This fall has been my first introduction to posting blogs.  I have not taken full advantage of the possibilities mainly because I just feel too busy to take the time to do much reflection. My blogs are pretty much the same--a comment and a link.  I don't think anyone of them stands out from the others in any of the categories: professionalism, design, or creativity. I hate to be so noncommittal, but I really think they are all pretty much the same in quality. Here is a website that I should read that  may help me when trying to blog.  

I have never set up a Wiki, but after reading these two chapters I feel like I should.  I think that a Wiki could be very beneficial for my environmental studies class.  We do not have a text and I like the idea of creating a Wiki text.  Two of the topics that we cover would lend themselves very well to a class Wiki text.  The two topics are biodiversity and energy resources.  These are two topics where a multimedia text could add so much to the students understanding of the topics.  The other advantage to a class Wiki is that these are two moving target topics with new developments constantly making the news.  

In my biology class I would like to set up a Wiki on bioethics.  This is a topic with lots of new developments.  I think students could become very engaged in discussing these controversial topics.  I found this site that allows free Wikis for educators.  The Beech chapter on Wikis suggesed this site.  I may start here and try to set one up.  

Some of the challenges to having students engage in collaborative writing is to get them comfortable with the idea of sharing ideas and doing revisions of their work. I really like the Bledsoe article.  I especially like the way she explained how she modeled the collaborative process with the whole class.  

Digital Storytelling

I enjoyed the multimedia assignment that we did in class last week.  It was fun to collaborate on the assignment.  I feel that I am more creative when I interact and work on a project in a group.  I also enjoyed seeing the other groups contributions to the final product.  

After having read Lisa Miller's chapter on Digital Storytelling, I am feeling better about my daughter's major in visual media and communication.  Stephanie is studying film making in Prague this semester and is learning many of the skills that Miller talks about in the chapter.  I can see now how valuable these skills can be in the work place.  I am excited to think about making my own digital story.  I am just worried that I lack the technical skills to pull off a good product.  I am going to put a link here to the site I  read about on Mary's blog.  Daniel Meadow's site has some great examples of digital storytelling.