More on Wikis

A link to a very worthwhile presentation on using Wikis in the classroom by Adam Frey from Wikispaces can be found at
http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=17723

"The session will aim to help teachers and practitioners understand what wikis are, how to use them and how they be valuable in the classroom.

The session will cover:
- What is a wiki? What's the difference between a wiki and a blog?
- How do I get a wiki? What are my options?
- Are wikis secure? How do I manage my students' experience?
- How should I use wikis in my classroom? What are some good examples of wikis in classrooms?
- OK, so how do I"

Wikis

Due to assignment commitments I haven't had time to add posts till now, however as I am about to examine Wikis in detail for use in HSIE, I would be interested in other educators' experiences in the use of Wikis in high school. I have listened to a podcast about the Flat Planet Project where 2 Religious Education teachers, one from the UK and one from Canada had their students work collaboratively on environmental issues. Certainly inspiring and worth a listen at the Virtual Staffroom.

Another inspiring and award winning project is the Flat Classroom Project. Students from an international school in Bangladesh worked with students from Georgia, USA to examine issues from Thomas Freidman's book the "The World is Flat".

If you are aware of other projects, large or small, successful or not, I would love to hear about them. If you have reservations about using Wikis in education I would be interested to hear those too.

Digital Divide

I was listening to a very interesting podcast this afternoon by Alan November as he interviewed Professor Angela McFarlane http://nlcommunities.com/communities/alannovember/archive/2007/05/08/134650.aspx
She believes that some of the students who are the most digitally literate and in the past would have been our high achievers and successes of the school system are no longer prepared to accept a curriculum which they see as inauthentic, of no interest to them and one which will not further their own needs in the future, and they are walking away and flunking out of school. I know of such instances myself however would be interested to hear if others have also found this to be the case.

Reality Check

Recently I experienced a reality check as I was chatting to a friend I consider to be reasonably computer literate. She asked what I was studying and I said "Web2.0" and before I could go on she interrupted and asked what that was. I realised that most of my exploration and musings had been done with fellow Web2 users who are aware of the latest developments of the internet. However there are obviously a lot of people who have no idea of the amazing changes which are currently taking place on the internet. This friend spoke of an earlier desire for a means by which someone could assist her in searching the internet for the most relevant site when she had a query, and I suggested that social bookmarking might be of use to her.

It seems to me that those who are not in a position where their work or education enables them to become aware of these developments will remain ignorant of the changes, as traditional media do not promote web2 and in fact tend to be scaremongers, warning of the perils of interacting with unknown souls on the internet. Do you see the general public becoming web2 literate in the near future or will there be a gradual change as younger generations mature?

Computer Management Issues

I have been so involved in reading and listening to inspiring teachers who are using Web2 tools in their classroom that I had not stopped to think about the management issues involved. As a casual teacher I have limited opportunities for using computers with classes, however on a block last year I found that students tended to switch to the latest flash game or other online distraction the second I attended to another student. I would be interested to know of others' experiences in this regard, especially those who are able to frequently utilise technology in their classroom.

Blogging

I was listening to Virtual Staffroom podcast 2 this morning on podcasting where the teacher noted that his use of blogs for his yr6/7 class in Qld may have to change due to education dept restrictions. The concern was that comments that were published outside the confines of the school network could not be later removed if there was a problem with the comment. My understanding is that blogs can be moderated if set up that way and therefore before any item is published the teacher could have the final approval. I guess I will have to follow up on this under the NSW system. If you have come across similar restrictions, please let me know.

Digital Natives

My son made an interesting comment to me the other day which I felt epitomised digital natives. He said that whenever he picks up a new piece of equipment, be it a camera, mobile or whatever which has a memory chip in it, it is as if the info on how to operate the equipment is automatically downloaded to his brain and he knows how to operate it (without reading a manual)! While his comment was made tongue-in-cheek, I felt that it captured the essence of their ease and adaptability with new devices.