This course will examine ways in which students can easily use the web as a literacy tool, including publishing their writing, collaborating with each other, and sharing their stories with the world. Through three different forms of online media, blogs, wikis, and online maps, we will examine new forms of digital literacy in which online publishing becomes an accessible and powerful tool for the classroom.
The web has made the writing world a more democratic place; all someone needs is an Internet connection and he or she can become a published author. Putting words up on the web is so easy that teachers and students have begun using types of web pages called blogs and wikis to self-publish. Blogs (short for “web logs”) have evolved from personal diaries to a true online publishing medium. Blogs are diverse, but most of them are characterized by first person writing, which is often personal and expresses opinion, entries recorded in reverse chronological order (newest posts are shown first), and the ability to be syndicated by readers. Wikis are web pages that allow users to edit their content. Instead of a top-down method of publishing, anyone can become a published writer and editor when using a wiki. Educators are turning to the newly-accessible world of blogs, wikis, and mapping and using them as tools for their students to share and publish their writing.
Overview Blogging has changed what we now know as publishing, and has changed the world of journaling and reporting. Now any writer with an Internet connection can become a published author. Because blogging is such an easy, cheap, and accessible way to publish student writing, it has changed the classrooms of many teachers. Some teachers blog with their students, and see the medium primarily as a way to motivate students to write and publish. Other teachers blog as a way to communicate with other teachers, either for collaboration or to share anecdotes from the teaching life.
In this session, we'll become familiar with blogs and blogging from an educational perspective. We'll look at the use of blogs as a classroom tool and see some examples of both teacher and student blogs that are currently published on the web. As you explore these blogs, be sure to check the "blogroll" (list of links) on the teacher blogs to see more great examples of educational blog sites.
On the Making the Most of the Web with Your Students CD-ROM, read the section on blogging (listed under “Making the Most by Technology”). Be sure to view the teacher video on blogging, located on the opening menu of the CD.
Four blogs are linked below; two are teacher blogs and two are student blogs. Choose one teacher blog and one student blog to read. Look through several posts and visit the blogroll, if one is included.
Reflection How do you see blogs being used as an instructional tool? In what ways do students featured in the blogging video use the medium to write, publish, and communicate?
What blog did you find to be the most useful to you? Why is this blog a strong example of the medium?
Overview
A wiki is a kind of web page that allows others to edit its content. You may be familiar with the most famous wiki of all, Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org). Wikis have become controversial for their ability to permit collaborative writing--meaning that anyone can contribute to a wiki web page, not just a person with a password or the owner of the web site. (Specific users can be added and privacy settings can limit access.) In the case of an encyclopedia, which is an authoritative source, multiple authors can call content into question, but with a school wiki, the ability to write collaboratively opens up a whole new world. Teachers have been using wikis to allow students to peer edit and co-produce reports and research papers, among a myriad of other creative uses.
In this session, we will be examining wikis as a literacy tool in the classroom and how they can enable group writing and editing. We will read articles about the emerging use of wikis in the classroom, see a few school-based wikis, hear from teachers who are using wikis, and visit a site where you can set up your own wiki for free.
Below are three links to student wiki sites. Choose the one that is most appropriate for your grade level and visit that wiki. Pay attention to the culture of the wiki, what kind of work is being done there, and how collaboration occurs on the wiki.
On the Making the Most of the Web with Your Students CD-ROM, section on Wikis (under Technology). Make sure to read the How-To article linked from that section of the CD-ROM titled, "What¹s a Wiki?" In the How to Use the Internet in Your Classroom book, read "Networking Possibilities and Challenges," on pages 26-27.
Reflection
In what ways can wikis be used in the classroom? How do wikis enable collaboration between students?
Though similar in many respects, what are the main differences between wikis and blogs and their uses in instruction?
Overview Digital storytelling is an artistic movement that allows people to share their personal stories via tools and resources found on the web, and often for free. There are many different media used to tell digital stories: video, blogs, digital images, vlogs, and mapping. Using Google Maps software code, many mapping sites allow users to plot points on a map and then add commentary, description, and sometimes images. These maps can also be embedded into blogs and web sites.
Many educators are using some of these mapping sites to allow their students to create digital stories of their own. For this session, we will look at a few mapping sites, examine some digital stories created using these mapping services, and discuss ways in which mapping can be used as a literacy tool in the classroom.
Readings
Read “Mapping a New Course on the Web” http://teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/incorptech/maps.htm This article provides a helpful introduction to online mapping resources as well as some ideas for classroom activities using maps.
Read the blog entry “Sharing Stories with Mapping http://teachersteachingteachers.org/?p=41 Make sure to play the podcast and listen to the conversation among teachers discussing mapping and storytelling. The links on the page are also helpful, showing several examples of mapping uses in the classroom.
On the Making the Most of the Web with Your Students CD-ROM, view the section on Mapping (under “Making the Most by Technology”). Visit several of the teacher projects using mapping, choosing those most appropriate for your grade level, as well two of the mapping sites linked from the main page.
Reflection In what ways do you see mapping being used as a literacy tool in the classroom? Do you feel that these annotated maps are, in fact, stories? Why or why not, and explain. How might you extend some of these mapping exercises into a digital storytelling classroom exercise?
Create a unit plan in which you choose a medium introduced in this course--blogging, wikis, or mapping--and identify how this medium might be used with students as a writing tool in your own classroom. Be sure to state your grade level and address your students’ needs.
Resources
The Tech-Savvy Educator: Wikis in the Classroom http://www.techsavvyed.net/?p=51
A great article about ways to use wikis with students.
Story Mapping http://www.storymapping.org
A site published by the Center for Digital Storytelling, combining digital stories with online mapping sites.
Richardson, Will (2006). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom. Corwin Press.
Warlick, David (2005) Classroom Blogging: A Teacher’s Guide to the Blogosphere. Lulu.com.
