Week 3 - Group 1 Tool’s (Websites, Blogs & Wiki’s)

Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

Websites are commonly used as a media outlet. These websites are used to target specific audience of viewers for a specific purpose be it marketing, advertising or informational purposes. These are all aimed at a specific genre.

Websites are generally fixed and individuals are not able to add, edit or change details that are included on them. This can be only done by the administrator. This is advantageous when the information has a select purpose and should not be edited by anyone at all.

There is a lot of impacting factors that influence and inhibit the use of websites in a class or home environment. The main factor that contributes to the use of websites is accessibility at home. A lot of homes do not have access to computers and internet. For these types of educational programs to work schools and teachers would have to ensure that every student had access. “Friedman  (2006) states that there are a number of contextual barriers such as a lack of access to appropriate software, a perception that parents and students cannot access the internet at home, and a lack of time impacts on implementation of websites in classrooms.”

The Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Framework (2007) believes that by the end of Year 3 students should be able to “Inquire, Create & Communicate with ICT’s.” Students need to also be able to identify the ethics and issues that come with operating ICT’s also.

As a future educator I feel that students should be able to investigate and gather information using websites that are relevant to a specific topic, and this would entail being able to use the appropriate research techniques involved with the investigation.

Blog

From my understanding of a blog. I think that it is an awesome way to put our own personal thoughts into words that we as individuals are able to reflect on and clarify our perspectives from. Blogging seems to be easy and user friendly by allowing simple entries to be submitted for viewing by followers. For users to be able to use a blog as a personal journal this adds individuality and more importantly ease of writing.

Some of the blogs that I have looked at are about wives with husbands who are fighting in a war somewhere around the world. It seems to be an avenue that allows them to chat and leave their thoughts for others to read. It is amazing the impact that one blog can have on a person. The one that I viewed 3-4 weeks ago had a wide variety of personal information on it that the blogger feels they want to share with others. The postings that were entered were very personal and drew me as the viewer closer than I fully realised, that was until I began to reflect on it. As Stephen Downes (2004) states “blogs allow readers to hear the day to day thoughts of presidential candidates, software company executives, and magazine writer, who all in turn, hear opinions of people they would never otherwise hear.”

The part that I feel is most important is that we as writers of blogs cannot be criticised for what we write, it gives people the chance to a freedom of speech. This freedom comes with a certain opportunity to be an individual. From time to time, we read about the potential of online learning to bring learning into life, to engender workplace learning or lifelong learning. When Jay Cross and other say that 90% of our learning is informal, this is the sort of thing they mean; that the lessons we might expect to find in the classroom work their way, through alternative means, into our day to day activities” (Downes, 2004).

Wiki

The Wiki is the application that confuses me. I realise that and online wiki is a space that users and guests can edit, modify, add, remove information with the intuitive editing tools. This I find a little hard to comprehend. I realise that if information is inaccurate that it should be changed, but I feel that there should be some form of etiquette to editing the information.  Going through the week 3 information I am going to list some of the identified features of a wiki.

Open – meaning that any person is able to change edit or reorganise the information as they see fit. To me if you don’t like the site create your own, as the creator may have a specific motive to the design that they have used. For example it could be used for an upper grade class to edit and design their own wiki from the information that they have been already given.

Trust – trusting the people, trusting the process, enable trust to be built. I guess for me relying on others good intentions is hard to fathom as some people do things for the wrong reasons. But assuming that everything is completed with the very best of intentions it could prove to be a worthwhile venture that conveys an awesome message to the viewers.

Fun – everyone can contribute but no one has to. This is something that I think is beneficial however referring back to the trust if someone contributes to a wiki, I think it would be advantageous to contribute and add more emphasis on supporting the creator rather than changing and overriding their input altogether.

Sharing / Interactive / Social Network – everyone is able to contribute to a wiki space. Everyone is able to interact with a wiki space. Everyone is able to feel part of a social network with a common interest or goal to gain from the wiki publication.

Collaboration – a classroom wiki allows student to interact, share and be part of a joint venture that engages them in learning, whilst all being centred on a cooperative task with the one focus and outcome for all students involved.

Reference

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) Cross curriculum priority by the end of Year 3 - http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/7300.html

Friedman. A. (2006). K-12 Teachers’ Use of course Websites. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14 (4), 795-815. Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/6080

Downes. S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920