Wikis and Blogs in the 21st Century Science Classroom

In an ever growing dependence on social learning on the web, students are needing more experiences in the classroom with 2.0 technology to develop the necessary skills to be successful. Wikis and blogs can be two useful tools to accomplish this goal in the 21st century science classroom.

Blogs are simply online journals or diaries that post entries in reverse chronological order. Blogs could be used by students or teachers. Teachers could start by posting their own blogs and having students comment on the blog. OR, students could create their own blogs to share insights gained from classroom activities, results of experiments, relevance of content to real world or current scientific events. Blogs could be used as learning tools or assessment tools.

Wikis are more interactive than blogs. Wiki pages are pages that give the author more freedom and choice to decide the page's purpose. For example, wiki pages could become a center for social networking between groups in a class or classes outside the school district. The wikis could be used for learning tools as well as assessment tools. The following is a list of ways wikis could be used:

• Students posting research to be shared within a group or with other groups
• Students discussing experimental results and conclusions
• Students posting discussion comments about classroom content
• Group collaboration on some activity
• Students obtain resources posted by the teacher
• Parents obtaining information from what is being taught and learned in class

One of the great benefits of using blogs and wikis is that both are user-friendly. Most sites are free and provide tutorials for easy setup and use. Furthermore, research is showing that student participation in wikis and blogs is increasing classroom participation. Wikis and blogs will provide the opportunities students need to develop 2.0 literacy in today's classroom!