The Portage Community School District requires teachers to participate in a certain number of technology workshop hours outside of the normal contracted day each school year. For the past few years, wikis have been a workshop option, but having no idea what they were, I didn’t think they pertained to my teaching. “That’s something they do at the high school,” was always my thought.
My first real experience with using a wiki was during the summer of 2010. I along with two colleagues and a district Library Media Specialist participated in Project TILT II (Technology Integration Leadership Teams – a CESA 5 EETT ARRA grant consortium). During the initial three days of this project, we used a PBwiki to maneuver our way from technology sites to tool videos to course downloads. I found that after a day or two, I was able to figure most of it out, but the page itself just wasn’t very appealing to me. At no point did we respond on the wiki page itself.
My second experience with a wiki was shortly after my first. Again, my two colleagues and I were able to attend a CESA 5 workshop on ipod and ipad apps. Again, our experience was with PBwiki. This wiki had a lot less information and was a little easier to follow, but still, I wasn’t thrilled with the look of the site. Again, at no point did we respond on the wiki page itself.
When starting this Masters program, we were required to develop our own wiki at wikispaces and respond to class discussions on a wiki. This was my first experience actually responding and using a wiki for more than just reading and finding links. I found it to be fairly easy to understand and I was able to use the basics with very little practice. However, I also found that once I wasn’t required to use it, I didn’t. In this case, it’s not that it wasn’t meaningful to me, but I just didn’t have the time or the immediate reason to use it.
My thoughts about having a future wiki.
I think that having a classroom wiki would be a fun idea for my students, parents, other teacher, and myself as well. I currently have my district web site, but it is not interactive. Parents cannot contact me other than clicking on my email link. Students are not able to share and brag about their own works.
I really liked the format of one of the wiki sites I found at http://yung.wikispaces.com/. She used her second grade class wiki to communicate information to and from parents, for students to show off their work, and to communicate with other teachers. Her wiki site was also quite visually appealing. I know that the look of the wiki is not the purpose, however if I’m going to be looking at something and using it for an extended period of time, I want it to look nice.
I don’t think that having a wiki exactly like Ms. Yung’s is far from my ultimate goal. I do know that I will need to take “baby steps” to get there. One of my first steps might be to post some of the helpful information that I already have on my current website such as word lists, wish lists, and helpful links.
I keep flipping from including my parent component next or my students. In a way, I would like to begin with posting student work and student updates & discussions. I sometimes think that when the students know how to do it first, they will be so excited and want to show their parents their work. In turn, their parents will want to use the site to see what their child has done.
From there, I would like to consistently add parent letters & updates. This might also be a great time to have parents get into some discussions. They could post questions about assignments or even praises about what their child has done. I would then like to add my students into the mix.
Lastly, when I felt as if I was ready, I would begin to open up my wiki to other teachers. I would post links that I frequently use as well as post some questions about how others do things.
My biggest reservation about having a working wiki deals with the parent component. I teach in a school with a high poverty rate. I’m not sure how much parent interaction I would really get. But, like mentioned before, if the students are excited and know how to do it, they can pull their parents in.
I am already looking forward to getting my district’s TWOs (Technology Workshop Opportunities) list for the semester. I’d like to see what they are offering to lower elementary teachers for wiki ideas and maybe even begin to share my own with them!
I agree with your statement about not using some of the technology after learning about it because I almost did not create a wiki for my classes this year. I am glad I changed my mind. Also, until this year we did not have access to wikis or googledocs for our students because the school was afraid then students would be checking their email or playing on facebook. Its good to see that your district is willing to take the risks, so technology can be used in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is important for you to create a wiki that you will use and stay current with. It can be a great communication tool for teachers and parents. You may want to poll your families to see how much the wiki would be used and what information they would like to see on it. I was also considering putting our parent daily questions on my site. This way parents would know what was learned at school and what to talk with their child about.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas about blogging with some of the more exciting things you guys are doing in your classroom. I like it when I'm able to read people's blogs who post when they have something to say vs those who just like to have their thoughts on the web! What science unit are you doing with apples?
ReplyDeleteI also like your font :)
ReplyDeleteUsing web 2.0 tools is a great idea in the field of education. However, we should face low-income family issues always before designing these wonderful online activities for students. It must be a challenge as a teacher. But I would like to think about it in a more positive way. Someday, they may be able to have free internet services. :)
ReplyDeleteTim - At my 1st & 2nd grade level, our apple unit consists mostly of the apple life cycle, parts of the apple, and a we'll get a little bit into the different types of apples. We'll even pull some math into the unit by measuring! This week I showed them a you tube video that they loved(and constantly sing)! It was pretty impressive when they asked if I could "bookmark" it.
ReplyDeleteNari - It would be so great if internet services were free for all! I've heard of a few communities having it. It's sad to think that some people/places cannot see the benefits of free internet because they are blinded by their greed.
I struggle a lot with the whole access thing. Because a disproportionate number of my students do not have computers or internet at home, I'm really reluctant to invest heavily in web-based learning. It seems like one more place where they would be experiencing a sense of exclusion or possibly inadequacy if I were to do more of it. I also have a couple of kids whose parents evidently have a principled objection to the internet. I don't want my actions as a teacher to ignore that or subtly insult them. I really want to have the class feel like a community, and building that community using tools that some don't have ready access to just isn't going to work. I'd be interested to hear how things go for you in terms of family participation in wikis or websites or other shared activities. Keep us updated please, especially if you have good news to report! I'd like to find out what works!
ReplyDelete