Blogs and Wikis

I have enjoyed blogging and reading my fellow classmates` blog posts in the these weeks of the Webtools course. So naturally blogging about blogs is interesting.
Blogs
There are a few points that I have noted after reading the article in D2L.
Blogging can provide many opportunities to increase student interactions and create more dynamic assignment. (What I do currently with my class is send them an email on weekends titled` Weekend thoughts and reminders`. Now I could have a classroom blog where my students and I could be in constant interaction. They will also be able to collaborate and interact with their classmates).
Science education blogs can serve as a powerful digital lab notebook that contain text, images and videos (often for most of the topics, I post online web simulations, animations and interactive quizzes etc. on my teacher web page or send an email. Science education blogs will give the students the opportunity to explore and read a wealth of information and comments from like minded people).

Purpose should be including connections between course content and current events.(I see a lot of benefits in classroom blogs. Students are given the freedom to be creative, do their own research on a topic and share views . So there are chances of course content and current events getting connected. Students can work together and communicate well in a group project. The teacher could also add comments and provide necessary guidance at the same time).
Protecting student privacy: This is very important in today`s world. Monitoring blogs is also essential since the viewers of the blogs are widespread. Students should be made aware that it is a public forum and there is an amount of discipline to be maintained.

Wikis
I have explored Wiki this week. Wish I had done so earlier. This is another tool that I would like to experiment with my higher level Physics classes this year.
I have created a Wiki and I could use it for my IB-AP Physics students.
http://ib-ap-physics.wikispaces.com/ (It is in the very early stages though).

The similarity between blogs and wikis are that both are easy to use , accessible to students and provide a platform where students can interact with each other, collaborate on a group work and critically appraise each other`s work.
The major difference between the two would be that Wiki`s provide the students the chance to sit together (not necessarily in the classroom or in the same place)and team up for a fine piece of work and display that work. The task can be completed simultaneously as they are discussing the details because they could make changes directly on the wiki.

Wikis provide occasions to build connections beyond the classroom walls. As in blogs, on could invite people outside of the class to edit wikis. A major group project can be completed successfully with wikis.

I am really impressed by the work of Ms Luann Lee and her students in Orting Washington. Students obviously get more interested and excited when they are given the freedom to create and explore.
Very true that students can create online posters, virtual museum exhibits or even create e- textbooks on a class wiki. In wikis too, students should be careful not to reveal their identity. Classroom blogs and Wikis maybe combined with the other tools to improve science learning.