New Media in Education

Blogs & Wikis for Interactive Learning

Dr. Chris Greer Georgia College & State University

blogWhat is a blog?

• Short for web log or weblog

• Generally contains text, links, and sometimes images

• Very popular among political pundits, technology sites, and individuals who want to share their lives with an online audience

• Began back in 1994

• There are now hundreds of thousands, if not millions

educationEducational Uses?• Most colleges use Web CT or a variant, great tools but cold interface

• Online classes are heavily dependent on good discussion among the class

• Good discussion can depend on how easily the course is accessed

• Clean layout helps with the overall experience

educationEducational Uses?• Great way to disperse the latest content

• Can be an excellent resource for students to use later in their careers

• Not as out-of-date as a textbook

distanceUsing a blog for distance learning• Make a post on a topic each week

• The comments section is used as a discussion board

• Students are strongly encouraged to discuss each topic, share opinions, and raise new questions

• Students are also “guest bloggers”

Past Blogs

Information Technology in the Media Center

Info Tech / School Technology Hybrid

School Based Technology Systems

feedbackBlog feedback• Feedback from students about the blog experience has been very

positive

• Vast majority of students prefer to blog over a more traditional online class

• I continue to use blogs in my classes, as well as make revisions to how it is used

• Cons?

wikiWhat is a wiki?• A small, efficient piece of software that lets users easily create and

edit basic web pages

• Supports hyperlinks, uses a simplistic markup system for formatting

• Can be run on just about any server that allows PHP

• Totally free!

at workWikis at work• Wikipedia.org is one great example of how Wikis can be used

• Stimulates group thinking, building of collaborative knowledge

• Can be a great benefit to the classroom

• Allows users who lack technical skills to still take part in the creation process

classroomWikis in the classroom?• Assign a project to the class, allow them to build the project in a wiki

• Can be great for online learning, creates a common meeting place for the content to be organized

• Can be a helpful addition to K-12 and higher education classes as well

• Creates that online component that supplements the face to face instruction

Let’s check out a working Wiki

Thank you!

Presentation available at

http://hercules.gcsu.edu/~cgreer/