Benefits and suggestions for implementation of "blogs and wikis"

BLOGS

BENEFITS

-User - or blogger - posts items on a regular basis

-Does not need to have any previous knowledge on computer programming

-Enables people from all around the world to relate according to interests

-While a website is often a one-way form of communication, blogs are two-way (like other web 2.0 tools) since readers are encouraged to contribute (leaving comments and sharing opinions); blogs, then, can also be collaborative

-Focus on one specific area of interest

-They can be private or public

SUGGESTIONS FOR ELT

Fosters collaborative writing

Encourages discussions

Promotes learning in community

Helps to improve writing skills and sub-skills such as spelling and vocabulary

Students can receive feedback from other people different from the teacher

Students can keep a diary to track their progress in writing


PREFERRED PLATFORM: BLOGGER
It is easy to open blogs and use

Everyone is familiar with it

Through Google you can receive information about related blog topics


WIKIES

It is a group editable website

It is a collaborative tool

they encourage meaningful topic association

As anybody can edit the pages or undo the edition, wiki communities depend heavily on the trust between its users


SUGGESTIONS FOR ELT


Fosters collaborative writing

Discussions and debates

Learning community

Improving writing skills and sub-skills such as spelling and vocabulary.

Students can receive feedback from other people different from the teacher i.e. classmates

Creating glossaries to improve vocabulary.


PREFERRED PLATFORM: WIKISPACES

It is very popular

There are wikis especially designed for teachers


There are wikis especially designed for K-12 grades


It is fast, free and easy to use