Teaching with Technology Bootcamp Media Player, iTunes, Blogs & Wikis

Blogs “We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” ~ Herman Melville

Blog Defined Blog: Online, Web-based journals in the form of frequent, chronological publications of thoughts and ideas, typically within a specific theme or area of interest.

Blog: The Real Definition Blog: An online notebook of your mindless ramblings which others are permitted to read and comment on

Blogs: When to Use? When organizing thoughts chronologically When seeking feedback from others When speaking on a wide-variety of topics Note ability to “categorize” a specific post When wanting complete control over your site

Reasons to Blog To be heard To personally engage with a subject To connect with others and share ideas To establish a reputation amongst a community To collect and organize ideas

Blogs in the Classroom Reflective learning Journaling Encourage e-participation “Cool” Discussion Boards Encourage personalization expression Personal ownership of content

Blog Options Blogspot.com Blogger.com Wordpress.com Tumblr.com Posterous.com

Wikis “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” – King Solomon

Wiki Defined A website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor A website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users

Wiki: The Real Definition The one-stop-shop which gives you both the “Cliff-notes” and Encyclopedia

Wikis: When to Use? When addressing a specific topic When linking to multiple websites When wanting to majorly edit or rearrange later When working with multiple users

Reasons to Wiki Consolidate research or information Space for dynamic collaboration Combine static and interactive information

Wikis in the Classroom Group projects Synthesis of semester learning Collaborative research Event planning Updates of rapidly changing information

Wiki Options Pbwiki.com Wetpaint.com Wikispaces.com