Blogs and Wikis in Education

One interesting thing that wikis are being used for in education is the long-term collaboration of students in different parts of the country on similar subject matter. One wiki hosts an ongoing joint project between students in New York state and Perth, Scotland. Students collaborate on reading material and share thoughts and notes with one another on their reading.

Another wiki uses a message board system to facilitate conversations between AP and IB students across the country. Some schools require their AP students to contribute to the wiki, but many others contribute out of curiosity for the subject matter, or to be able to better understand things they are confused about. This allows students to share new ways of thinking about topics in an informal, peer-to-peer setting, that for many is less intimidating and more familiar than the "lecture" format favored by many teachers.

Thirdly, some wikis support update widgets, that allow students and teachers to monitor the newest topics and changes made to the wiki from a mobile device. This can be a useful tool for teachers and administrators of wikis because it allows them to better monitor students' involvement, and to prevent unwanted activity.

RSS aggregators are a useful tool for classrooms, because it allows teachers to add reading to their personal websites as it accumulates, without having to seek things out specifically. Students can be directed to a single page to peruse informative articles rather than to several disparate sites, which can cut down on time and frustration for both students and educators. Also, if teachers have information they they are putting online, they can distribute it to their students via the students' own individual RSS feeds, so assignments and due dates can be instantly accessible.

Two pros of using wikis and blogs in education:
-The high accessibility for many students and teachers, and the direct involvement in the curriculum and discussion that this affords.
-Highly varied information sources readily available through links and feeds.

Two cons of using wikis and blogs in education:
-Not all students have access to a computer, and with public libraries and other institutions that would have computers freely available cutting back on hours due to funding, it may be difficult or nearly impossible for some students to access web content.
-Many people take the internet less seriously than they would things in the real world, and the anonymity that the web affords them is in some ways an open invitation to vandalize and destroy work that others have done.