Using Wikis and Blogs in Education.

Three Two ways to
integrate technology in our

teaching.
and why we should be doing it
Jason de Nys
April, 2008
Part One:
Some History…
“Students today can’t prepare Bark to
calculate their problems. They
depend on their slates, which are
more expensive. What will they do
when the slate is dropped and it
breaks? They will not be able to
write.”
- Teachers Conference, 1703
“Students today depend
upon paper too much.
They don’t know how to
write on slate without
getting chalk dust all
over themselves. They
can’t clean a slate
properly. What will they
do when they run out of
the paper?”
- Principal’s Association, 1815
Students today depend too much upon
ink. They don’t know how to use a
pen knife to sharpen a pencil. Pen
and ink will never replace the pencil.”
- National Association of Teachers, 1907

I think there is a world market for maybe five
computers.
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
Computers in the future may weigh no more

than 1.5 tons.
- Popular Mechanics, 1949

Imagine a technology that instantly
connects teachers to resources around
the world, that allows teachers to reach
parents on a moment’s notice, that helps
teachers reach out to the community and
even helps bring the community into the
classroom.
Imagine a time when virtually all
professionals have such terminals in their
work spaces, and virtually all homes. That
day is probably a long way off.”
Gary Bloom, Thrust for Educational Leadership,
When do you think that last
quote was made?
1996
What about this next one?
The Internet is not a great tool for teaching.
the Internet pales in comparison to the hype
surrounding it. People think that children
can think of any topic and pull up a wealth
of information on it, but that is not the case.
The information in a library is what people
seem to expect, but nobody has the time to
transcribe entire libraries onto computers.
There is nothing on the Internet that is
incredibly beneficial to education, yet we
continue to waste money on it.”
- The Monterey County Herald, 1999
To be fair, do you know when Google was
founded?
September 1998
Now it’s a verb meaning ‘to use a search engine

on the Internet’
What about Wikipedia?
Launched January 2001, now consists of 253

different language editions and over 2.3M
articles in English alone
We are not going to allow iPods and
BlackBerrys and cellphones and
things that are disruptive in the
classroom. Teachers cannot be
expected to look under every kid’s
desk at what they are doing”
-New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg

in 2006
I wonder…
how long will his edict last?

Part 2:
What’s a wiki?
How can they be used

in the classroom?
Some example wikis of mine:
http://designeranimals.pbwiki.com/
http://iwbhelp.wikispaces.com/
PBwiki vs. Wikispaces vs. Wiki in the OLP

Advantages/Disadvantages of each
• PBwiki
– Page level access
– Little space
• Wikispaces
– Fewer security options
– More space, cleaner interface
• OLP
– Integrated with other work on OLP
– Not very intuitive
Some ideas for using them in the classroom
Class information wiki: Let parents and students know
what your class is up to, put in a calendar. Upload
newsletters and circulars in case they get 'lost' in
someone's bag.
Whole class projects: Students make X-number of pages
relating to a research topic and link to their classmates'
work.
Group projects: 3, 4, 5 + students can collaborate on
reports, presentations etc without that classic excuse
"James is away sick and he has all of the work!“
Organising a Fete, Or any other major event: All
members of the committee can work on the planning.
Curriculum planning: Link to resources, upload
worksheets and lesson plans.
Some ideas for using them in the classroom
(cont.)
Subject Wiki: Information for students, homework,

assignments, a calendar. No more "I didn't know
what to do for homework." or "I lost the rubric“
Organising a sporting tournament: Dates,
fixtures, contact details
Pen Pals: Write to people anywhere! Or
collaborate with classes in Australia and/or
China on an international project
Collaborative story writing: Students can work
together on stories.
Subject revision: Students contribute to revision
guides
What are the advantages?
– Relatively simple technology
– Promotes "real-world" collaboration skills
– Fosters richer communication than
synchronous communication (Mabrito, 2006
cited in Orech, 2007)
– Pools strengths of many
– Assessable, easy to track
– Online collaborative writing produces higher
quality writing than face-to-face collaboration
(Passig and Schwartz, 2007 cited in Orech,
2007)
(list modified from Orech, 2007)
What are the concerns?
– Security/safety issues
– Labour for moderator
– Combating "Copy and
paste"
– Potential inequitable work
distribution by contributors
(list modified from Orech, 2007)

What’s a blog?
Where to make one
www.blogger.com
www.wordpress.com
www.edublogs.org
Comparative merits?
Much of a muchness, try them out.
Some ideas for using blogs in the classroom
Autobiographical writing: Students can use the

blog as a journal or diary of day-to-day life
Book journaling: Students write their thoughts or
respond with comments to the teacher’s or other
students’ posts about a book.
Science reports: Students journal the investigation
process
Class blog run by teacher: Informing students of
important events eg homework, excursions, what
to bring to school. Students can comment for
clarification.
Some ideas for using blogs in the classroom
Art impressions: Students comment on

works of art
Creative writing: Students write posts as
prose or poetry and constructively critique
one another’s work.
Digital portfolio: Students can record a
body of work by uploading documents and
images
Tracking a student’s thinking as they
complete any assignment
WARNING!
Four more densely worded slides ahead!

Blogging is educationally sound for teaching
students because: (Davis 2008)
• Blogs provide a space for sharing opinions and
learning in order to grow communities of
discourse and knowledge — a space where
students and teachers can learn from each
other.
• Blogs help learners to see knowledge as
interconnected as opposed to a set of discrete
facts.
• Blogs can give students a totally new
perspective on the meaning of voice. As
students explore their own learning and thinking
and their distinctive voices emerge. Student
voices are essential to the conversations we
need to have about learning.
• Blogs foster ownership and choice. They help
lead us away from students trying to find what the
teacher wants in terms of an answer.
• The worldwide audience provides recognition for
students that can be quite profound. Students feel
more compelled to write when they believe many
others may read and respond. It gives them
motivation to excel. Students need to be taught
skills to foster a contributing audience on their
blog.
• The archive feature of blogging records ongoing
learning. It facilitates reflection and evaluation.
One student told me that he could easily find his
thoughts on a matter and he could see how his
thinking had changed and why.
• The opportunity for collective and collaborative
learning is enormous. Students have the
opportunity to read their classmates’ blogs and
those of others. This is not possible in a regular
classroom setting.
• Blogging provides the possibility of connecting

with experts on the topic students are writing.
• The interactive nature of blogging creates

enthusiasm for writing and communication.
• Blogging engages students in conversation and

learning.
• Blogging encourages global conversations
about learning–conversations not
previously possible in our classrooms.
• Blogging provides the opportunity for our
students to learn to write for life-long
learning.
• Blogging affords us the opportunity to
teach responsible public writing. Students
can learn about the power of the published
word and the responsibilities involved with
public writing.
Part 3:
What other thoughts are
there on the educational
benefits of using blogs
and wikis?
Let’s look at Bloom’s
revised taxonomy
Where do
blogs and
wikis fit in?
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy Sub Categories
Each of the categories or taxonomic elements has a
number of key verbs associated with it
• Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing,

inventing, devising, making
• Evaluating - Checking, hypothesising, critiquing,
Experimenting, judging, testing, Detecting, Monitoring
• Analysing - Comparing, organising, deconstructing,
Attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating
• Applying - Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
• Understanding - Interpreting, Summarising, inferring,
paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining,
exemplifying
• Remembering - Recognising, listing, describing,
identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding
(Churches, 2008)
Analysing
Linking – this is establishing and building links within and outside of
documents and web pages.
Evaluating
Blog/vlog commenting and reflecting – Constructive criticism and
reflective practice are often facilitated by the use of blogs and video
blogs. Students commenting and replying to postings have to evaluate
the material in context and reply.
Posting – posting comments to blogs, discussion boards, threaded
discussions. These are increasingly common elements of students' daily
practice. Good postings like good comments, are not simple one-line
answers but rather are structured and constructed to evaluate the topic or
concept.
Moderating – This is high level evaluation; the moderator must be able to
evaluate a posting or comment from a variety of perspectives, assessing
its worth, value and appropriateness.
Evaluating (cont)
Collaborating and networking – Collaboration is an increasing
feature of education. In a world increasingly focused on
communication, collaboration leading to collective intelligence is a
key aspect. Effective collaboration involves evaluating the strengths
and abilities of the participants and evaluating the contribution they
make. Networking is a feature of collaboration, contacting and
communicating with relevant person via a network of associates.
Creating
Publishing – whether via the web or from home computers, publishing
in text, media or digital formats is increasing. Again this requires a
huge overview of not only the content being published, but the
process and product. Related to this concept are also Video
blogging – the production of video blogs, blogging and also
wiki-ing - creating, adding to and modify content in wikis. Creating
or building Mash ups would also fit here.
Part 4:
ANGST!
Reasons for shying away from
using computers with our classes
I don’t have time to learn how to use all of

this stuff
I don’t know enough about it to be able to
teach the students how to use it
There aren’t enough computers
They still haven’t mastered slates! How can
they be expected to use computers?
I don’t have time to learn how
to use all of this stuff….
You’re here aren’t you?
You’re not alone, there is help
available
You already have the basic skills
of word processing and Internet
navigation
A little work early on may
streamline things in the future
Think big, start small
I don’t know enough about it to
be able to teach the students how
to use it…
From a survey of year seven

students at AISHK:
• One quarter write in a blog
regularly
• 2/3 have used a blog
• More than a quarter have
contributed to a wiki
You have experts
in your class
already.
You will build your skills over time. Not
starting means not getting anywhere.
As time progresses, using these tools

will become second nature for the
students, and you
There aren’t enough computers…
Of the year sevens:

• >90% have broadband
internet at home
• They all have a
computer at home
• You can blog from
your phone!
For a wiki or blog based task the ongoing
work can be done as homework
Only one or two sessions required at school.

Tips for getting started with wikis
and blogs
Start small with your own wiki or blog about
anything. Use it for planning or for letting
family overseas know what you are up to
or just make it weird
Seek help from colleagues who have tried it
Target the tech-heads with maturity in your
class to be moderators
Read educator blogs, see the list of
resources at the end of the presentation
Part 5:
Discussion
Sign up
www.wikispaces.com
www.pbwiki.com
www.blogger.com
www.wordpress.com
www.edublogger.org
Resources
• Using Blogs to Promote Authentic Learning in the Classroom
– http://web20intheclassroom.blogspot.com/2008/01/blogging-in-classroom-why-how-and-lots.html
• Blog ideas for the classroom
– http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogideas2.cfm
• Rationale for educational blogging
– http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/
• Wiki ideas for the classroom
– http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm
• Wikis Make Learning Wicked Fun
– http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196605118
• Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally
– http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196605124
• Bloom’s taxonomy rubrics
– http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/
The quotes on the first few slides can be retrieved from numerous online sources.
I have verified them as best I can

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How have views on technology in education changed over time?

How have views on technology in education changed over time?

What were some early criticisms of using technology like computers in schools?

What were some early criticisms of using technology like computers in schools?

Three Two ways to

integrate technology in our

and why we should be doing it

- National Association of Teachers, 1907

- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Computers in the future may weigh no more

- Popular Mechanics, 1949

Now it’s a verb meaning ‘to use a search engine

What about Wikipedia?

Launched January 2001, now consists of 253

-New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg

how long will his edict last?

How can they be used

PBwiki vs. Wikispaces vs. Wiki in the OLP

Subject Wiki: Information for students, homework,

(list modified from Orech, 2007)

Autobiographical writing: Students can use the

Art impressions: Students comment on

Four more densely worded slides ahead!

• Blogging provides the possibility of connecting

• The interactive nature of blogging creates

• Blogging engages students in conversation and

• Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing,

I don’t have time to learn how to use all of

From a survey of year seven

As time progresses, using these tools

Of the year sevens:

Only one or two sessions required at school.

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