Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts Help Fifth Graders Learn and Go Green

Who: Moss Bluff Elementary – Calcasieu Parish School System What: Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts

Objective: Incorporate Web 2.0 technologies into daily and weekly lessons in ways that help students to master higher order thinking while encouraging them to become personally involved in the exploration, dissemination, and teaching of the material among their fellow classmates. Because much of the learning is online and therefore paper-free, the students also learn about another set of important 3 Rs – reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Process: Fifth grade English Language Arts students accessed Campus Pack blogs and wikis from their classroom as well as from home to complete assignments involving Internet research and report and responsive writing. Using these Web 2.0 technologies, they were able to interact and work cooperatively with fellow classmates, offering insights and suggestions for improvement as well as encouragement when fellow students appeared to be struggling with the material. Recording podcasts allowed students to show their personality and knowledge about specific topics while creating an auditory study tool that could be shared at home. Songs and helpful hints and rhymes were also downloaded to podcasts to help in the mastery of particular lessons.

Results: The wikis, blogs, and podcasts were instrumental in encouraging student success on several levels. The students themselves were adept Campus Pack users and willingly stepped in to help fellow classmates in mastering the technologies. Their role as “teacher” was also apparent as they commented on each other’s online entries, frequently serving as motivators and challengers in their quest for reaching beyond the status quo. For certain students, using these already familiar social media tools provided the vehicles they needed to more fully participate in class and exceed expectations in both comprehension and performance.