TIE 300- Blogs, Nings, and Wikis

The ability to communicate with various people online is a luxury that our society has taken full advantage of in the last few years. My Introduction to Technology in the Classroom course has begun to familiarize me with the various forms of online communications such as blogs, wikis, and nings.

A blog enables you to create a site where you can basically document your thoughts about anything. In other words, it is the modern version of a written journal. This online journal allows you to put up any pictures, links, feed, or videos you want to share. As a future educator, I feel a blog can be a unique technological addition to my classroom. I would create blog that would serve as a resource site that would further supplement what I taught in class. On my blog, I would be able to post information that would reach every type of learner in my classroom. For example, if I covered various features of the moon during class I could post instructional videos documenting the first trip to the moon to supplement the material for auditory learners; I could also post a link to an interactive website where kinesthetic learners could see an animated diagram of the surface features; I could also put a list of useful moon books that auditory learners could check out of the library.

A ning is more private than a blog. A ning is a gateway that people use to create an online social association where only the selected few are allowed to access the site and join in with its conversations, discussions, and events. A ning is constructed by one person. That person then has the opportunity to design their social network site and then invite people they want to be a contributor to their site. I took a look at some sample sites created by nings and discovered that you can jump from your site to your network site; I think that is a unique feature of a site created by a ning. Ning made sites have the opportunity to be more private than a blog. I feel it is important for educators to know how to use a ning to create a social network where only their students can be a part of. Since the students would be the only members of the site, the teacher can feel free to post student work. Teachers can also use a ning to post a daily problem solving question revolving around the current content being learned. The site allows the students to share their thoughts and solutions regarding the problem in an organized manner. Ning created networks for classrooms also have the possibility of fostering a positive classroom community of learners in and out of the classroom.

A wiki is like an online workable document page. Information can be added, changed, and recorded by anyone aware of the site. It is a great way to track information as well. Wikis can be used by students as a way to virtually communicate with group members. If a group is currently working on compiling a PowerPoint discussing the causes of the American Revolutionary War, they could write down their information and sources on the wiki page. Other group members can then access the page and make changes or additions as they see fit.

Although blogs, nings, and wikis all deal with online communication, they do differ. Blogs are public sites created by one person where anyone can comment, join, or reflect. Nings on the other hand permit an individual to set up a private site directed towards a particular topic. That individual can then invite people who he/she feels would be a good contributor to their site. Wikis are also public and they can be changed or added to by anyone unlike a blog where you can only comment on the information, not change it.