Wiki'ing+and+blogging

__**Is this the future?**__ **“Young people’s familiarity with ICT offers a great opportunity to language teachers. It seems to us that a determined commitment to use this world, which is so familiar to young people, is a key to increasing the engagement of young people of all ages with languages. New technologies can facilitate real contacts with schools and young people in other countries. They can also provide stimulus for creative and interactive work//.”//** **(Lord Dearing - Languages Review March 2007)**

**~** __How can we use a blog or wiki? __  •   Sharing good ideas and resources.   •  Raising awareness of MFL across the school (and beyond!)   •  Online diaries of school trips and exchanges.   •  Getting students to assess each other’s work.   •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Broadcasting podcasts and mp3s

__<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What’s so good about blogging and wiki’ing? __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •   <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">Creativity and global citizenship. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">It’s not new for pupils who use Bebo/MySpace/Facebook. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">Helps subject to be more relevant to kids. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">It’s quite simple to use. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">Writing for a purpose (real audience) increases standards at all levels - it’s real communication. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">Allows for peer assessment through comments in a safe environment - electronic form of assessment for learning. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">

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__<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Using a wiki to get students working together __ <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A ‘wiki’ is a simple to use website that allows users to create their own entries, which can then be edited and changed by other users. This is a wiki. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In MFL we can use ‘wikis’ to get students to create, share, correct and discuss their work with each other in a secure and personalised environment <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> ~

<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In MFL we can use ‘wikis’ to get students to create, share, correct and discuss their work with each other in a secure and personalised environment <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyone can add, edit, or delete a page. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Users control the design and organisation of the wiki. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On most wikis, what you write is more important than how it looks.

__Wiki as a Collaboration tool__ <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Students like the ability to collaborate. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The wiki facilitates, but doesn’t //teach// collaboration skills - the students need time to get used to the idea! <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Students need help organising collaborative writing projects. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wiki management is ideally controlled by the students, but monitored by the teachers. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Students need to develop wiki-skills - but it is a great way to aid independent study. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> •  <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The “history” and “recent changes” tools can help with assessing participation <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif';">