Blogs and Wikis as Instructional Technology

               Over the last week, I have been exploring blogs and wikis as instructional technologies as a tool for students within the classroom.  I was not thrilled about the idea of using wikis in the classroom due to all the issues and dangers of using them as reference or resource during projects and assignments.  As for blogs, the information provided can be more opinion than fact at times.  

               However, after taking time to research the two different technologies, I can see the value of using both of them in the classroom to help students with research and as reference material.  For example, "Wikis support collaborative learning because Wikis can enable groups of students to work together to solve a problem, complete a project etc.  Using Wikis effectively may help your students reach Bloom's higher order skills, e.g., creating, evaluation etc" (Forest, n.d.).  Blogs allow users to engage in sharing knowledge, a change to reflect on the knowledge shared, and a change to debate both sides of a topic.    

               While I think both could be of great value to the educational process, I plan to research both technologies further.  I need to not only evaluate the pros, but the cons of both technologies and the value they bring to the education process both for the students and in the classroom.  In addition, I need to find ways to help the students around the issues and dangers they can face in using either technology while preparing them to deal with any other issues they can face.