This document discusses different ways that teachers can communicate and collaborate using technology, including teacher websites, blogs, and wikis. Teacher websites are used to share information with students and families, while blogs allow teachers to engage students with questions and updates. Wikis facilitate collaborative learning as students and teachers work together to investigate topics. While these tools provide opportunities for connection, teachers must monitor student contributions to ensure they are appropriate. Overall, digital platforms give teachers new methods for interacting with students beyond traditional school hours and promoting meaningful learning.

1. Communicating and networking with websites, blogs, wikis, and More IT371: Hannah Belton, Linzi Hu, Hui Yang

3. Teacher Websites The information is normally about the teacher, what will be going on in the class and other important information. You can publish students work on the website for everyone to see.

4. Teacher Websites Designed by teachers to communicate important information to the students in their classroom, family members, school and colleagues.

5. Teacher Blogs Are intended to catch the interest of the students while informing families and colleagues about the classroom work and events. Also you can learn anytime anywhere with the access to the internet.

6. Teacher Blogs As a teacher you can post on a blog how often you like. You could post questionsto your students or information to their family. This can be updated weekly, monthly or do it every time you have a new group of students.

7. Websites and blogs are emerging as one of the most important ways for teachers to communicate with students, families and colleagues. There are three basic types of education-related blogs: 1) “official face” blogs, 2) single-purpose blogs, 3) active learning blogs. Teachers have three options for creating their own websites or blog: 1) a do-it-yourself option, 2) a commercially available option, 3) an open source option.

8. Teacher Wikis Wikis are designed for collective writing and editing so this involves higher levels of collaboration and interaction among the students. You could make a wiki as a group project where students work together to gather information about a topic and then they form a wiki. This is called collaborative learning environments.

9. Teacher Wikis Be careful of students writing inappropriate or plagiarized comments. Be sure to always view what students post before it is published.

10. Wikis are Web Pages that are created and maintained by multiple computer users. In schools, wikis enable collaborative learning environments where teachers and students work together to investigate topics and share information. A wikitext is a book or booklet that teachers and students create together as part of a class study of a topic.

11. And More … (E-mail) Many teachers use E-mail as a way to communicate with students, families, and professional colleagues. Fewer teachers use instant messaging because the kind of informal language found in IM can be misunderstood or misused. E-mail Instant Messaging (IM)

12. Communicating technology can … Communication technologies provide ways for teachers to connect with their students, promote meaningful learning, and extend academics beyond the confines of regular school time. Teachers have five reasons to use electronic communications: 1) teaching strategies, 2) information sharing, 3) community building, 4) publishing student work, 5) energizing student writing.

13. References http://www.teacherweb.com/ http://www.sitesforteachers.com/ http://www.teacherwebsite.com/ http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752562 http://www.edweek.org/tm/section/blogs/index.html http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Teacher+Peer+Wikis

14. References http://www.donmartelli.com/ http://holesthenovel.pbworks.com/w/page/18735117/FrontPage http://timclifford.com/blog/ http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~nvaccare/ http://info4-merced-2010.wikispaces.com/024B0+Wikis+de+4%C2%BAB+2010-2011 http://www.grav.k12.ca.us/district/TeacherSites.html http://cucareerservices.blogspot.com/ http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~evolve/ http://vanessareillytelt.wordpress.com/page/2/ http://www.mendozablogday.com/?p=152

15. Thank you andhave a good night IT371: Hannah Belton, Linzi Hu, Hui Yang The pictures and websites in the presentation are used under fair use guidelines.