I now have my own WIKI, Hooray!!! What will I do with it? I have decided to use it in the most practical sense and focus my WIKI around my year 8 science class that I will be student teaching in term 2. At the moment I have been told we are doing Acids and Bases. So stay tuned as term 2 commences I will start work on my WIKI and include a link in my blog.
WIKI Applications
I have recently looked at a few papers on the use of WIKIS and applications in classrooms. The first paper "Teaching and Learning Online with WIKIs" by Augar,Raitman and Zhou(2004), gives an example of using a WIKI as an ICE BREAKER in the class room. I think this is an excellent application of a WIKI. Students were grouped into teams of 10 and given a their own icebreaker document with questions like find someone with the same hair colour as yourself. Students were encouraged to post questions to fellow members to complete that task. They were also encouraged to upload photos and a brief description about themselves. A significant conclusion of the study stated that
"wikis were used successfully to enable hundreds of students to participate in a collaborative icebreaker exercise at Deakin University. This project illustrated how e-learning practitioners can use wiki technology to enhance social interaction amongst students online. However, wikis can also be used for the dissemination of information to the student body, for building information repositories or for the collaborative production of documents."
The second paper "WIKIS in Teaching and Assessment:The M/Cyclopedia Project" examined the development of a wiki as an "encyclopedic collection of information on new media concepts and topics" (Burns, Hmphreys, 2005 ).
Burns and Humphreys state ,
"Wikis present themselves as an interesting tool for enhancing social constructivist learning environments. As non-linear,evolving, complex and networked texts with multiple authors,they can provide a great opportunity for student collaboration, coproduction of texts, argument, and interaction. Most existing wiki systems are also flexible enough to support a variety of approaches for employing them in teaching, research, and academic administration and information settings (and even in all three at the same time)..."
This is only two case studies on WIKI applications but both are strongly supported by the learning design engagement theory (Kersely, Shneiderman, 1999 ) where students work together in a group, are project based and have an authentic focus. I am sure there are many more examples out there including the WIKI history textbook that Clay Burell's refers to in his key note speech. However, from my research so far WIKIS seem a great tool to use in our learning design. There are pitfalls of WIKIS but I'm not going to go into them in this blog. Both papers discuss some of these issues if you would care to take a look. The main point of this blog is to highlight some of the applications and capabilities of WIKIS. The following link provides more examples on the applications of WIKIS. WIKIS In Education
WIKI Capabilities
I know this post is long so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. So from my experiences so far WIKI capabilities include and are not limited to the following
- instant messaging
- creating multiple pages
- editing
- hyperlinks
- multiple users
- audio
For the moment I will leave it here and add more as my experience with WIKIs grows.
Overall I have found this exercise very interesting. Before this learning activity I didn't even know what a WIKI was. Now I believe I have a good understanding of their capabilities and how I can apply them in my teaching, learning and everyday life. Anyway that's enough from me for now! Hope you enjoyed my blog and feel free to comment.
Bruns, A. Humphreys, S. (2005). Wikis in Teaching and Assessment:The M/Cyclopedia Project Retrieved from http://snurb.info/files/Wikis%20in%20Teaching%20And%20Assessment.pdf.
Burell, C. (2009). 21st Century Teacher as Sorcerer's Apprentice. Reflections From The Rabbit Hole 5 Years In. Retrieved from http://beyond-school.org/
Kersely, G. Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology - based teaching and learning. Retrieved from hhtp:home.sprynet.com/-gkearsley/engage.htm.
Augar, N. Raitman, R., Zhou,W.(2004). Teaching and Learning Online with WIKIS Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/augar.html
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A Reflection On Blogging and ICT's So Far!
I have recently had a look at the blog by Clay Burell entitled Beyond School. In his key note speech I particularly liked how he drew attention to blogs providing external recognition for the writer. To elaborate, you could be anyone of any race, of any size, of any description, anywhere in the world and when someone follows your blog or posts a comment you feel elated, happy and on top of the world. One of your most basic needs, the need for belonging is being meet as defined in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I think for students blogging is potentially an excellent tool to create their own sense of belonging especially when as pointed out by Kunc, 1992, often more than not belonging is over looked in schools these days and replaced by academic achievement or physical prowess.
What I really Liked.....
I particularly liked the example in Clay Burell's speech, where he got students to create an online text book using a Wiki. The students worked together as a group collaborating on a project that had an authentic focus. This type of learning activity is greatly supported by the Engagement theory by Kearsley and Shneiderman that operates on the idea of tasks for students being able to RELATE-CREATE- DONATE.
What I took note of.....
I took particular note of Clive Burell when he summarized at the end of his key note that we shouldn't push people that do not want to engage with technologies and focus of people/students that are interested and want to learn. This was very similar to what Seth Godin said in his speech with TED speaks, about selling products/ideas to the right people. He basically said we should sell to the people that are already listening, to the ones that want to be sold to, they will then tell other people and so the idea/product can spread. I think this is an essential learning that I have taken from the topic so far. I have noticed that Scot does this in our course. He focuses on the students that demonstrate a real interest in ICT's hoping to engage others by spreading the ideas to them first. Well I feel I'm a great example of this strategy. Initially I was put off by ICT's but as more of my colleagues are embracing them and experimenting I find myself wanting to do the same.
So how do I get my learners to engage with and use ICT's ?
If it worked on me why reinvent the wheel. Why not get students to start their own reflective blog to get them used to ICT's. Have them set up a reader and get them to subscribe to other blogs of interest, making thoughtful comments on their peers blogs. Use pod casts, youtube examples of how to start a blog. Show them how to incorporate avatars, photos, youtube videos, etc to enhance their blog. Show your students your own blog and examples of other blogs like Clay Burells. Then introduce Wikis and how to set one up and use it for collaborative projects. I know this is not original but as I am exposed to more ICT's I will be able to add to this list and incorporate them in my teachings. Personal Challenge: So as a challenge to my self I will endeavour to seek out, learn and apply ICT's to my learning and in learning activities for my students.
This is a great summary of the benefits of bloging! Please watch!
Burell, C. 2009, 21st Century Teacher as Sorcerer's Apprentice. Reflections From The Rabbit Hole 5 Years In. Retrieved from http://beyond-school.org/
Godin, S. 2003, On Standing Out. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html
Kearsely, G., Shneiderman, B., Engagement Theory: A framework for technology- based teaching and learning. Retrived from: http://home.sprynet.com/-gkearsley/engage.htm
Kunc, N. (1992), The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Broadreach, Retrieved from http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm
What I really Liked.....
I particularly liked the example in Clay Burell's speech, where he got students to create an online text book using a Wiki. The students worked together as a group collaborating on a project that had an authentic focus. This type of learning activity is greatly supported by the Engagement theory by Kearsley and Shneiderman that operates on the idea of tasks for students being able to RELATE-CREATE- DONATE.
What I took note of.....
I took particular note of Clive Burell when he summarized at the end of his key note that we shouldn't push people that do not want to engage with technologies and focus of people/students that are interested and want to learn. This was very similar to what Seth Godin said in his speech with TED speaks, about selling products/ideas to the right people. He basically said we should sell to the people that are already listening, to the ones that want to be sold to, they will then tell other people and so the idea/product can spread. I think this is an essential learning that I have taken from the topic so far. I have noticed that Scot does this in our course. He focuses on the students that demonstrate a real interest in ICT's hoping to engage others by spreading the ideas to them first. Well I feel I'm a great example of this strategy. Initially I was put off by ICT's but as more of my colleagues are embracing them and experimenting I find myself wanting to do the same.
So how do I get my learners to engage with and use ICT's ?
If it worked on me why reinvent the wheel. Why not get students to start their own reflective blog to get them used to ICT's. Have them set up a reader and get them to subscribe to other blogs of interest, making thoughtful comments on their peers blogs. Use pod casts, youtube examples of how to start a blog. Show them how to incorporate avatars, photos, youtube videos, etc to enhance their blog. Show your students your own blog and examples of other blogs like Clay Burells. Then introduce Wikis and how to set one up and use it for collaborative projects. I know this is not original but as I am exposed to more ICT's I will be able to add to this list and incorporate them in my teachings. Personal Challenge: So as a challenge to my self I will endeavour to seek out, learn and apply ICT's to my learning and in learning activities for my students.
This is a great summary of the benefits of bloging! Please watch!
Burell, C. 2009, 21st Century Teacher as Sorcerer's Apprentice. Reflections From The Rabbit Hole 5 Years In. Retrieved from http://beyond-school.org/
Godin, S. 2003, On Standing Out. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html
Kearsely, G., Shneiderman, B., Engagement Theory: A framework for technology- based teaching and learning. Retrived from: http://home.sprynet.com/-gkearsley/engage.htm
Kunc, N. (1992), The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Broadreach, Retrieved from http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm
Monday, March 15, 2010
Blogging At Last.
As part of my learning journey I needed to create a blog and this is it! I have avoided blogging in the past, mainly out of fear of being uneducated in blogging. Well here we go! This blog will be mainly about my learning journey, insights that I have along the way, accounts that I find interesting, and articles etc. Hopefully as I develop my blogging skills I will be able to produce a blog worth reading. Lets pray to the gods and hope! Or this exercise is going to bore me and the general public! Let the blogging begin!
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