Monday, February 17, 2014
Wiki Who?
When I first heard about Wikis, I thought it was some crazy social media waste of time that I would never be a part of. My narrow-minded self also did not fully understand what the amazing new internet resource, Wikipedia, really was. While teaching in Cleveland from 2009-2011, I wanted a website my students could visit for daily notes and homework assignments. Our district did not have Blackboard or any other site like it, but a co-worker of mine introduced us to PB Works during a PD day at school. This was a classroom-changing tool even though I am now realizing it was not used to its full potential. I used PB Works to include RSS feeds on information and cool math/history facts (well, I thought they were cool) as well as a calendar of our topics to be covered, assignments, and assessments. I linked everything to PDF files of the Smartboard notes from that day, as well as blank note papers for students who were absent to print out. Essentially I only used my page as a dumping ground for all of my documents, but it was very useful even just as that. Now I am realizing I could give students access to a page where they could create the review documents as well as support one another on topics that are difficult. I am enjoying that I get to learn-through-doing with our Wiki sites!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Maura,
ReplyDeleteWow! You really were ahead of the curve on using Wikis in your classroom. How great it was that you had a colleague who could show you this option. Isn't that always the way we find things out - through people we know. (That sounds like 'social constructivism of knowledge' that Dawn was talking about last semester.)
I, like you, had no idea what a wiki was or what it was used for (except for Wikipedia) - until these past few weeks! (Talk about behind the times.) I had always just thought that there was only Wikipedia (and its associated subsites like Wikibooks, etc.). I had no idea that people could create their own wikis.
How cool for you to now be able to take wikis one step further in your classroom. I bet your students will also really this it is cool (even the 'cool' things that their teacher likes) because of information being delivered through an online format. How exciting also to be able to have students engage in collaborative projects on a class wiki in real-time, both in the classroom or from home.
I think you've found a great way to make your math curriculum even more interesting, Can;t wait to hear how this all works out.
I'm really impressed that you've already used PB works in your classroom and are now reflecting on ways to improve the tool and affordances. Like you mentioned, wikis don't need to just be dumping grounds or as a resource. Wikis are a valuable tool that can easily be implemented in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI think a way to have your students contribute could be posting math strategies that helped them along with resources. It could be really empowering to them.
ReplyDeleteMaura ... You are an inspiration. I need you to show me how to use RSS feeds. I have my students using the Blackboard WIKI since they all have accounts and access. It is working well!
ReplyDelete