Differences between blogs, wikis and websites

After finishing most of this class and testing out all the different types of mediums we have done within the labs, I have found many differences in each. I think that blogs are best for wanting to get your own opinion and personal message across on what you are discussing. I also think that blogs are a way to look at other peoples ideas on things and current topics. I also have found that it is a good place to see how different teachers (if they have blogs) in different areas teach their classes, or run their lesson plans, also how the students react to the lesson at hand. Personally, blogs are my favorite type of pln just because they are so personal without the other effects of websites. I am not sure yet how I feel about wikis, but I think they are something that would be extremely useful in a classroom setting when working on homework or a class project, if there were a class wiki. For that type of thing, I believe a wiki would be the best venture, not a blog or a website. This is because for a wiki you can add and change things whenever you want and for a project this would be perfect to adding and changing information that could be useful to all students within the classroom. I also think wiki's such as wikipedia are interesting because there is so much information that can be put on them by many different people, each having a different take and therefore being able to see different views and perspectives in the same place. As stated before, I think a wiki is best for using a group project, or classroom wide project over a period of time, also for posting and checking homework by the teacher. Then for the blogs, I find the best way for posting information about classrooms for all teachers possibly within the school and even teachers at home to be checking in on classroom information posted by the teacher of that classroom. As for websites, I think these are important as well. I think they are an important part of the pln, and can again be used many ways within a classroom and for personal use. Websites can be used for personal use, stating information about themselves and their resumes and also any lesson planning or lesson plans that you have done posted on there as well. I also think similar to a blog you can have a classroom website. A site devoted just to the classroom students, curriculum, and things going on within the classroom at that time (projects, parent volunteers, field trips) these things that used to be sent home on paper, can now be viewed via the website. Personally, I think I would use a website for my classroom information and everything that could be sent home on paper being put up on that website. I think a blog could best be used for the teacher or students views on certain things going on within the classroom, the school and even the assignments taking place. As for a wiki, this would best be used for projects. In a previous blog post that I posted, I thought a really good assignment for a wiki project for the entire classroom could be about plants growing. Watching them over the course of a few weeks in the dark or the light and seeing how they are growing, and posting on the wiki every few days or weeks with the progress that the plants are making. This way all the students could see the difference in each others plants and their growing habits. I think that all three of these mediums are good and can be used different in each of their own ways. I find that you have to find one that you like personally and use it in a way that you think would be best. I think that all three of them can be used in a classroom and each can be successful in each of their own ways.