Pedagogical value in online writing spaces?

As more and more of my colleagues and instructors are finding ways of incorporating wikis and bloggs into their pedagogy, I'm finding that I may, too, want to consider these spaces as I continually think of ways in which I may further the education of my students.

Currently, I have a fellow instructor using wiki in their (Engl) 101 course and they have raved about how enjoyable it is. My colleague has expressed much appreciation for the inclusion(s) of such spaces in the class - and specifically, how it allows for collaboration outside of school, over the internet. However, although it does allow for another opportunity for collaboration outside of the classroom, I do still worry about all of my students being able to access such a device.

The use of computer technology in my own pedagogy cause me great concern. I'm nervous that even with my students having an AML account, which allows them to use computer technology to access interfaces deemed "necessary" for the course, but I often wonder if its as good as I'm equating it to be. I think, and hope I'm enhancing the education of each student I have by allowing them to use interfaces that they may be more comfortable using - but the more I use technology in the classroom, the more critical I become when assessing the success of each medium.

Rebecca Lundin states, in her piece Teaching With Wikis: Toward a Networked Pedagogy, "This type of work encourages teachers to reexamine and redefine their goals for the classroom, asking and demonstrating how established teaching practices can be stretched and strained with the introduction of new technological practices" (433) And, because of assertions like hers, which I agree with, I find myself still arguing with myself whether or not I should continue using computer technology.

Charles Lowe and Terra Williams, in their piece Moving to the Public: Weblogs in the Writing Classroom, explain that "given that students have access to the Internet, weblogs can easily replace traditional classroom uses of the private print journal." Which, given my current doubts with the incorporation of computer technology, allows me to appreciate this type of computer technology, instead of the "traditional" paper equivalent. Lowe and Williams discuss a lot of really interesting points that they associate weblogs and academic success to, and the ways that they have introduced blogs into the classroom makes sense and for an "easy" inclusion if instructors wanted to use such a device in their classroom. I also appreciate their assertion that "Weblogs, as an electronic publishing tool, also offer significant practical and pedagogical differences and advantages over student hypertext assignments for both writing teachers and students alike" which then reiterates a benefit for both teacher and student.

I have yet to incorporate either of these devices into my course, but the readings from this week have me considering an alternative to that. An initial step would be to have my students write their one page summaries on blogger.com instead of writing them on paper and turning them in...haha actually, I'm pretty sure I'll be doing so!!!