Wikis, Blogs, Social Bookmarking and more...

Paragraph 1:  I would like to hear from you how and when you be will using wikis and blogs with your students. Provide an example.
            I like the idea of both wikis and blogs and think they could be useful in the classroom. I plan on teaching high school Speech. I think it would be a good idea to have a class blog. Information from and for the class would accessible to both students and parents. It would be a good way to encourage interaction. Also, notes and tips for writing speeches could be available for students outside of class. As for wikis, I have never considered using them for class before, but I think it could be done. I think a good way to do this would be to have the students write a group speech and have them use wikis during this. Their progress and participation could easily be monitered and students could work on things outside of the classroom and still make it accessible to the other members of the group.


Paragraph 2: What do you think about Socialbookmarking? Would it be useful for you and your students? How? Explain. Are you interested in creating a VoiceThread? Why/why not?
           This was the first time I had heard of Social bookmarking. I found it very interesting. I am definately one of those people who marks things to my favorites and then accumulates so much that its hard to sort through and find what I am looking for. This would be much easier and a lot more convenient. I think it would be useful in class because I could bookmark sites that would be helpful to the students and they in turn could bookmark sites they found helpful while writing their speeches for their classmates to use. I am not sure about the VoiceThread. I just think it might be a little much. Most students are nervous about giving speeches as it is and I would not want to put their speeches on a thread this way. I'm really not sure how else I would use it or why. This is my first experience with them though, so maybe I'll change my opinion when I am more familiar with them.


Paragraph 3: When talking about learning communities, what do you think about Tapped In? Have you explored it? If you have, do you think it's useful for you as a teacher? If you have not, what do you learn from the textbook?
            I think Tapped In could be helpful. I did explore it. At first I logged in as a guest and was actually asked right away by someone at the helpdesk via chat if there was anything they could help me with. When I told him I was exploring as part of a class assignment he suggested I register for a free account because some aspects weren't viewable as a guest. It was still a little confusing trying to find my way around it, but I do think it could be useful. The fact that there are people readily available  to assist you is a plus as well. Once I have learned to navigate it better, I'm sure I will find it very useful.




Jonassen, David, Howland, Jane, Marra, Rose, and Crismond, David. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. 100-135. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall


LeFever, Lee. (2007) "Social Bookmarking in Plain English". Dailymotion. Retrieved on October 13, 2010. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rqw9_social-bookmarking-in-plain-english_school


SRI International. (2010). Tapped In. Retrieved on October 13, 2010. http://tappedin.org/tappedin/


VoiceThread. (2007). Retrieved on October 13, 2010. http://voicethread.com/