I’ve summarized the difference between blogs and wikis in education in this document.

Below are some of the highlights:

Why blogs are beneficial for student achievement and learning?

Blogs provide an informal way for students to think about a topic or subject and express their opinion (like a free-write or a journal entry).  It allows students to comment about topics casually without worrying about perfect syntax or grammar.  This type of reflection is helpful and useful for later composition of an essay.

As a teacher, you can see the development of students’ thinking about a topic over time and make accommodations to your lesson plans to address areas of misunderstanding and confusion.  Blogs also allow students to associate links, images and visuals with their writing with a simple click (a limitation of a normal journal).  All posts are archived for a running record of student progress in writing and critical thinking.

Possible Applications for the Classroom:

* Students can blog about class topics or books they are reading in class and teachers can assess comprehension and create a dialog.

* Students can follow a current event topic over number of weeks and blog about it on a weekly basis and link their response to news articles.  At the end of the period, students would have an ongoing discussion of the content and a list of sources for generating a larger research paper.

* Teachers can blog about learning experiences in the classroom or topics of interest related to education.

How wikis are useful for student achievement and learning?

Students become collaborators and creators of an online resource of information.  This information can then benefit the whole group of class, including future students and educators who might access the resource.  Students learn to write informatively and objectively about topics for specific audiences.  Future classes can utilize the content in their own learning and edit it for future students.

A wiki is useful, not only to its initial creators, but to all the people who can benefit from the information in future years. Wikis have a clean and simple format, the ability to have multiple editors, and the flexibility for adding or editing content over time, making it an ideal choice for some projects and assignments.

Possible Applications for the Classroom:

* Students can create a wiki about the school or community they live in.  Unique topics are valuable because it requires original writing and thought since they cannot find information existing elsewhere.

* Students can create a wiki about unexplored or ever-changing topics (like comparison of government systems between different nations, the theme of survival in multiple pieces of literature or frequently asked questions about an emerging career or technology).

* Some classes (like AP Classes and science bowls/decathlon teams) have to cover a large quantity of information each year.  Wikis can allow your classes to continually build on the content from previous classes in one online location.

* Teachers can create a wiki about a club or program (Debate Team / Leadership) or a major test (CAHSEE or AP Government) or a complicated procedure (video editing or web design).

* Teachers can use a wiki for collaborating on interdisciplinary lessons or projects.