Blogs and Wikis are very similar in many ways but different as well. In Mr.C's class blog, from Noel Elementary School, he shares videos, other student and teacher blogs, as well as important information for each class he teaches. Blogs are more like a diary because on each post it shows the date. So the viewers know when the information was posted and how it applies to everyday learning. Mr.C also posts tutorials for his students so he can teach them "how to write a dramatic monologue." He lists assignments based on videos that he has embedded onto the blog, one in particular that caught my eye was a video about judging people by their appearances. I believe that it is important to teach children at an early age that judging a book by its cover is not the right thing to do. On the side of his blog he also has many links for students to explore such as the library link and other informational links. I noticed all of the little things on his blog, like the current weather and a link to dictionary.com. He really put a lot of thought into this blog and it shows by all the important tools and feedback from his students. http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/
Wikis are different in a way because they are more like a class website designed for the students to use and the teacher to display basic information. A wiki includes videos, assignments and other websites to explore but its not done on a daily basis. A blog is constantly changing from day to day while on a wiki page maybe the homework assignment will change but the other information stays the same. The biggest difference I noticed between the blog and the wiki is that the wiki has less information and other school have a chance to interact with each other. This is possible on Arjana Blazic's wiki titled "Greetings from the World,"her students interact with others from around the world and share different experiences. Each country posts a comment about their culture and other respond to them. This is a positive and exciting way to teach children diversity, which is one of the most important subjects of todays society. http://greetingsfromtheworld.wikispaces.com/
On a blog a teacher could post a question about a current event and ask the student to blog about what they think about it, if they agree or disagree with the article. On a wiki a student could be asked to embed a youtube video that has relevance to the topic they are discussing in class and respond to why it is important.
Schools can definitely interact on a blog, but it is more common for them to do so on a wiki. Wikis can also change daily - but that depends on the wiki creators/editors. Also, keep in mind that videos, assignments, and links to other web sites can be posted on a blog as well. Wikis do not necessarily have less information, sometimes it is the opposite. Again, that depends on the blog/wiki creators/editors.
ReplyDeleteOverall, great post! Going forward, whenever you do reference web sites, you need to use APA style citations/references - and please create hyperlinks so that people who visit your blog can go directly to the web sites that you are referencing.