I found this article titled “Blogs and wikis: Environments for on-line collaboration.” It is written by Robert Godwin-Jones at Virginia Comonwealth University (VCU) and published in the journal of Language, Learning & Technology. Dr. Godwin-Jones is the chairperson of Foreign Language Department at VCU.
Dr. Godwin-Jones introduces second generation Web tools of blogs, wikis, and RSSs and talks about their use in language learning. He defines first generation Web tools as asynchronous ones like e-mails and discussion forums, and synchronous ones like chat rooms.
Then he describes and gives examples on the use of these new technologies. As he stated “Blogs are well suited to serve as on-line personal journals for students, particularly since they normally enable uploading and linking of files. Language learners could use a personal blog, linked to a course, as an electronic portfolio, showing development over time. By publishing the blog on the Internet, the student has the possibility of writing for readers beyond classmates, not usually possible in discussion forums.” (p. 2).
On the other RSS (really simple syndication) “supplies rich meta-data about Web-based resources, which can then be automatically retrieved and cataloged by RSS software, such as amphetaDesk or NetNewsWire, usually described as news readers or news aggregators.” (p. 3).Wikis (WikiWikliWeb – wiki wiki is Hawaiian for “quick”) are other online collaboration tools and “they feature a loosely structured set of pages, linked in multiple ways to each other and to Internet resources and an open-editing system in which anyone can edit any page (by clicking on the "edit this page" button).” (p. 3).
At the end Dr. Godwin-Jones finishes with a list of Web resource list for computer-mediated communication, chat and discussion forums, blogs, RSS, and wikis.
Reference: Godwin-Jones, R. (2003).Blogs and wikis: Environments for on-line collaboration. Language, Learning & Technology, 7(2), 12-17.
Here is my discussion provoker question: Do you think these technologies provide collaborative environments? And how are they different than online discussion groups or chat rooms?
