Chapter 8: Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis, and More

Focus Question:

How can teachers use wikis to promote collaborative learning?

     Wikis are created and maintained by multiple users from different computers.  Due to the fact the users can use different computers to work on the same "project," wikis allow for collaborative learning. Students and teachers can work together and at a distance.  Wikis make collaborative projects easy to accomplish.  They also allow for the educator to step in at any step of the project to make comments and suggestions. 

Tech Tool Link: Moodle

     Moddle is an online Course Management System, or CMS, also known as a Learning Management System, LMS, or a Virtual Learning Environment, VLE.  Moodle is free and provides the user with an email, online discussion boards, instant messaging, and discussion forums.  Moodle allows for grade record keeping and posting, selective content releases, and filtering options.  
     The site its self is visually appealing.  It is easy to use and free to access.  It provides demonstration websites and videos to allow for easy use, such as the video below:

Summary and Connections:

     Though the entire chapter has useful information on communicating and networking, I found the section on strategies for using email and IM with students the most interesting.  Email is already a very useful way to communicate with students.  Email can be used to give students reminders or documents that they did not receive in class.  Email can also be used for students to turn in work that they could not turn in by hand.  Email also allows for accountability.  Emails are recorded and easy to look back on over time.  
     Instant messaging, or IM, is useful for quick interaction between students and teachers.  This encourages informal interaction, which, while it might not help students when it comes to grammar, is beneficial to building relationships.  IM allows for fast and easy interaction.  IM is also beneficial for online "office hours" in which the students can quickly get answers for questions they need answering.

Resources: 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5 

Moodle. Moodle Trust.  Web. 11 Mar 2013.