Gurleen AhluwaliaLecturer in Communication Skills

BBSBEC, Fatehgarh SahibPunjab

Technology has the potential to address a variety of students’ learning styles and academic needs simultaneously and seamlessly .

•promotes integrative motivation•Increases involvement•own sense of ownership•reduces the boredom

•An online journal or diary.

•Simple web publishing

•Chronological presentation

•Shared or individual

•Support comments

Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com

Edublogshttp://www.edublogs.org

Live Journalhttp://www.livejournal.com

 Instant publishing to the Net Empowering – gives students a voice Comment features allows interaction/peer review Promotes ownership of work Promotes reflection on teaching and learning Creating an e-portfolio of student’s work 

(Contd…)

Advantages of BloggingAdvantages of Blogging

  Used for brainstorming, storytelling and generating discussions

Promotes writing and reading habits

Builds community

Encourage shy students to participate

Developing critical skills

Offers worldwide readership.

Advantages of Blogging (….contd)Advantages of Blogging (….contd)

Popularity of Blogs

• Writing Video Reviews

• Digital Storytelling

• Discussion Forums

• My Personal Diary

Blogs in communication Skills class of Engineering Students

Teacher’s Role in a Classroom Blog

Wiki

•A website (non-linear, hyperlinked)

• Collaboration – collaborative public writing tool

• Community of users construct knowledge – Edit, delete or modify content – Ongoing collective work of many authors

• Students “own” their learning experience

Links to FREE WIKI Services

www.wikispaces.com

http://pbwiki.com

Example of WIKI Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Wikis in communication Skills class of Engineering Students.

•Modular Project Reports.

•Survey Reports

Wikis... •maximize interplay

•are democratic

•work in real time

•are text-based

•permit public document construction or

distributed authorship

•promote negotiation

•permit collaborative document editing

•work on volunteer collaboration

WIKIS CONVENTIONAL WEB PAGES

Open-editing Limited editing

Simple text formatting language

Conventional HTML

Earlier versions stored in online data-base

Earlier versions not automatically stored

Easy to create new pages

Harder to create new pages

Low security Higher security

Equal User Roles Hierarchical user Roles

Multiple Anonymous Authorship

Limited know Authorship

Communal, Collaborative

Individual

Pages considered always in process

Pages considered finished

Informal, human Voice Formal

• Help students to communicate & collaborate

• Motivate students to participate

• Provide opportunities to read & write

• Postings can be created by students any time, any place

•. Own sense of ownership

•Get experience with practical, legal and ethical issues of creating a hypertext document.

 BLOGS WIKIS

Usually single author Usually many authors

Reverse Chronologically Structure determined by content and users

Usually Personal Usually Objective

External Links Internal and External links

Used in brainstorming or generating discussion

Used in group projects

Comments on the existing information

Easily modifiable

•Motivating teachers to use technology.

•Investments in teacher training.

•Faculty development Programs.

•Regular technology Conferences and Workshops.

Thanks