… so I guess when people say “Wiki”,
they are not referring to the sound a person makes when pretending to scratch
and imaginary record on a turntable.
Seriously though, I have heard of a wiki, but I never really understood
much about it. It was not until I read
the discovery exercises that I began to comprehend the meaning of, and the idea
behind a wiki. I explored the APSU 23
Things Sandbox wiki, but really did not understand how to use it. I could not find anywhere to click that would
pull up a page to help me figure out what to do. From what I could gather, I had to create my
own material and then post it.
Thankfully, I was able to do that.
After I logged out, I logged back in to make sure it posted. Unfortunately, it did not pop up as the most
recent entry. Ugggghhhh! I tried it again under a different section
within the Sandbox, saved it and logged out.
However, when I logged back in, my version was still not there. By this time, I was getting frustrated; I
thought I was doing so well too. After
searching around for 10 minutes, I finally found it under the “Pages”
section. It is entitled, “Technology in
General”. I commented on my journey through
technology and even used the Snipping Tool (yes, you heard right, I was able to
figure out the Snipping Tool) to insert my Hawaiian girl avatar. I altered text and pasted a past blog
comment. It aggravates me that I do not
know how to get it to show up on the ‘recently added’ section. Those
of you tripping over your feet to look at it, just go under the pages section
and type in ‘Technology in General’ and it will pop up. I inserted my Sandbox creation at the bottom of this post.
Even though I could not maneuver
through it as successfully as others can, I can see how using a wiki in the
classroom is beneficial. Personally, I
would use it as a home base for my class.
I would set it up to feel like a homeroom, but in a virtual
environment. Kids today are so
accustomed to life on the internet, so having a homeroom in the virtual world
just seems to make sense. The key
features would include sections for assignments, lesson reviews, extension
links on topics we are learning in class, hubs for larger collaborative
projects that are due in the future, links for websites that I think students
could benefit from, and newsletters for parents to keep them updated on what is
going on in the classroom. Parents and
students can view the progression of the class, post comments and suggestions,
and see what interests the class as a whole.
In fact, I observed a teacher who uses a wikipage for her classroom and
she loves it. She swears that it makes
her life, and the lives of her students and parents, so much easier because
they have what they need right at their fingertips with easy access. The teacher has noticed a decrease in parents
calling and emailing with questions about their children, as well as, an
increase in assignment completions and improvement in the quality of the
projects from her students. She attributes
this to the wikipage that she has set up.
Parents and students are logging on to this at home and are really using
the site. After hearing this from my
observation teacher, and exploring the discovery resources, I am very excited
to put ‘Thing 15’ in my toolbox for my future classroom.
I have always been a bit hesitant about incorporating technology into my daily life. Twitter, Facebook, iPhones, those strange square things that you are supposed to take a picture of on your phone and then it tells you information about it - this has never really interested me. Taking this class, though, has really made me aware that our society will never step backward (unless the themes from the doomsday tv shows become a reality). I need to jump on board sooner rather than later. My kids know more about technology than I do. That can't be a good sign since they are only 7 and 9, and I am verging upon my 40s. I am sure when I start teaching, technology will be something completely different, and I will have to relearn it all again. Thankfully though, this class will prepare me for it all
Below is the blog I wrote about the using Web 2.0. I thought it would be fitting to add here.
Trish W (5540)
…Okay so maybe I have more to learn about technology than I had originally thought (and I already thought that was lot!). Sine I completely missed Web 1.0, I really need to become familiar with Web 2.0. After reading through all of the linked resources to familiarize myself with the subject, Web 2.0/School 2.0 sounds very amazing and beneficial to teachers, students, and education in general … but I also have some concerns about it it as well.
School 2.0 is a fantastic way to present teaching. If done properly, it can revolutionize education. It is changing the face of teaching and learning. This new idea of education is breaking the traditional boundaries that most of us have grown up with. As I look back on my schooling, I remember lots of heavy textbooks, endless hours of notetaking, straight rows of desks, lecture-style teaching, card catalogs, and confining classrooms. All this is now changing. Web 2.0 is bringing education to life: it is giving teaching and learning new legs, and those legs are taking us to places we never thought possible. With such ground-breaking technology, students can scrutinized the painting of the Mona Lisa, take a virtual field trip to the Louvre in Paris where it is now on display, research Florence Italy where Leonardo da Vinci first started painting it, and Skype with a professional artist in Frances who can provide them with substantial background information about it … all in 1 hours’time! That, to me, is simply amazing. This type of education is pushing the envelope and creating some exciting new dynamics. Students can video conference with other classrooms around the globe, participate in discussions and projects with groups who are not even in the same room, and integrate emerging ideas at the touch of a button. Technology has certainly enriched education and is changing the description of what education should entail.
I am also a bit hesitant about it too though. All of this technology seems to be coming at us at such a fast rate of speed. I am worried that it will eventually cause an overload and become so overwhelming that real education might be lost. Technology is certainly glitzy and captivating, but it is also addicting to the point where some cannot function well without it. Technology is becoming so embedded in education, and we are relying on it more and more now. Can we be just as creative without having to use it? Are we depending on it too much to teach or learn? Are we forgoing personal interaction in favor of artificiality? These are some of the questions that I am starting to think about now that I know more about School 2.0/Web 2.0. But perhaps it is my inexperience at this point, as to why I have all these questions. Whatever the case though, it will be interesting to see how this will change education in the long run.
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