Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Great Journalism Wiki

One of the key members of my PLN, Lynn Waldsmith, has been doing all kinds of cool social media things in her English and Journalism classes. You may recall that in December, she wrote a guest post (Teaching without a Safety Net) which described a Web 2.0 Canterbury Tales activity. She also described her Journalism class blog -- Waldsmith's Dispatch -- which is one of the best uses of a stuent blog that I have ever seen.

Once again, I think she has hit one out of the park. Waldsmith's Dispatch-- Student Online Edition is a simple use of social media technology that accomplishes an important function: it provides a wider audience for these aspiring writers. Lynn's students are sophomores, the majority of whom will seek to write and edit for the student newspaper as juniors and seniors. The Student Online Edition gives them an audience beyond the teacher. In my experience, this has consistently produced higher standards of communication.

Incidentally, I think the wiki also provides a neat slice of life of our school, issues on the minds of teens, and even contemporary American life. Take a look!

Congratulations, Lynn, and thanks for sharing!

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Screen capture of Waldsmith's Dispatch-- Student Online Edition (included is a magazine cover photo by student, Megan B.).

1 comment:

Ann Lusch said...

I took a look! Very cool, and inspiring.

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