Blogs, Wikis, and Webpages: What's the Difference?

Blogs, wikis, and webpage sites like google or weebly are all excellent resources that teachers can utilize, but each are good for different things. Blogs are a great resource for sharing information with fellow colleges. Blogs are most useful when they are updated on a regular basis because then other individuals will check your blog frequently for new information. Blogs are written by one person, and other people may leave comments on the information that you have posted. They become almost a source of dialogue between the initial blogger and fellow people in the blogosphere. Blogs can be a platform for discussing issues and for sharing information between your network of friends and collegues. I use blogging to find out good sources of technology that I can use in the classroom and also to read about good teaching practices that I might want to implement in the field.

Wikis are a little bit different because it is not simply the creator who posts information and everyone else comments on the information that they posted. Instead, anyone that the creator has authorized to do so can edit the site and add their own information. Therefore wikis would be a great place to have a class website because you could post things like the snack calendar and parents could edit that calendar to tell you when they are planning to bring snack for the class. You could also post good educational websites for children, and parents could add websites to your list as they found them. On wikis, you are all working together to effectively construct a space with useful information. Wikis could also be helpful when working on group projects. One person could post a draft of the project, and all other members of the group would have a chance to look over the project and edit it before it was turned in to the teacher.

Sites like Google and Weebly are great for portfolios because other people are not able to edit these sites. They are simply a platform for displaying information. You would use these tools to create websites where your intention is for the public to view the site but not necessary participate in the process of creating or improving the site. For an online portfolio, you would want an employer to view all of the information that you posted. However, you would have no need for an employer to comment on your Google site because they will ask you any questions that they have during an interview.

Therefore, blogs, websites, and wikis are all great resources that teachers should utilize. However, which form of technology you choose to use will depend upon what your intended purpose for your audience will be.