CEP- Issues in Educational Technology

Up until recently I had never even thought of using a blog or a wiki for myself, let alone in my own classroom. This semester I am taking this class and TE 448 and both classes have opened up my eyes to new technologies that I was not aware of. In my TE class, my professor uses a wiki for a large part of my class. We have to do numerous things on our class wiki such as post discussion questions about the literature that we read and we have to answer our fellow student’s questions. Also we post our weekly papers on the website so we can learn from each other and see how everyone views the story. It is only the second week of class and I have already benefited from using this website. I think that using blogs and or wikis in a classroom has many benefits and advantages for the students. It is nice to go home and see what you did in class and what is due online instead of having to write it all down. I think that it allows the students to learn in a different environment rather than the classroom. Children these days are very used to technology, they grow up with it, and kids are getting cell phones and computers at a younger age. I think that providing an environment for students outside of the classroom where they can learn through something they are very comfortable with will benefit the students. Also it gives students the opportunity to communicate with their fellow classmates through an online setting. I would require students to go online and comment about the literature that they read for my class and I would also require other students to respond to them. This way the members of my class would be able to communicate with each other and also to others in different classes. Also if a student is on the shy side and feels pressured to speak in front of a large group of people, they have the option to discuss about the topics on the internet. Although I think that students will mostly benefit from blogs in the classroom I feel as if some students may not. Because I would post what we did in class that day and certain discussions and assignments that we have I believe some students may see the website as an easy way out. They may think that they don’t have to pay attention during class and don’t have to participate in discussions because they will be posted online for them to see later that day. Also some students may continually miss classes consistently because they know that everything is available on the internet. I believe that there are many advantages from online blogs in classrooms and I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I think that it is a great way for students to learn out side the classroom and it opens their eyes to different technologies.