When I found out we had to work on a wiki page this week, I was a little nervous. First of all, I had never even heard of a Wiki before taking this class. Second, we were working in groups and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. So, I did what I always do and tried to learn everything I could about Wiki’s before I got started on the “real thing”, the assignment. I went to PBWiki and registered for my own account. It was very informative. I was pleasantly surprised when it had a “Back to School Challenge” that offered a free $250.00 up grade for just practicing and learning about Wiki’s. It was really easy. It gave me step-by-step instructions on the basics. Each time I completed a lesson, I earned points. The lessons covered things like setting up pages and links. It also covered some things like plug-ins and inviting people to visit my wiki. It took about five days, but I finally earned enough to get my free Wiki upgrade. The thing that I really liked the best was the training videos and the wiki manual. The videos are sixty-two short clips, about 15 to 30 seconds in length that tell and show you how to do one thing. It was extremely helpful. I liked the manual even better. It had more information than the video section.
After practicing the wiki, I started to do my share of work on the assignment. The first night it took me about 3 ½ hours. After that, I was able to do the same thing on our other page in less than an hour. It was actually very satisfying. I really liked the look of our page and the information it gave. I even learned of a few new websites I can use with my students. With my new knowledge in hand, I went to the principal of my school and talked to him about getting a wiki account for out district, at least our building. He said he had heard about them and was interested. So, now I am testing out a wiki for my school. I’m setting up different folders and pages. It is still in the planning phase, but soon I will be able to use it for our staff development on improving writing. It is very exciting.
As for how I will use a wiki with my students…I already have a plan forming. I used to maintain a nice looking and practical class web page. It had my syllabi, lesson plans, handouts, and other teacher things. It worked well for its purpose—to give information. But now that I have seen some of what a wiki can do, from my practicing and the examples from this class, I don’t want a web page anymore. I want a wiki. I would like to set up a wiki account for my classes. The wiki would contain the same information as the web page, but it would do so much more. I could use it to send and receive information to parent and guardians about my class where parents could comment on lessons and upcoming school events. I could have a Q and A page where parents could ask me questions and I could post my answers. No more having the same conversation about the same topic twenty five times. I would also use it to get feedback on which fundraisers parents would like to participate in and where the class trip should be. Not to should cliché, but he possibilities are endless.
As for a teaching tool, I already have some plans. My first idea is to use a wiki, in school and out if the students choose to work on out “Fighters of Darkness” assignment. I work with the art teacher to have the students learn about famous artists and their painting and then write a biography and a persuasive essay showing how these artists have somehow improved the world with their talent. It is a fun project, but on a wiki, it would be incredible. Now, not only can the students write their biographies and essays on the wiki, but they would also have to link to their sources—bye, bye plagiarism. In addition, students can link or upload the art they will be discussing in their essays. I would also ask them to add links about when and where the artist lived, as well as, any other interesting information they may come across.
Another idea that I would like to try is using a wiki to keep the students reading logs. My students are required to turn in reading logs, reflections or answer to teacher supplied open-ended questions, each week. I would like the students to post their reflections on the wiki. This way other students can read the reflections and see which books they might like to read. I would also like each student to keep a reading list with book star ratings and comments about the book. This way other students could have an insight into which books they would like to try. Students could also link the book to an author’s web page to see what other books were available from the same writer.
I have several other ideas I would like to try, but I don’t want to burn out the students. Not to mention that time in the computer lab is short when you share it with five other grades. I am very excited about using my free upgraded wiki account to work with my students. I am also looking forward to see how the staff at my school will use the wiki (separate account) for staff development in writing. If it works out, maybe the school will use a wiki instead of the massive amount of paper we use now for daily announcements and teacher memos. (Think of the money and paper we can save.) I hope my colleagues, students, and parents give the wiki a chance. I think they will come to like it.
2 comments:
Kendra, I think you did a fantastic job with your part of our group assignment. I have taken notes on your ideas for teaching ideas also. I do not have a web page and neither does our school although I think they are in the process. I am going to tell them about wiki pages to see it they had rather do that instead of the web. I am going to see if administration will allow me to give a class on the use of one also for in-service. Thanks for the great ideas and a great job completed!
You have gone above and beyond. Maybe it is the cynic in me but I could not help thinking that when students post their reading log each week it would be really easy to show or in from parents when students are not doing their reading/work in class by simply checking the wiki.
Rick Bauer
Post a Comment