Research

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 * __Blogs__**

This article discusses the benefits to blogging in a 21st century classroom by highlighting the benefits of student blogs, how to get started with classroom blogs, and safety precautions that need to be taken. The author, Lorrie Jackson provides several links to popular blogging websites, software, and real elementary class blogs as well. This article is a resource for teachers who are interested in becoming the administer of a class blog but do not know where to start. It provides additional resources and support to get started on classroom blogs, along with important reminders about online safety for children.

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In this article, Brenda Dyck discusses her journey of implementing a blog in her classroom. This article includes an example of teacher feedback with an actual blog entry written by a student, guidance with how to assess students blog entries, and resources to implement a blog in a classroom. Dyck, gives insight on how to grade a blog by developing a rubric that is described as a body of evidence of student work (2012). There is a link to examples of rubrics used grading student written blogs. The linked rubrics also contain examples or anchors of student blogs and the grades earned.

Dyck, B. (2012, February 29). Log On to a Blog. Retrieved from website: []

Jackson, L. (2012, February 28). Blogging?It's Elementary, My Dear Watson. Retrieved from website: []

Wiki Technology and the Return to Rigor Learning with Blogs and Wikis
 * __Wikis__**

In the first article, Roe (2010) argues that instead of embracing and utilizing the tools of the 21st century in classrooms, teachers have been asked to respond to the requirements of the //No Child Left Behind Act//, which has lead to a lot of test preparation and drilling. As a result, Roe (2010) says, students have become less skilled in synthesizing and applying information--two crucial 21st century skills--and in a 2009 exam administered by the Programme for International Student Assessment, "U.S. students performed 35th out of 56 nations participating" (p. 20). Roe (2010) believes that so-called Web 2.0 tools such as wikis give educators a tremendous opportunity to enable teaching and learning that leads to better collaboration, improved critical thinking skills, improved analyzing skills, and improved agility and adaptability. He notes that wikis can not only aid with professional collaboration but can be evidence for progress for accreditation requirements as staff members learn and contribute to the professional conversation and materials on the wiki. For students, Roe (2010) points out the possibilities for peer collaboration and student portfolios, and he adds that wikis offer increased instructional time for students as they are able to read updates on the wiki and respond outside of class time.

In the second article, Ferriter (2009) points out what he believes is the widely held notion of the ineffectiveness of staff development. He cites examples of teachers who believe that most staff development has little to do with what they are doing in their classrooms. In response, Ferriter (2009) highlights the possibilities of blogs and wikis for professional development. He recommends several educational blogs for teachers and other educators and suggests that they start reading more about issues of importance to their classes. He also encourages teachers to begin to share their own knowledge, expertise and questions about best practices in blogs or wikis that they create themselves. He essentially advocates the use of a blog or wiki to support staff collaboration or professional learning communities. Finally, Ferriter (2009) notes the use of these two tools in the classroom and discusses his own use of wikis and blogs with his students. He believes that by using these tools his students are learning to "create, communicate, and collaborate--and to manage and evaluate information found online" (Ferriter, 2009, p. 38). He points out that these skills are essential for this generation who will be working for companies that "encourage digital collaboration across borders, primarily because they recognize that the human capital beyond an organization will always be greater than the human capital within" (Ferriter, 2009, p. 38).

References:

Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with Blogs and Wikis. //Educational Leadership//, //66//(5), 34-38.

Roe, M. (2010). W IKI TECHNOLOGY and the return to rigor. //Leadership//, //39//(3), 20-22.

__**Museum Box**__

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There are many blogs listing the benefits of using Museum Box in the classroom. For example, Susan Riley posted her thoughts about using Museum Box on the site Education Closet. In her post, Riley explains how students are part of the digital age, which has its benefits, but she feels that technology has also encouraged students to work quickly and carelessly instead of taking their time to read and think about the information they are reading (Riley, 2012). She also explains how this activity has the potential for getting students to examine information closely and think critically so that their boxes display "relevant and purposeful information" "which will allow them to synthesize it and formulate their own opinions" (Riley, 2012) about the topic. Lastly, Riley notes that professionals, such as archeologists and artists, use similar thinking and techniques in their work which can help teachers connect this activity to the real world (Riley, 2012).

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On the award-winning blog, kleinspiration.com, Erin Klein posted her views about Museum Box. She explained how she came across Museum Box and brainstormed, with a colleague, how to use this source in their middle school classroom (Klein, 2011). Ideas are given for a variety of subjects ranging from a way for a student to introduce themselves to demonstrating understanding of the Properties of Addition (Klein, 2011). There are also links on Klein's blog to examples of Museum Box being used in real classrooms (Klein, 2011). Lastly, she shares an idea for students to upload their own audio files as a podcast to help them explain their cubes and thoughts (Klein, 2011) which would integrate another type of technology with this activity.

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Museum Box is also featured on the website teachinghistory.org in an article written by David Peal (Peal, 2012). On this site, Peal explains the events that inspired the creation of Museum Box. He explains how students can gather digitized primary sources to document different parts of history (Peal, 2012). Additionally, Peal explains how to get started using the site and emphasizes that the site is secure, meaning a student's personal information is not posted and boxes must be approved by the teacher before they are uploaded to the gallery (Peal, 2012). Peal also points out that Museum Box provides more structure and organization than other online organization tools, such as Glogster (Peal, 2012) which some students may need, allowing for differentiation. He also provides other ways to differentiate using Museum Box and ends his article with the benefit that " Unlike traditional projects, Museum Boxes will never go out with the trash. They can become part of a student’s portfolio" (Peal, 2012).

Klein, E. (2011, February 20). Museum box: Not just for social studies. Retrieved from Kleinspiration website: http://www.kleinspiration.com/2011/02/museum-box-not-just-for-social-studies.html

Peal, D. (2012, March 10). Museum box. Retrieved from teachinghistory.org website: http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/25297

Riley, S. (2012, February 9). Museum box for the classroom. Retrieved from Education Closet website: http://educationcloset.com/2012/02/09/museum-box-for-the-classroom/

__**Glogster**__ There are many documented uses and benefits of using Glogsters. When Glogsters are used in the classroom, they can provide valuable learning opportunities for students. “Glogsters help to keep student interest.”(Warrick, 2009) When students use Glogsters, they are involved in creating a project that appeals to their creativity while they are learning. Students should also be exposed to many collaboration activities as well as listening and writing activities. Glogsters provide opportunities for this type of learning to take place. According to Klein and Shinas, This tool can be used to strengthen literacy skills by providing students with opportunities to integrate video, images, text, and audio to present unified messages. (2012)

Klein, R & Shinas, V. (2012) Using Glogster to Support Multimodal Literacy []

Warrick, D. (2009)Using Glogster in the Classroom []