As previously posted, my wiki site for the classroom is up and running. This morning I had four students who joined the site. I have 190 students but only 65 have an email address that they need to register with on the site. I went over the classwiki yesterday with all my classes and will continue to strongly encourage them to join the site.
Insofar as resources and information needed for this stage of the game I am relying on critical thinking. A wiki site is like an undersea shipwreck. You have to poke your head in a lot of places before you find something that you want. I saw a lot of gadgets I could put on the page but do I want them...for now I am satisfied with how it looks.
The second element of the game plan involves connecting with other educators via the internet to garner creative ideas. I have googled teacher blogs and have explored many interesting blogs. I need to narrow it down to technology blogs however. This is quite an interesting road to be on. The resources I garner are from each blog. As I see who has subscribed to certain blogs I explore their blogs. The maze has funny, sad and informative stops. I need to focus on technology as this endeavor can really eat up the time.
Ruth
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Congradulations on your success! On your wiki site what are you having students discuss? Did you go over the ethical issues with the students? If you did what are the consequences if they brake a rule? I agree keeping the page simple for the students will not overwhelem them. As they become comfortable then add some gadgets.
ReplyDeleteYes, following blogs can be time consuming. I would narrow it down also to technology and to those blogs you find interesting.
Great start on your GAME plan!
Take Care,
Lynette Vega
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI am very excited for you! To have students want to be involved is something that a lot of teachers do not get. The wiki is a great motivator and tool.
With your wiki, can anyone join or is it limited to your students? I know that ones open to the public can sometimes have problems with people messing with the information that is displayed on it.
I was also wondering about something that Lynette brought up in her comment about consequences surrounding technology misuse. Does your school have policies already in place for the misuse of technology? Or, is it like my district that does have some in place but they are so vague and general that they seem inadequate?
Keep us posted on how your wiki site is developing. I would love to learn what, and what not, to do when taking that tool on.
Lacey Wilson
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI am really excited for you. Your wiki site will be very exciting for your students, and I loved your analogy comparing the wiki to a shipwreck. It's so true. I almost feel like I might finally figure out an effective and exciting way to use wikis after much time and experimentation.
Just as an FYI, I love wetpaint and find it to be the most visually appealing, simple, and effective wiki stie, but it does require email addresses. I don't like the site as much, but wikispaces provides a way for teachers to set up users (students) without email addresses. It also lets me assign user IDs and passwords and limit or expand access.
The site below isn't mine but provides an idea of what can be done with a wiki:
http://laniermybook.wikispaces.com/My+Characters
These were made by 8th grade students and demonstrate the kind of things that can hold the attention of the students. The teacher that made this, is an excellent teacher, and was willing to experiment with technology in her class, much like you. This is an exciting time to be a student and teacher in the classroom.
Dan Lollis
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI love that you're not only applying what we've learned and are learning through class but that you're giving us insight into the process. Great job of switching from a class blog to wiki upon realizing that the latter is more effective. We must be willing to change our game plan if it will better serve student interests. Please keep us updated on the progress of this project as I am interested to know your findings. And don't worry about the slight detours you may take while on your blog perusal journey. We all venture off the path at one point or another, the key is to separate the useful from the useless as we do so and from what I garner from your posts, you've done so. I too have a goal of communicating, sharing and creating ideas via colleagues, experts, and others in the online community as it is also my goal for students. We can't expect them to engage in activities and behaviors we're unwilling to. I agree with Dan that this is an exciting time to be a student and teacher in the classroom. It's an inspiring time to be a part of the educational community in general as I am finally not only seeing but feeling a shift to investing in 21st century skills that students need to flourish in the future.