Comments on: Setting up blogs for my students ~ how was it done? http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/ Thoughts on teaching, learning, technology and life in an era of change. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:07:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Workshops, walking and unwinding in Singapore http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-600 Workshops, walking and unwinding in Singapore Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:37:41 +0000 http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-600 [...] Posterous and Plurk among others. I shared some of the wikis made by my Year Eleven students and blogs written by my Year Nine students. The participants also received Twitter greetings from acroamatic, janelowe, isaakkwok, [...] […] Posterous and Plurk among others. I shared some of the wikis made by my Year Eleven students and blogs written by my Year Nine students. The participants also received Twitter greetings from acroamatic, janelowe, isaakkwok, […]

]]> By: John Larkin http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-129 John Larkin Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:58:00 +0000 http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-129 Hi Barry<br/><br/>Thank you for your comments. Students will be able to comment on each other's posts. I am waiting for all of the students to move along with the project so that a wider variety of posts can be read and commented upon.<br/><br/>I agree with all your comments regarding wikis Barry. Wikis would be an excellent prospect with this group.<br/><br/>I experimented with wikis with an upper secondary group but we did not have the time to enrich their products. Curriculum and programming pressures. I see those students nine times a fortnight but completing the programme is still tight.<br/><br/>As well, in experimenting with wikis with that group of students I discovered that I needed to spend some time with the students to share with them the conceptual model of linking and overall design. That required time in the computer labs which was at a premium in our school at that time as it has been undergoing a major upgrade to the network.<br/><br/>With this particular blogging project I was able to illustrate the process in class via a projector and then only needed minimal lab time to get them started. The blog is like a diary so there was a strong conceptual link between an actual diary and a blog. I only see these students twice a week.<br/><br/>I shall work with wikis again when I know I can spend some valuable time with the students modelling (modeling?) how a rich and well structured wiki can be established. I guess I have high expectations regarding the look and feel of the projects. I should not allow that to get too much in the way of the student content.<br/><br/>I shall explore your students Wiki project Barry. Thank you for the link.<br/>Cheers<br/>John Hi Barry

Thank you for your comments. Students will be able to comment on each other’s posts. I am waiting for all of the students to move along with the project so that a wider variety of posts can be read and commented upon.

I agree with all your comments regarding wikis Barry. Wikis would be an excellent prospect with this group.

I experimented with wikis with an upper secondary group but we did not have the time to enrich their products. Curriculum and programming pressures. I see those students nine times a fortnight but completing the programme is still tight.

As well, in experimenting with wikis with that group of students I discovered that I needed to spend some time with the students to share with them the conceptual model of linking and overall design. That required time in the computer labs which was at a premium in our school at that time as it has been undergoing a major upgrade to the network.

With this particular blogging project I was able to illustrate the process in class via a projector and then only needed minimal lab time to get them started. The blog is like a diary so there was a strong conceptual link between an actual diary and a blog. I only see these students twice a week.

I shall work with wikis again when I know I can spend some valuable time with the students modelling (modeling?) how a rich and well structured wiki can be established. I guess I have high expectations regarding the look and feel of the projects. I should not allow that to get too much in the way of the student content.

I shall explore your students Wiki project Barry. Thank you for the link.
Cheers
John

]]> By: barryb http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-128 barryb Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:04:00 +0000 http://blog.larkin.net.au/2007/10/29/setting-up-blogs-for-my-students-how-was-it-done/#comment-128 Hi John,<br/>Do you plan to have your students respond to each other's posts with comments in a regular fashion? The reason I ask is that I'm wondering why you felt that a blogging platform was more appropriate for this project than a wiki platform. Prior to the advent of wikis, blogging was certainly one of the easiest ways to get material published on a website but nowadays I think wikis offer the same speed and ease of editing if not more than blogs. Also, blogs are organized in a more temporal fashion with posts being viewed in reverse chronological order, whereas wikis can be organized in any way the author desires with links that allow users to move between pages as in any website. My first attempt at getting students to post information was via blogs but I prefer wikis now. The project I have them working on now can be viewed at http://coasttocoast.pbwiki.com. It's a collaborative project with students from Vermont, USA. From the screen shots, it appears that at least some of your students are really producing very interesting projects. I look forward to being able to view them when completed. Hi John,
Do you plan to have your students respond to each other’s posts with comments in a regular fashion? The reason I ask is that I’m wondering why you felt that a blogging platform was more appropriate for this project than a wiki platform. Prior to the advent of wikis, blogging was certainly one of the easiest ways to get material published on a website but nowadays I think wikis offer the same speed and ease of editing if not more than blogs. Also, blogs are organized in a more temporal fashion with posts being viewed in reverse chronological order, whereas wikis can be organized in any way the author desires with links that allow users to move between pages as in any website. My first attempt at getting students to post information was via blogs but I prefer wikis now. The project I have them working on now can be viewed at http://coasttocoast.pbwiki.com. It’s a collaborative project with students from Vermont, USA. From the screen shots, it appears that at least some of your students are really producing very interesting projects. I look forward to being able to view them when completed.

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