Uses+and+benefits+of+blogs+and+wikis

Uses: communication, self expression, self marketing, campaigning, social reform, community building, customer service, experience tracking, interactive journalism, knowledge sharing. Benefits: ideas are evaluated on merit not source, work is filtered through other blogs and comments, availability for debates, any idea can be expressed, discussions and debates happen right away, availability to add links in blogs, global communication, develop writing skills.
 * Blogs:**

Examples of Blogs: Blogger [|http://www.blogger.com] LiveJournal [|http://www.livejournal.com]

Uses: allows users to freely create and edit Web page content, not meant for communication like blogs. Benefits: If users find information that is incorrect they can change it to correct information and people can add to the list of information.
 * Wikis:**

Examples of Wikis: Wikipedia [|http://www.wikipedia.org] Wikispaces [|http://www.wikispaces.org] PBWiki (Password Protected) [|http://pbwiki.com]

Blogs and Wikis are both a very good tool to use in the classrooms. Both involve the sharing of ideas and can be used for educational purposes. When students are able to use techonology to answer a question or complete an assignment it becomes a bit simpler. When they are able to colaborate ideas with other students through a wiki or a blog they are strengthening reasoning skills and working in groups.

Blogs and Wikis are useful tools in the classroom for many reasons. They both let the class use technology and can see eachothers viewpoints and allow the students if needed to work in a group. The students can work in a group through technology and can see what the others think about what went on in the classroom or what is being studied at the time.