Firstly, for a digitial immigrant I found wiki very easy to set up and use. While I haven't yet added anything to my wiki, I do have a wiki page that will be used for assessment task 3 at a later date. You can view my wiki page here as I begin to add information.
The website listing 50 ways to use wiki in the classroom really opened my eyes to the myriad of ways wiki can be used to enhance learning and how applicable it can be to all key learning areas.
Some of my favourite uses for wiki that I feel would enhance learning and connect students are:
- Building a glossary or vocabulary list that the class can add to, comment on or edit
- Tracking projects or assignments and peer assessing or reviewing
- Creating stories where students can take turns to add sentences or paragraphs.
- Reviewing the class book or author study. Students could even create a wiki bookclub
- A wiki class newspaper or FAQ
- Sharing information with a community or international sister school
- Teacher collaboration and organisation with other teachers either at the same school or in the wider community.
Clay Burrell sums up the use of blogs and wiki in his youtube clip '21st Century Learning' by pointing out that blogs are real world and real speak for children growing up in teh 21st Century while wiki is a tool that has the potential to bring the world into the classroom and provides opportunities for students to be authors, editors and publishers.
Hello Kristen
ReplyDeleteLet me first congratulate you on constructing a beautiful blog page. Secondly, I enjoyed reading your first entry comparing wiki to blogs. Indeed there are myriad uses for a wiki in the classroom as you have described, though so far from my own reading I believe a blog would be of greater benefit. I'd like to direct you to a web site that really supports blogs being used in pedagogical practice. http://www.sbg.ac.at/zfl/eTeaching_Skills/eTeaching_Weblogs/basics.html
(I thought that would automatically underline as a link, something I'll have to learn how to do by the looks of it)
Some of the key messages I took from this site were how blogs give students' ownership of their work and pride in publishing authentic information (Ferdig and Trammell, 2004). I can relate to this as using blog has really made me check my typing and spelling before clicking enter for all to see.
Like wiki does, using blogs opens the class to a worldwide audience. Although a blog is a place where students' posts cannot be altered or edited they can only be peer reviewed and commented on. From these comments students' are able to reflect on their previous thoughts to gain a deeper knowledge of the topic.
I can foresee as I immerse deeper into this course content I will become a stronger advocate for ICT tools to be used in everyday learning environments.
Kind regards,
Teala
Hi Kristen
ReplyDeleteAfter being an active blog user for a little while now, have you noticed the benefit of collaborative learning? If so, how do you think you could transfer this concept of collaboratve learning into the classroom?
Breanna
Hi Breanna,
ReplyDeleteThat is a really interesting question. Previously whenever I have thought of collaborative learning I have pictured 'busy work' where students are seated in groups working as a team. After a few weeks of blogging and learning through and with my peers I realise this is just as much collaborative learning. Although we are not seated in groups and we are at home blogging as individuals, we are still working towards a common goal and because we are required to comment and reflect on the postings of others we are all equally accountable, meaning our goal cannot be achieved unless we cooperate with each other and work as a team. O'Brien and White (2001) call this concept positive interdependence.
I think just as other means of collaboration in the classroom need to be taught, so too does collaborating using e-learning tools. Digital tools are obviously the way of the future and already a part of our students lives but I still think children need to be taught how to work collaboratively and why it is important. Just because the learning method has been transferred to an e-learning tool doesn't mean they will automatically cooperate, engage, work as a team member, be accountable and take ownership. Regardless of how the learning is occuring, children still need to be taught and collaborative learning still has the same elements it is just being delivered differently.
There my thoughts for now.
Cheers,
Kristen