The document discusses the advantages of using blogs and wikis in communication skills classes for engineering students. It outlines how blogs and wikis can promote student engagement, ownership over learning, and collaboration. They allow students to publish work, receive peer feedback, and develop critical thinking and writing skills. The teacher's role is to help students communicate, collaborate, and gain experience addressing practical, legal and ethical issues when creating online content.

1. Gurleen Ahluwalia Lecturer in Communication Skills BBSBEC, Fatehgarh Sahib Punjab

2. Technology has the potential to address a variety of students’ learning styles and academic needs simultaneously and seamlessly . promotes integrative motivation Increases involvement own sense of ownership reduces the boredom

3. An online journal or diary. Simple web publishing Chronological presentation Shared or individual Support comments

4. Blogger http:// www.blogger.com Edublogs http:// www.edublogs.org Live Journal http:// www.livejournal.com

5. Instant publishing to the Net Empowering – gives students a voice Comment features allows interaction/peer review Promotes ownership of work Promotes reflection on teaching and learning Creating an e-portfolio of student’s work (Contd…) Advantages of Blogging

6. Used for brainstorming, storytelling and generating discussions Promotes writing and reading habits Builds community Encourage shy students to participate Developing critical skills Offers worldwide readership. Advantages of Blogging (….contd)

7. Popularity of Blogs

8. Writing Video Reviews Digital Storytelling Discussion Forums My Personal Diary Blogs in communication Skills class of Engineering Students

9. Teacher’s Role in a Classroom Blog

10. Wiki • A website (non-linear, hyperlinked) Collaboration – collaborative public writing tool • Community of users construct knowledge – Edit, delete or modify content – Ongoing collective work of many authors • Students “own” their learning experience

11. Links to FREE WIKI Services www.wikispaces.com http://pbwiki.com

12. Example of WIKI Wikipedia: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

13. Wikis in communication Skills class of Engineering Students. Modular Project Reports. Survey Reports

14. Wikis... maximize interplay are democratic work in real time are text-based permit public document construction or distributed authorship promote negotiation permit collaborative document editing work on volunteer collaboration

15. WIKIS CONVENTIONAL WEB PAGES Open-editing Limited editing Simple text formatting language Conventional HTML Earlier versions stored in online data-base Earlier versions not automatically stored Easy to create new pages Harder to create new pages Low security Higher security Equal User Roles Hierarchical user Roles Multiple Anonymous Authorship Limited know Authorship Communal, Collaborative Individual Pages considered always in process Pages considered finished Informal, human Voice Formal

16. • Help students to communicate & collaborate • Motivate students to participate • Provide opportunities to read & write • Postings can be created by students any time, any place . Own sense of ownership Get experience with practical, legal and ethical issues of creating a hypertext document.

17. BLOGS WIKIS Usually single author Usually many authors Reverse Chronologically Structure determined by content and users Usually Personal Usually Objective External Links Internal and External links Used in brainstorming or generating discussion Used in group projects Comments on the existing information Easily modifiable

18. Motivating teachers to use technology. Investments in teacher training. Faculty development Programs. Regular technology Conferences and Workshops.

19. Thanks