What is the difference between a blog and a wiki?
BlogUsually a blog is "owned" by an individual and they update it daily, weekly or on a regular basis, whenever the author wishes to.
A blog is usually one person's experience or opinion, followed optionally by comments
A blog is a web site that maintains ongoing posts, is frequently updated like a diary or journal.
A blog consists of commentary which links to articles and other websites.
Wiki
A wiki is a platform contributed to by many people pooling information and as such is not normally just one person's opinion or experiences. The posts are more like articles, and the articles are built up by numerous people coming to a consensus - meaning is built in this way by more than one person.
A wiki can host a blog but not vice versa. So if in the process of building consensus articles containing information and research, opinions are expressed, they are usually discussed on a separate discussion page, or within a blog hosted by the wiki.
A wiki allows multiple users to create, modify and organise web page content in a collaborative manner
What does this all mean for teaching and learning?
This is something that can be discussed here. I am thinking along these lines:A blog is something a teacher can create to document activities in class, and invite students to comment only.
A blog can also be created by students with the help of their teacher, to tell their own stories about their learning journeys, their progress and topics that lend themselves to journalling by individuals.
Blogs could be seen to provide students with that "learner-directed" aspect of teaching that we are advised is good teaching practice. It allows the learner to develop his or her own identity as a learner, a trainee or an apprentice entering an industry area. In this sense it is "learner-centred," another feature of good teaching.
Blogs can be used by teachers to document their teaching practice, share ideas with colleagues and track progress in new technology or other aspects of delivery.
A wiki could be used by a group of students to work collaboratively on a project or some research. It facilitates the collaborative aspect of ideal teaching practice. It allows students to build their knowledge through their own efforts and through discussion and collaboration with others.
A wiki can also be used by teachers to collaborate with each other and share research and information.
Here are some links to Blog and Wiki sites and other sites discussing these tools
Blogger - a popular blogging siteEdublogs - a blog site that is dedicated to educational purposes
WordPress - another popular blogging site
Tumblr - a photoblogging site with a strong social networking aspect
Posterous - a microblogging service
There are many others out there, it is a question of trying some and deciding which one suits you and your students/trainees. If you put "blog sites" into a search engine you will get many results which set out the "10 best" or some other number of best blog sites, which makes the job of finding and choosing a little easier.
Flexible Learning Framework page on Blogs - for examples and everything about blogs - however the site is no longer properly maintained so some of their links and resources may be out of date.
Flexible Learning Framework page on Wikis - for examples and everything about wikis - warning as above.
University of Tasmania's site on Teaching and Learning, page on blogs and wikis - fantastic freely available site with everything about best practice for teaching.
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