Dec. 1 questions

1.       When students are studying various topics one very useful tool is for them to work with primary sources. It is the job of the teacher to provide students with the opportunity to work with these primary sources and accessibility to them. When students are able to work with primary sources and gain a firsthand account of events they gain a closer understanding of what happened. The information is more meaningful to them when they see it comes from someone who experienced it. The NARA is currently compiling a huge database of primary sources for teachers to be able to use with their students. Teachers need to make sure students are able to use the sources appropriately including understanding the perspective of the primary source

2.      Blogs, Wikis, and web-based word processors all use technology as a means to communicate and collaborate but each is used with a different purpose. Blogs are a way for many people to communicate through a central location. You could have one person blogging and others commenting or you can have an open blog for many people. Blogs allow for lots of discussion and let’s people share their ideas. One way a blog could be used in the classroom is for Literature Circles. Students can use the blog as a safe way to discuss the book and a teacher would be able to see all the discussions and who is participating. The great thing about using a blog for literature circles is that you could open the door for students to start a literature circle with students from another school or grade level in your school. The discussion wouldn’t have to be confined to the classroom. While wiki’s also allow for people to post their ideas there is usually less of a discussion element to a wiki. Within the classroom a wiki could be used as a class newsletter. Because it can be added to and edited by many students the newsletter could become a living document where students could update it daily and parents would be able to see what was happening in the classroom immediately. Students would have to work together and collaborate to create one document that everyone was able to work on. Another way for many students to work on one project is using web-based word processors like Google docs. I think this would be a great resource for students in older grades who are working on projects or papers together. Students are able to log in and add to the document whenever they want and each time the document is edited the whole group gets an email. Students would be able to edit and change things without having to re-create the document each time and find time to get together.