Week #5: It's Not About the Tool

Great article!  As I read through this article,  it immediately caught my attention in clearly explaining the differences between using a blog and a wiki in the classroom, "don't use it just to say you have one or the other in your classroom, make it count."  At times, it seems like teachers get this tools set up and have them for the students, staff or parents, but it is not always used as a collaborative tool. Some use it more as a publishing tool for classroom news and homework, for this type of use I think teachers should consider using a web site to publish classroom news.

This quick article helps to provide quick and clear direction on how to both a blog and a wiki.  I am planning to share this with my staff each year, as a stepping stone to teaching them the differences between each as well as ideas to incorporate them in the classroom.  For blogging, I am looking into ClassPress.com, this is because it keeps your blog within the classroom, "no one outside your class can view or participate without your permission." 

Another resource I came across is about "How Can I Use a Wiki in the Classroom?", which I think will be helpful in guiding staff in the best ways to take advantage of free technology and pushing for the continued integration of it more regularly in the classroom.  This helped me think of small, free steps our classrooms can take to make big steps into using technology more frequently and within our district's slim budget.  

Overall, if we can agree upon the proper use of wikis, blogs and web sites within our classrooms as well as provide the rules of the road to students and staff, our students will be able to take advantage of the technology tools within the limited capabilities of our district.