I have been introduced to several different learning tools that will enhance online collaboration for my students. Reflecting over the different tools, they each have very valuable benefits to help student learning. Blogs are great to use as journals. I have begun to use blogs as my students journals in class. They are able to look at each others reflections and comment. The second type of collaboration I learned about was wikis. I believe this type of tool provides many benefits to students. A wiki is a collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published. (Richardson, 2006, p.8) Not only do students have the chance to post information to the site, they are able to edit the information of their classmates. Wikis offer more than just communication skills, they also offer the students a chance to improve on their writing skills. Group communication is also a positive factor when using wikis.
Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcast and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
