Week 3 – Battle of ‘Blog’ vs. ‘Wiki’ vs. ‘Website’

I paid the course fee this week (I am not eligible for HECS…) so I can no longer withdraw from the GDLT course nor drop a subject. I just have to keep going… going… going…..

One of the best things about being a student for pre-service teacher is that we could somehow relate to “studies = suffering”. Luckily, with huge thanks to all the fantastic lecturers in this course (!!), I enjoy the leanings that I am undertaking. Why?  Simply because it is interesting.

So I ask myself, as a pre-service teacher, how I would engage my students. Let them enjoy, have fun, have a go, encourage them to make mistakes and let them relate the subject/topic to their real world.

I was a visitor at a local kindergarten this morning to introduce Japanese words and culture. There was a boy who was just NOT interested in joining activities such as book reading and singing. I tried but no luck. Then I showed them a very traditional Japanese folk tale on an interactive white board. The whole time, this boy had his eyes on the board and he even had a smile on his face as he watched it.  I presented a very similar session last year and didn’t even think of using the interactive white board. I applied my leaning to the real experience and I confirmed that it does work!

This week, we have discussed pros and cons of blogs, wikis and website. I am going to summarise my thoughts by using the PMI analysis – describe “Plus”," "Minus," and "Interesting” for each tool.

<<BLOG>>

Firstly, did you know where the word “Blog” came from? I didn’t….

‘A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’ ( http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/02/05/what-is-a-blog/)

PLUS	MINUS	INTERESTING
Quick to update	Requires frequent updates otherwise reduce traffic	Parents can participate by leaving comments
Easy to create	Receive inappropriate posts	Ability to share posts and comments on global level
Capability to control the audience	Retrieval of archived articles are not easy
Interactive – readers can leave comments	Cyber bullying
Currency, “reverse chronological order”	To keep the level of interest to the blog, authors need to provide feedback on comments regularly
Ability to cater different topics easily
RSS users can subscribe to a feed so they can access to new posts

 <<Wiki>>

Did you know? - Wikipedia is a portmanteau word combining wiki, which means "quick" in Hawaiian, and encyclopaedia.

PLUS	MINUS	INTERESTING
Interactive	Users can overwrite others’ changes	Parents can participate in activities
Wider participation	Vandalism	Flexible
Ability to allow different types of permission to different users	Information may be incorrect.	Ability to collaborate on global level
Great way to collaborate	Not many are familiar with this tool!!!	Create class’ own encyclopaedia
Create, edit and share information	Cyber bullying
Edit it as information change

 <<Website>>

PLUS	MINUS	INTERESTING
Static	Discussions are limited	Good teaching content and format can be used repeatedly
Authors have total control	potential of improvement is limited only to the author
Extensive use of navigation tool bar	Time consuming for the author to setup and maintain
Ability to choose language
Secure link to monetary transfer
Global audience

As a LOTE teacher, I could see so many possibilities of using ICT.  LOTE is not only about teaching another language, but also has equal emphasis on learning and appreciation of other culture;

The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) states that by studying another language, students:

·         gain access to other peoples, ideas and ways of thinking

·         become interested in and respectful of other cultures

·         develop social and cognitive skills that will help them in other areas of the curriculum

·         improve future employment and economic opportunities.

(source: http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/area/lote/index.html)

I would use Website to provide factual information about language, people, culture etc. It may take time to create but it is a great way to provide students static information and language lessons. It can be used repeatedly over time.

I would like to create a global platform for students to learn LOTE. Why not create a blog where students can exchange/share their thoughts across the world?

With Wiki, students create their own encyclopaedia where they store their knowledge regarding culture, traditions and words. It would be a great way to collaborate their learning.

I believe that, with effective use of ICT and for LOTE in particular, we can maximise the learning opportunities for students. It is much more global and no longer “chalk & talk”!!