Blogs, Forums, Wikis

Blogs, Forums, Wikis Writing and Collaboration Across the Curriculum with E-Communications Tools Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

MySpace.Com… Your student’s one-stop e-communications source! Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Huh?!! Here’s why kids love it: • It connects people across space - it’s truly international! • It connects people across time – people can access it from anywhere, and do so at all times day and night. • It provides a forum for participants to celebrate who they are, in a place where others can easily find and read it. • Because of this and other reasons, it is highly motivating for students! • [Needless to say, since it’s also a place for a lot of inappropriate and risky behavior issues, DON’T USE IT!] Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Why should I care? (…the lessons of MySpace.com…) • Across Distance • Communication and Collaboration (inter-district, inter-state, international) • Connect student-student, student-teacher, student-stakeholder, student-expert, student-tutor… • Across Time • Extending the classroom • Providing motivated writing as homework that students will actually do! • Technology Standards • Our responsibility to teach responsible use of online tools! • Internet Safety • Tools they will use in the workplace and in higher education • ISTE/NETS (http://www.iste.org/nets/) • Side benefits for the teacher • Archiving • Ease of assessment • Instant, anywhere access (no papers to drag home!) Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Doing What… • Writing • Personal Writing (journaling, diaries) • Transactive Writing (presentation, persuasive) • “Talking” • Collaborative writing/Peer Conferencing • Correspondence • project development • …in short, anywhere writing and communication apply Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

…Where… • Lab • Good news: everybody does the same thing • Bad news: mimics ordinary discourse, ignores best practice • Classroom Computers • Good news: modeling best technology practice, anytime/anywhere use • Bad news: Where are the computers? • ESS/Library • Good news: outside of class access • Bad news: limited time • Home • Good news: Outside of class access • Bad news: too many students have no outside access Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools - Email • In Kentucky, student email access is the standard for 4th-12th grade students • Best use: • when treated as a tool in support of other activities • Worst use: • Unmonitored discourse • Formats: • LISTSERV (archives possible) • Distribution list (no archives) • One-to-many newsletters communications (more later) • YahooGroups (http://groups.yahoo.com/), GoogleGroups (http://groups-beta.google.com/) Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools - Forums • Members-only threaded discussion • More labor-intensive than email, but much more secure • Best use: • Open discourse across time and distance • Worst use: • Writing of large pieces (especially those benefiting from word-processing-line formatting) • It’s viewed by high schoolers as kid stuff Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools - Forums Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools - Blogs • Personal journals with interconnection and commenting • Best use: • “diary”-style personal writing with peer and teacher comments • Collaborative writing, peer review • Worst use: • Chat! Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Point – usage stats • 1,000 registered users • Up to 200 logins per day • Up to 150 postings per day • Unmeasured public views Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Blog Topic • What barriers do you see with your district for e-communications with students? Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools - Wikis • WIKIs – community-generated websites (see http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors for the original, Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki for a definition) • Group research and writing projects – true collaborative thinking! • Instant and “organic” web structure development Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

The Tools – Other Stuff • Podcasts – (see http://epnweb.org/ for examples) • Injects images and other media into blogging • It’s richer, but there are security holes… • Picture Blogging (http://www.flickr.com) Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Putting It All Together – Content Management/Courseware • Combines online discourse with other workflow supports, in a user-friendly environment… • Document sharing • Scheduling • Resource management • Surveying and other interactive content Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Where? The best platforms for you and your students, in order of preference: • Host it yourself with free or inexpensive software • Forums: Snitz • Blogs: Moveable Type • Wikis: ??? • Content Management: Moodle, Sharepoint • Use/collaborate with other district’s resources, or education-specific resources: • Forums: Fayette County Forums (http://teach.fcps.net/forum) • Blogs: Blogmeister (http://classblogmeister.com/), The Point (https://edtech.fcps.net/blog/) • Wikis: http://www.wikispaces.com/ • Content Management: NiceNet (http://www.nicenet.org) • Picture Blogging (http://www.flickr.com) Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Where…and other stuff The best platforms for you and your students, in order of preference (continued): • Use free open sources • Forums: Too many to mention • Blogs: Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) Security: • Make sure you know who folks are (if you are inside a safe district-hosted spot, it’s easy) • Require approval, or reduce visibility • Don’t allow ANY personal information be posted publicly! Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Teacher-to-teacher - the community part of communications! • Newsletters – the up-side of “spam” • The Marco-Gram (http://www.marcopolo-education.org/) • Edutopia News (http://www.edutopia.org/products/edutopianews.php) • MiddleWeb’s Of Particular Interest (http://www.middleweb.com/mw/aaOfPartInt.html) • EMCK’s The E-Line (http://www.emck.net/eline/) • LISTSERVs • The KERA/KETS Lists (http://www.uky.edu/Education/kylists.html) • H-Net (http://www.h-net.org/lists/) • Topica (http://lists.topica.com/) • …and don’t forget to check with your favorite professional organization (NAEA, NCTE, NCTM, NSTA, etc.) Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Your one-stop for e-communications… Leanna Prater, District Technology Resource Teacher lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us http://teach.fcps.net/trt14/ Member: EDTECH LISTSERV, Blogger, The Point, Fayette County Forums, KYTRT, http://techteacher.wikispaces.com, http://techteacher14.blogspot.com Jeffrey L. Jones, District Technology Resource Teacher jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us http://teach.fcps.net/trt15/ http://www.emck.net Member: EDTECH LISTSERV (moderator), WWWEDU, TappedIn, LearningTimes, Blogger, The Point, Fayette County Forums, KYTRT, KYTLEAD, KTDTC, and several forums on programming and electronic music. Almost all the capabilities discussed here are available as free downloadable software, for hosting on your school or district web servers. If you need a recommendation, send me an email with your specifications and web server platform. Jeffrey L. Jones, DTRT - jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us Leanna Prater, DTRT – lprater@fayette.k12.ky.us

Blogs, Forums, Wikis