Welcome to our introduction of blogs and wikis.
The purpose of this video is to discuss the role of blogs and wikis in improving reading
performance and learning for students with disabilities and others who struggle.
Innovations in computer technology in the last 20 years have changed the way most people
live, work, shop, and communicate.
Education has changed, too.
Now students can upload assignments to a class website, email questions to their teachers,
and work on assignments with distant peers using instant messaging, online discussion
forums, and wikis.
Writing online, through blogs, wikis, or discussion forums, can boost student motivation for writing,
and help them learn to adapt writing for different audiences, tasks, purposes, and disciplines.
Depending on how blogs and wikis are used in the classroom, they can have a number of
benefits for all students, especially struggling writers and students with disabilities.
The use of classroom blogs and wikis can have social and educational implications for students
with disabilities and struggling students.
Nearly universal access to mobile and wireless technologies mean that today's students regularly
email, IM (instant message), participate in chat rooms, and post to blogs and social networking
sites as a means of communication and social interaction.
Harness these technologies to help boost your students' writing skills!
How is writing a page for Wikipedia different from writing a personal blog?
These writing skills, and learning to use media in a variety of situations, are critical
parts of helping your students meet the CCSS College and Career Readiness Standards for
Writing and Speaking and Listening.
Blogs can serve as a medium for recording thoughts and impressions on a particular topic.
Blogs are mostly free and easy to create, so you can have a blog set up and running
in minutes.
Several websites offer educational packages to allow you to create individual student
blogs, giving the teacher complete control over content.
This ensures that blogs don't become places for inappropriate comments and bullying.
If your classroom blog will feature student writing and discussion, you may want to consider
using blogging tools geared towards student and classroom use.
Wikis A wiki is an online software tool that allows
multiple users to collaborate and generate web content, typically for reference purposes.
The most well-known example of a wiki is Wikipedia,
but there are many uses for wikis in the classroom setting.
Classroom wikis are often used for collaborative writing projects and group projects.
Because all changes are tracked to specific users, this is a great way for a teacher to
see how much each student has contributed.
Consider using sites such as Wikipedia to launch discussions on the dangers of completely
open collaborative networks.
Can students find incorrect or misleading information on a Wikipedia page?
How does the community respond to these types of issues?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of open collaboration?
Students who struggle with organization Post assignments, notes, handouts and reminders
on your classroom blog or wiki so that ALL your students can access the material if needed.
A common difficulty for students with Learning Disabilities or ADHD is misplacing or forgetting
schoolwork – your class blog or wiki can provide a central location for students to
locate important information and can help with organization.
If you have students who struggle with memory or processing information, an option is to
make video lectures, slideshows and other relevant materials available so students can
review multiple times if needed.
Have students create their own wiki entries, videos, or slideshows on various topics.
These resources then become part of a library that your students can access for extra help
or explanations.
Students with dyslexia or other learning difficulties may struggle to find the right words quickly
in high-pressure situations, for example, being called on in class discussions.
Online discussions can allow students to think carefully about their answer and post when
they are ready, improving the quality of discussion and participation.
If you have Students who struggle with writing production, there are several strategies that
might make sense:
First, Allow students to respond to writing prompts via the classroom blog or on a wiki
page.
This can be especially beneficial for those students who struggle to produce significant
writing in-class.
Responding online can allow students who struggle with handwriting to make use to speech-to-text
or word prediction software to aid them in their writing.
Writing on a classroom wiki can also be a great way of encouraging your students to
write and edit collaboratively.
And Personal narratives and storytelling tend to be high-interest and can help motivate
reluctant writers.
Finally, As educators introduce blogs, wikis, e-mail, and other current digital communication
strategies, they should be explicit about the difference between the formal language
required for written communications and the less formal language frequently used in blogs,
e-mails and text messaging.
Educators may want to set expectations for correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and
sentence structure for specific assignments while setting relaxed expectations for others.