosted online by a 3rd party.

Things to Consider- In-House Server Blog/Wiki

ProsMuch more control

over contentCan be easier to

manipulate for specific purposes Design Access / Security

No ads

ConsRequires server accessImplementation

requires additional technological expertise

Does not always use easy WYSIWYG editing

Things to Consider- Web Hosted Blog/Wiki

ProsRequires little

technological knowledge

WYSIWYG (easy to edit/create)

No server access required

Many do not have ads if used for educational purposes

ConsNo control of what

happens to the content (wiki farm shuts down, wiki could be gone forever)

Not always as flexibleAdditional flexibility

can cost $$

Wiki Software

Server BasedMediawikiPmWikiTwikiMoinMoinXWiki

Web BasedWetPaintPBWikiSeedWikiWikispacesZoho Wikis

Wiki Matrix: http://www.wikimatrix.org/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software

Blog Software

Server BasedWordpress.orgMovable Type

Web BasedWordpress.comBloggerLivejournalTypePad

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog_software

WetPaint Wikis – www.wetpaint.com

Easy to create and update pagesUse your own logoUse your own domainVariety of permissions settings- possible to

assign roles to each user/ creatorAbility to back up wiki by exporting content

to html documentEasy to navigate designAds will be removed when wikis are used for

educational purposes

Additional Resources on Wikis

Brad Hemminger Cradle Talk: Wikis in Education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITqvFKb9BbA

Intro to Class Wikis with Wikispaces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRbbskf3cA

PBwiki educator videoso http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRbbskf3cA

Creating a Classroom Wiki using Wetpaint Creating a wiki in Wetpaint

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgqSfSPRLqQ Basic Editing of Wetpaint wikis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wDuj-jH-Zw Getting ads removed from Wetpaint wikis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbh-bHhYpB0

Additional Resources on Blogs

Blogs in Education: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7XiCg_wpzE

Blogs in Plain English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI

Teaching Tips: Using Online Journals and Blogs http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/

S00001449.shtml

Additional Resources

Carissa TomlinsonReference Librarian410-704-3359ctomlinson@towson.edu

Marty Roberge Geography Department410-704-5011mroberge@towson.edu

Cheryl WoodEducational Technology Department410-704-2687cwood@towson.edu