Sunday, January 25, 2009
Week 3: Wikis in Education
By now you have seen several examples of how educators are using wikis to transform teaching and learning. Share one or more integration ideas you have stumbled upon or thought of that seem transformational to you. Be sure to explain why you believe it/they are transformational.
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Doug Sebring...
ReplyDeleteIn the Wiki: A Web 2.0 Learning Tool by Gary Miller, he uses VoiceThread to make comments on his site and the goals for it then invites others to contribute by placing threads where applicable.
Great idea!
For those of us who are keyboard challenged or handicapped, a salient deterrent to active contribution to a blog or wiki is the onerous task of attempting to express thoughts when we have to rely on the inhibiting input tool(computer keyboard).
As I plan to construct my own wiki that I want our staff to utilize to produce an updated technology plan that we must submit to eTech, providing the option of a Voicethread comment really appeals to me. Not only does it allow a more rapid means of providing commentary, the commentary itself can be more expressive through the intonation and inflection apparent in the voice of the respondent.
Now the challenge: how do I incorporate the voicethread into a simple to use wiki that doesn't necessitate inordinate efforts from the staff to participate.
I am just beginning to understand the "coolness" of blogs and wikis. They can be addictive.
ReplyDeleteAt the following website you can find templates. I am really big on these since they take away the time used to do something from scratch.
http://www.wetpaint.com/category/Education--Wikis-In-The-Classroom
They also mention using wikis for -
Group projects: Students work together in one place to research, outline, draft, and edit projects within the wiki.
and
Online Newspaper: Create a student-published online newspaper
I see the transformational side of these traditional activities - group projects and newspapers being so much more engaging with the use of wikis - easier to collaborate and the speed of sharing info.
I was really drawn to WikiTravel.
ReplyDeleteI think this can be a great tool once it is more popularly known. But that also leaves an opportunity.
Remember those "What I did this summer vacation" essays? What if instead the class did a project where everyone posts updates to WikiTravel about where they went on vacation last year or the year before? Or, if they prefer, they can update the area where they live. Suddenly, a class could make their home town one of the most complete descriptions of places other may be looking at for vacation.
Work with the class so that their entries make the area as attractive as possible (maybe contact the Chamber of Commerce) in a way that could be economically valuable to their home area.
Just a thought.
One way that I can see the use of wikis is for an ongoing staff training.
ReplyDeleteWe had smartboards and projectors installed in our classrooms last year. I could see the use of a wiki for teachers to add the little "tricks" that they discovered through the use of the smartboards and projectors. This would be a great benefit to those teachers that want to know more about what could be done, but they either are afraid to ask or they don't have the time.It is a common occurrence for a teacher to ask me how to correct or do something on the smartboard and I don't know how to but, then I learn that some other teacher knows how to do it. (This also would include those things that you use to know how to do but forgot.) In essence, the teachers could be creating a how to manual that is specific to their needs. So, instead of looking into a manual, that might be difficult to understand, the teachers would be using their "user friendly" wiki to help them use the technology in their classroom.
This could be expanded for use on any new program or procedure that the school tried to implement. Now the teachers would have a written account of procedures that they created to refer to, instead of relying on some person coming to them and showing them how to do something. (But thank god that there still are those that are visual or "hands on" learners so they ask me for help. Helps keeps me in a job.)
I came across a teacher who builds wiki shells for each research project she assigns. Each student must add a credible resource to the wiki that all students may then use for the project. I love this because it forces students to very seriously evaluate a source before posting, since all the other students will be harmed if they do not choose a credible source. I also love this for what I see as the transformational aspect of this: harnessing the power of the internet and helping students use it for their own benefit. They are learning and applying tech skills, social skills, analytical skills, all the while helping every other person in their class. Awesome! I am sold on this idea!
ReplyDeleteI personally find wikis more challenging than blogs, but I love the variety of activities and uses of the wiki.
ReplyDeleteAs I am already attempting to use a wiki in my classroom with one section of students, I would like to incorporate a wiki into one of my supplemental areas -- Community Service. I could easily create a wiki and post material about various places students can earn hours as well as our requirements. Students, faculty and community members could also post information regarding help that is needed. I am very big on students finding their own opportunities for service so this might aid them as well as encouraging their technology savvy.
Wikis are transformational because the collaborators all "own" the information. As soon as a collaborator takes part in the wiki, he becomes an author who is very aware of what he says and what is being said to him. This can greatly change the way we view the Internet.
As I listened to "Wikis in Education: An Interview with Victoria Davis and Adam Frey" it dawned on me that wikis aren't limited to just the idea of a teacher. It will grow and evolve with as the "students" revise, add, and edit the wiki. A wiki can be used as an organizational tool for all materials used/created during a class.
ReplyDeleteThus a wiki is transformational because it changes/evolves as the community using it adds ideas, thoughts, and information.
Several integration ideas that I would like to try out are wikis for a book club, teacher collaboration and a vehicle for parent communication/collaboration. I believe these can be transformational due to the fact that input/involvement is easy and quick...and more importantly - meaningful.
ReplyDeleteWebnotes seem to be a very interesting tool. I haven’t been able to use one yet because of the weather. The idea is you can go to a website, put a post-it note on the information you want, and save the information to your own note page. You create a note page. Every time you place a post-it on information found on the web, the computer automatically sends that information to your note page. You can categorize information as well. The negative part is everyone can see and edit your note page. You can have it on you RSS. This will allow you to monitor the edits. You can collaborate with people on certain subjects. I like this idea because you can focus on the just the information you want. You can save the tidbits of information obtained over the years and retrieve it without trying to remember web addresses or physical locations of the information. I am anxious to try webnotes.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Henson
I like all the ideas shared so far. Bruce's travel wiki idea, Tricia's community service idea, Jacqui's research shell idea, Tom's staff development idea.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this in another place this week but I really liked the Vicky Davis Podcast when she mentioned she uses her wiki in her technology class to explore new technologies.
Westwoodtech.wikispaces.com The teacher and students learn together to create a wiki of information that future students can use. With technology changing so rapidly, teachers cannot be expected to be the "keepers" of all the information. In this example, Vickie is a faciliator of the student learning. Actually the teacher is a faciliator in the use of a wiki for any topic.
The use of a wiki is transformational because it changes the role of the teacher.
There have been some really great suggestions! It is exciting to share these ideas and is exactly what I can see being effective in undergraduate college courses for education majors.
ReplyDeleteI found the interview really interesting and informative. I really like the idea of using wikis to work on a study guide for a test. Each person or group would take a couple questions and post the answer to the wiki where everyone can then edit the answers and have the information for the test.
I like the idea of having an award wiki!
I am inspired by the conversation taking place in this blog. The ideas that are being shared are fabulous, and I am going to steal them all! ;-) I think I'm going to try to embed this blog into the graffiti wiki wall. Never embedded a blog before, but these ideas need to be accessible in our wiki, as well. Also....I'm going to post a little intro to wikis video from Youtube. It's cute and informative. Maybe you can use it in some way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Susan we are really only limited by the imaginations of our students. Since most teachers fall into the category of "digital immigrants", we all need to allow the real "experts" in this technology to guide us to where we should be taking it.
ReplyDeleteI've tried one wiki project thus far, with mixed results. It was a group project with 5-7 students per group on the Age of Exploration. Their task was to create at least one wiki page containing information they were to research and write given prompts and a rubric from me. They were encouraged to create links to other pages they would also create, in order to categorize and organize their information more easily.
As it was the first time I'd done it, there requires a lot of tweaking on my part before I do it again. I need to make sure I include a citing component, as I noticed a little plagiarism. My hope through discussion with the students, is that they would vet each other for content, spelling and grammar, and the result would be original work. I was far too naive.
The really positive thing about it, and this is where I believe it is transformational, is that it engaged my students to research and write in a way I never had. I, as the administrator, was able to see when kids were on and writing/editing. I saw A LOT of kids doing this at 9:30 on a Saturday night, when the project was due on a Wednesday. I asked them on Monday a question I already knew the answer to, "When was the last time any of you worked on a paper for a class at 9:30 on a Saturday night?" Not one student could remember a time when that ever happened.
Pretty cool.
A couple of years back, one of our teachers won a grant to capture the history of the township. The student were to visit friends, family, members of the community and "capture" their rememberances of what it was like.
ReplyDeleteCan you think of a better vehicle to document the student's activities and create a written record of the history of the town? Students could post for their grandparents. They could read and correct those old stories. Links of one family could literally "link" on the web. Pictures could be included, video clips could be added, or audio recordings.
I think the transformational aspects of wikis are the ease and speed with which information can be shared with a group and the ability to collaborate and add to a body of knowledge. Previously I used a Moodle course to share information and study materials with my Academic Bowl team but now I think I will start a wiki and let the team collaborate with me to find these resources. I usually ask each team member to become the team "expert" in one or two categories each year. With a class wiki, the team could share the questions, lists and information they find with each other. They can check each other's additions for accuracy too.
ReplyDeleteI am toying with the idea of using a wiki as a yearbook, a cumulative shared experience journaling for the senior class. The pros are that it can be published towards the end of the year as a scrapbook of what everyone experienced (we have a senior class of about 110 students, so it's small enough). One negative is that it can be hurtful and negative. You get all kinds.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward in building my classroom Wiki. I like the idea that group projects can be accessed from home if need be. From what I have read, teachers seem to collectively believe that students’ participation increases when they are using Wikis with an assignment. Since one of my goals is to develop better writing skills for my students, I am hoping that this tool will excite them.
ReplyDeleteI will be using a wiki to develop our the districts technology Plan. Every 3 years it must be updated and I am the project leader for it this year. Thus, my knowledge of Wiki's will bring our committee closer together and eliminate the multitude of meetings that we normally schedule. The "tech Plan" as it is called must include all kinds of integration and uses of technology i nthe district. The committtee is made up of an administrator, 4 teachers, 2 community members, and myself. This will be a very helpful tool for us to add content to the plan for the July 1 submission deadline.
ReplyDelete"In the article "7 things you should know about Wikis," I found under the heading "...implications for teaching and learning" a way to integrate using wikis within departments. My school is in still in the learning stages of becoming a PLC and since we have not incorporated specific times to collaborate cross-curricularly, this would be an ideal way that we could implement units without having to actually meet at specific times. This would "transform" the way we think about "creating time.""
ReplyDeleteOne idea that I ran into was where the instructor appointed a class 'scribe' to daily input notes on the class wiki. Only after the scribe had finished whas the class permitted to tweak, and add to the notes. The instructor then used diigo to comment on the notes, and what things they could expect to see on the test, or to ask more questions. Apparantly this was a very successful venture that raised test scores by encouraging the students to take responsibility for the class's ability to learn, rather than just their own. I thought that was really impressive!
ReplyDelete