Why Blog or Wiki?

Electronic Communications Correlations to
Research Based Effective Teaching Practices

• Blogs and wikis allow for an authentic audience. (Correlates to Effective Teaching Strategy: Engagement)
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  Blogs and Wikis allow for collaboration. (Correlates to Effective Teaching Strategy: Engagement) Collaboration is also research based (Marzanos, 2001)
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  Blogs and wikis allow for the strengthening of literacy (Correlates to Effective Teaching Strategy: Writing Across the Curriculum)
  

"Generous amounts of reading, writing and argument are essential to the
development of truly literate and educated students” --Schmoker, 2006 http://mikeschomker.com/write-more.html

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  Blogs and wikis can be used as a formative assessment by the teacher when a scoring guide has been prepared. (Making Standards Work, Common Formative Assessments)
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  Blogs and wikis give students a voice. (Correlates to Effective Teaching Strategy: Engagement and Differentiation)
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  Blogs and wikis could activate the learner through anticipation guides created by the instructor.
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  Blogs and wikis could further student use of non-linguistic representations and concept attainment (Effective Teaching Strategy: Engagement) (Marzanos)

Using blogs and wikis helps us support NCTE’s definition of 21st Century Literacies, which was adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee , February 15, 2008.
Twenty-first century readers and writers need to:

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  Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
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  Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
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  Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
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  Manage, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
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  Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.