Involving students in constructive learning processes

After some time searching social studies blogs and wikis by students, I came across one I particularly liked (http://woodward8.wikispaces.com/).

It is a page created by a teacher and his 8th grade class on U.S. history. He assigned everyone particular topics and they were responsible for coming up with the information about each particular topic, and were assigned to post the information they researched onto the blog that he created. While I was not able to peruse the whole blog without joining (it was protected) I found the idea very fascinating. It seems that making students responsible for essentially what they learn about every topic, they have the potential to take a more active and interested approach to their learning because they are (to an extent) in charge of what they learn.
I think this is very similar to when teachers make students teach the class a lesson. While this may not always be effective if not done properly, I think it can stand to have some credibility. Students are going to be invested in the opinions of their peers, and if they don't seem knowledgeable or competent in the assignment they are to present in front of the class, this could have adverse effects. Consequently, they may be more invested in doing a higher quality job.
Getting back to the blog- as we read in the book, techniques like this can often create a meaningful learning environment for students for the fact that they are the producers of knowledge, given to the world at large. This may make many feel more valuable and feel more of an obligation to produce quality work as well.

A blog that I came by, http://aupushistory.blogspot.com/, is a blog for an AP history class, and is mostly managed by the teacher. However, I liked it because he makes the website engaging, and the students have to answer questions. He used videos, pictures, and thoughtful questions to enage his students in the blog, and I think he did a pretty good job. He also had assignment updates on the side as well as important links he thought uselful to the students.

I found a website called The Education Podcast Network (epnweb.org) that has podcasts from teachers and students from all around the world contributing to it. The students are of all different ages and the teachers come from every subject. The authors of the website state, "

We are a multicast society of speakers and listeners, listeners and speakers, teaching and learning in a life and time of change. " I think this is so great because not only is a class connected, but a whole bunch of classes and teachers which gives us the chance to experience and receive insight from a much more diverse group of people.