The Web offers power tools that can be utilized to broaden and enhance the learning experience. Teachers can subscribe to podcasts, which are audio files that can played using various listening devices such as an MP3 player, allowing them to listen to colleagues' classroom presentations and conference lectures. Parents can also subscribe to classroom podcasts to make it easier for them to talk to their kids about school matters. All teachers in a middle school maintain blogs that are syndicated using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to allow students, parents, school administrators and other teachers to subscribe and have the newest blog entries delivered to their desktops. Regularly reading each others blogs allows educators to learn about topics and activities occurring in the other classrooms. For students, the conversational nature of blogs promotes critical thinking and writing. Rather than traditional formal essays or short-answer assignments, blog assignments allow students to read each others blog entries. Another online tool is wiki, which is used by a teacher in a middle school to encourage students to become better communicators by creating their own study guides. One part of the wiki site is devoted to general information and resources that are used as the class textbook. The teacher rewards students who create the most useful communications. One of these rewards is additional editing access to the class wiki.