Education
has greatly changed in the last decade because of technology. There are many resources available to
students, parents and teachers today through the use of the internet and other
forms of technology. As part of the course work for the MATLT program, we have
learned about blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and social networking sites and
about their applicability to the classroom setting. This paper will describe these new learning
tools and provide a reflection of my learning experience regarding these resources.
A blog is an internet site where the author can post
reflections and thoughts about any topic.
Blogs have become a way for individuals to chronicle their daily lives
or for people to discuss politics or ethics.
Blogs are becoming a popular component of classroom learning today
because of the resources they offer teachers and students. Blogs allow students to make posts and then
have the posts reviewed and commented on by other students. Blogs can contain
audio or visual material which supplements learning material. Many teachers love the fact that blogs
contain a complete record of past posts for future reference. Blogs promote peer support and learning
through online interaction (Wheeler & Lambert-Heggs, 2009).
A wiki is an online collaborative work space where anyone
can add content and anyone can change content that has been posted. Wikis are designed for collaboration because
they provide a method for people to combine thoughts and information, even when
they may live miles apart. Wiki articles
are available to all group members at all times which means changes can be made
by multiple people simultaneously. This
provides an ease of use over email where articles must be attached to emails,
revised, and then resubmitted to all group members. Wikis, unlike blogs, are specifically meant
for group collaboration and interactive, concurrent learning (West & West,
2009).
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn provide people with a way to stay in touch with others in a public
manner. Users of these sites can use
them to locate old friends or new colleagues.
These sites allow users to comment on their daily activities or on the
comments of others. Some of these sites
also have a use in the classroom.
Facebook allows organizations to create Facebook pages that contain
useful information for students and teachers.
Social bookmarking sites are websites that allow you to collect and
manage your favorite websites. An
account on one of these sites can be shared with friends so that favorite
websites can be compared. These
bookmarking sites make it easy for teachers and students to share information
they have found on the web.
As the internet changes the way people live their lives,
teachers and other educators must find ways to incorporate the internet into
the classroom. Students will enjoy learning when they can use technology they
are familiar with or interested in.
Students are also becoming so engrossed in these technologies that it
can be difficult to get their attention off of them and onto more traditional
styles of learning. Allowing them to
utilize a technology that they are obsessed with is a way to keep them engaged. Not only are these technologies more
attractive to students than the more traditional classroom teaching techniques,
but they offer teachers a way to educate in ways that increase learning.
A blog is a terrific way to allow students to practice
writing skills and critiquing skills. Students can post to their blogs and then
allow their classmates to make comments about their work. Comments can range from basic grammatical
corrections to overall comments about the theme or the direction of the article. While writing blog articles, students can be
encouraged to access their online library or other internet sources to expand
on the subject matter of their post. The
easy access to information on their topic is going to make learning that much
easier. In the past, teachers might have
allowed students the opportunity to have one or two other students comment on
their work, but a blog is open twenty-four hours and day and allows for every
student in the class to engage in what is being discussed.
A wiki is extremely appropriate for both classroom and
professional settings. Wikis provide for
true collaborative work in a new way. In
the past, groups would be formed, and those groups would meet together in
person and discuss the topic or problem at hand. This method still has merit, but a wiki
allows much more flexibility to classroom or work collaboration. When a group uses a wiki, users can invite
others from all over the world. This
will be especially helpful in business settings because business is becoming
more and more global. Students can be
encouraged to create relationships with students across the globe, and they can
use a wiki to work on projects together or simply to get to know each other. The wiki is available twenty-four hours a
day, so students can make comments or changes on the wiki when it is convenient
to them. Changes can be made to the wiki
articles by multiple users at a time, so changes will be more appropriate and
thorough.
Social bookmarking sites can be very helpful for the teacher
who has gathered a collection of internet sites that have reliable information
about classroom material. Students can
also learn to use these bookmarking sites to help them write comprehensive
research papers. Social networking sites are extremely helpful in business
because they allow people to connect with others within their industry which
can help them sell their products or find new jobs. They can also be incorporated into the
classroom setting because they provide resources that can help students
learn. Students can be directed to the
Facebook pages of organizations they are interested in, and these pages might
give them inspiration for a paper or project.
Students who need extra assistance with reading can find help on the
Facebook pages of reading assistance programs.
A major strength of this program was that it required
students to learn how to use these different learning tools. Many of us were not as familiar with wikis
and social bookmarking sites as we should have been, and the assignments
required us to learn not just about the websites but also how to use them. I found it extremely helpful to actually
create a wiki for a future classroom because it gave me the confidence to know
that I will be able to do this again when I am teaching. I also appreciated that the program had us
review the work of other students so that we could get ideas and make
comments.
My personal experience using all of these tools was very
positive. I definitely plan to use a
blog in my future classroom to communicate with students and parents. I think
it will be a terrific way to remind students about homework assignments,
provide links to additional resources, and to keep parents informed about what
we are working on in class. I think that
a wiki will definitely be used in my future classroom. I believe that the world is becoming more and
more collaborative as it becomes more global.
Because of this, students need to learn collaboration skills at an early
age. A wiki is a terrific way to teach
them how to contribute in a group setting, and it will help them succeed later
in life when they might be required to use a wiki as a part of their job. I can see a usage for social bookmarking
sites because they would allow me to keep a list of sites relevant to my class
and publish them for my students to access.
I also could see myself using Facebook to encourage students to find
learning opportunities outside of our school.
Teachers today need to know about the opportunities
technology has for them within the classroom.
Using wikis will allow teachers to set up a collaborative environment
that will enhance student learning and better prepare them for their future careers. Classroom blogs can be used for students to
post work, but they will also be very helpful for keeping students and parents
informed about assignments and upcoming events.
Social networking sites can connect students to resources outside of
their school and library, and social bookmarking sites will direct students to
appropriate websites that will enhance learning. The information presented throughout this program will
be vital for all teachers to know in the future because of the benefits it
offers to students of all kinds.
References
Wheeler, S., & Lambert-Heggs,
W. (2009). Connecting distance learners and their
mentors using blogs. The MentorBlog
Project. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(4), 323-331.
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