Educational Wikis
According to Soloman and Schrum (2014), Wikis were the first classroom tools for collaboration because, with a Wiki, it is easy for students to use a single document and easy for teachers to monitor specific student contributions on the Wiki (pg. 196). Originating from the Hawaiian term “wiki wiki” meaning “quick” it is now a term that refers to a web page that can be created for collaborative work. As Reich stated, “Web 2.0 learning environments can facilitate rich educational experiences that prepare students to thrive in a networked world” but I find myself wondering if there are better tools out there than the wiki (pg. 1).
The most popular wiki soon became Wikipedia which is a constantly updated collaborative encyclopedia. As a media specialist over the last 10 years I have seen so many students who want to use Wikipedia for research purposes and it makes me cringe. I have never been a big fan of Wikipedia simply because anyone can update or change the information on a page. There is no way of knowing if that information is accurate or from a credible source. I try to encourage students to look at it only as a place to begin gathering a foundation of knowledge about a subject and then exploring more reliable sources before writing their research projects.
I was interested to explore some examples of how wikis could be used for collaboration within the classroom. In my mind the wiki seems a little outdated given all the new Web 2.0 tools that are available for students to use and I find them to be visually unappealing. I also think that wikis can be more cumbersome to use as opposed to newer programs.
This first wiki I explored was Digital ID created by Natalie Bernasconi, Gail Desler, and Kathleen Watt. This site was an EduBlogs Finalist in 2012, 2013, and 2014 for Best Educational Wiki and it is easy to see why. Their goal was to “help students understand and reach their full potential as 21st century digital citizens” as well as generating conversations in school communities about the “importance of digital citizenship skills being taught as an integral part of the core curriculum, as opposed to a set of lessons or unit taught in isolation.” These are all things that I am very passionate about so I was eager to see what they had to offer on the site. It exceeded my expectations. It was laid out nicely and visually appealing. It provided a lot of resources that are available to download and edit as needed. Our district has been searching for additional resources to enrich our digital citizenship lessons and this site will definitely be recommended at our next media resource meeting.
The second wiki I looked at was Grazing for Digital Natives which was created by Jennifer Dorman. This site had some good resources on it but I thought it was difficult to navigate. The layout was not appealing and you had to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to really see the real heart of the wiki. The concept was good, the information was useful, but it just didn’t appeal to me at all. This wiki encompassed my initial impression of wikis being outdated and unappealing.
Collaborative Tools
I have used Google Tools previously but it never really caught on for me. I think this is in part to using Microsoft Office for the majority of my digital life. The only Google programs I have used on a regular basis were the calendar and forms. Last year our county provided all students and staff with Office365 accounts. This was much easier for my Microsoft brain to handle. I like that there is an option to use the online version of programs to share documents and work collaboratively with others. So many times I have had students come to the media center to print their documents from Pages or NotePad only to find that it was incompatible with our computers. The school computers do not even allow students to print directly from Google Docs but instead requires them to download it to Microsoft Word first and then print. By allowing the students to have access to Office365 they now have the ability to use all of the programs in the Microsoft Suite on any internet enabled device. They also have unlimited cloud storage and no longer need to carry around flash drives. The collaborative aspect is in real time which allows for students to work together no matter where they are physically located. Instead of emailing drafts back and forth the students can work together at the same time on the same document and immediately see the changes and additions that have been made. Office365 also includes Sway as an alternative to using PowerPoint. This can be helpful for students who have diverse learning needs and would prefer using something more creative.
According to Soloman and Schrum (2014), Wikis were the first classroom tools for collaboration because, with a Wiki, it is easy for students to use a single document and easy for teachers to monitor specific student contributions on the Wiki (pg. 196). Originating from the Hawaiian term “wiki wiki” meaning “quick” it is now a term that refers to a web page that can be created for collaborative work. As Reich stated, “Web 2.0 learning environments can facilitate rich educational experiences that prepare students to thrive in a networked world” but I find myself wondering if there are better tools out there than the wiki (pg. 1).
The most popular wiki soon became Wikipedia which is a constantly updated collaborative encyclopedia. As a media specialist over the last 10 years I have seen so many students who want to use Wikipedia for research purposes and it makes me cringe. I have never been a big fan of Wikipedia simply because anyone can update or change the information on a page. There is no way of knowing if that information is accurate or from a credible source. I try to encourage students to look at it only as a place to begin gathering a foundation of knowledge about a subject and then exploring more reliable sources before writing their research projects.
I was interested to explore some examples of how wikis could be used for collaboration within the classroom. In my mind the wiki seems a little outdated given all the new Web 2.0 tools that are available for students to use and I find them to be visually unappealing. I also think that wikis can be more cumbersome to use as opposed to newer programs.
This first wiki I explored was Digital ID created by Natalie Bernasconi, Gail Desler, and Kathleen Watt. This site was an EduBlogs Finalist in 2012, 2013, and 2014 for Best Educational Wiki and it is easy to see why. Their goal was to “help students understand and reach their full potential as 21st century digital citizens” as well as generating conversations in school communities about the “importance of digital citizenship skills being taught as an integral part of the core curriculum, as opposed to a set of lessons or unit taught in isolation.” These are all things that I am very passionate about so I was eager to see what they had to offer on the site. It exceeded my expectations. It was laid out nicely and visually appealing. It provided a lot of resources that are available to download and edit as needed. Our district has been searching for additional resources to enrich our digital citizenship lessons and this site will definitely be recommended at our next media resource meeting.
The second wiki I looked at was Grazing for Digital Natives which was created by Jennifer Dorman. This site had some good resources on it but I thought it was difficult to navigate. The layout was not appealing and you had to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to really see the real heart of the wiki. The concept was good, the information was useful, but it just didn’t appeal to me at all. This wiki encompassed my initial impression of wikis being outdated and unappealing.
Collaborative Tools
I have used Google Tools previously but it never really caught on for me. I think this is in part to using Microsoft Office for the majority of my digital life. The only Google programs I have used on a regular basis were the calendar and forms. Last year our county provided all students and staff with Office365 accounts. This was much easier for my Microsoft brain to handle. I like that there is an option to use the online version of programs to share documents and work collaboratively with others. So many times I have had students come to the media center to print their documents from Pages or NotePad only to find that it was incompatible with our computers. The school computers do not even allow students to print directly from Google Docs but instead requires them to download it to Microsoft Word first and then print. By allowing the students to have access to Office365 they now have the ability to use all of the programs in the Microsoft Suite on any internet enabled device. They also have unlimited cloud storage and no longer need to carry around flash drives. The collaborative aspect is in real time which allows for students to work together no matter where they are physically located. Instead of emailing drafts back and forth the students can work together at the same time on the same document and immediately see the changes and additions that have been made. Office365 also includes Sway as an alternative to using PowerPoint. This can be helpful for students who have diverse learning needs and would prefer using something more creative.
I do like the form tool on Google. It makes it very easy to make surveys and quizzes that can be easily downloaded in to a spreadsheet for further analysis. It is simple to set up and use. We are currently using Google forms in a variety of ways such as schedule change requests, student information forms, and a form for teacher observations made by the leadership team.
I think Kahoot! is a great game based tool that is fun and easy to use. It is an alternative to traditional student response systems. It is free to use and has a lot of quizzes that are already available for teachers to use or they can customize their own. Students create a nickname to use so that they can stay unidentified. It is a quick and easy way to gather information about how much the class is comprehending. Students who may be struggling in the class can feel free to answer honestly because it is anonymous. This can be a big confidence booster for lower performing students when they see that they answered correctly. It can be done during those times when you only have 5-10 minutes left in class and do not want to start something new.
I think Kahoot! is a great game based tool that is fun and easy to use. It is an alternative to traditional student response systems. It is free to use and has a lot of quizzes that are already available for teachers to use or they can customize their own. Students create a nickname to use so that they can stay unidentified. It is a quick and easy way to gather information about how much the class is comprehending. Students who may be struggling in the class can feel free to answer honestly because it is anonymous. This can be a big confidence booster for lower performing students when they see that they answered correctly. It can be done during those times when you only have 5-10 minutes left in class and do not want to start something new.
Another productivity tool I like to use with the staff is Sign Up Genius. This website is great for coordinating events and keeping large groups organized. As the media specialist I am in charge of the two desktop computer labs and the 28 mobile laptop carts. We have a very large campus with five different buildings which each have at least two floors of classrooms. There are mobile carts located in different areas in each building along with two centrally located computer labs. This is a lot to keep up with so to simplify things we have created various calendars on sign up genius that allows the teachers to sign up online for the labs or carts that will best fit their needs. Teachers can easily see when the carts or labs are available and I can quickly look up who has the carts at any time. You can also add settings that will send reminders the day prior to when they have signed up so that no forgets. It has made a huge difference for the teachers in dealing with the constant battle to secure technology and I no longer have to answer phone calls all day long trying to work out the lab and cart schedules.
In looking at the Pedagogy Wheel by Allan Carrington I see the possibility for the tools mentioned to fit in several areas of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students would “Apply” what they know by creating and sharing documents or presentations through Office365 or Google Docs. Kahoot! could fall under two different categories depending on how it is used. If students are creating the quizzes they will be using “Remember Understand”. If students are taking the quiz they will be using it to “Evaluate” what they know.
References:
Bernasconi, N., Desler, G., & Watt, K. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from
http://digital-id.wikispaces.com/
Carrington, A. (n.d.). App Selection Criteria The Pedagogy Wheel V4. Retrieved from
http://designingoutcomes.com/moodle/padwheel/padwheelposter.pdf
Dorman, J. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/
Reich, J., Murnane, R., & Willett, J. (2012, January 01). The state of wiki usage in U.S. k-12 schools: leveraging web 2.0 data warehouses to assess quality and equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher, 41(1), 7-15.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How-to for educators. Eugene, OR: ISTE.
References:
Bernasconi, N., Desler, G., & Watt, K. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from
http://digital-id.wikispaces.com/
Carrington, A. (n.d.). App Selection Criteria The Pedagogy Wheel V4. Retrieved from
http://designingoutcomes.com/moodle/padwheel/padwheelposter.pdf
Dorman, J. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/
Reich, J., Murnane, R., & Willett, J. (2012, January 01). The state of wiki usage in U.S. k-12 schools: leveraging web 2.0 data warehouses to assess quality and equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher, 41(1), 7-15.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How-to for educators. Eugene, OR: ISTE.