I thought chapter 6 was a review of much of what we have talked about this semester - technology can help build community in the classroom. We have talked a lot about wikis as well, but they mentioned a few wikis that I had never heard of and new ideas of ways to use wikis. I liked the idea of wikitravel.org and incoprorating that into the classroom. I got very sidetracked looking at wikitravel.org and dreaming about going to all of the places! As we've mentioned before it is very important for the teacher to hold discussions on checking the sources of the wikis and being aware that the information may not be totally accurate. The book also made a good point that teachers need to be clear of their expectations for students when using wikis particularly with their writing because students could become careless in their writing on the internet (if that's one of the teacher's goals).
I also liked the idea of using blogs in the classroom. I can see myself having students blog, but I also liked the idea of using expert-created blogs such as the "Artic Ed's Travelog" mentioned in the book. It seems like a great way for students to learn science material. I know I would have found it interesting to follow someone's travel while learning about his findings. I think blogs would be great for some students, especially those who don't feel comfortable talking in class. Teachers could set up a blog to discuss issues from class, or go deeper into a class discussion.
The Internet can help build community between classrooms in schools, across the country, and across the world in ways classes have not been able to do before. I love the idea of the Global Schoolhouse and connecting with students across the country and world and learning from one another. It is a great way for students to learn about different cultures, languages, and countries. I would love to incorporate this into my classroom in some way.
I think that blogs and wikis are also a great way for teachers to share ideas and bounce ideas off of one another. They can often be more convenient for teachers - with blogs and wikis, teachers can check them on their own time and not worry about trying to coordinate schedules with other teachers to collaborate.
A question that I had thought of while reading this was: how much of a limitation/format should teachers give students while working with blogs and wikis?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I enjoyed your posting. The chapter listed a lot of resources that will be very helpful for elementary school teachers. I think that the things that were talked about in this chapter by the author can be very useful with students in higher grades (middle and high school grades) too. I am pretty sure this will be one of the chapters in the book that I will keep close to me.
ReplyDeleteI also learned a lot from this chapter. I had no clue there were that many different types of wikis available. I see myself using a lot of these different wikis and blogs in my classrooms. I think in the younger grades teachers should provide guidelines and instructions for students as to how to set up blogs and wikis. However, as children become more accustomed to working with this technology I think teachers should provide students with creative freedom. Blogs and wikis are a great resource for students to explore on their own and connect with others around the world. I think teachers should provide some guidance at the beginning of the year, but eventually should just allow students to do what they want. Students will often learn more if they have time to explore the different communities on their own rather than following a certain format.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely about blogs and wikis amongst teachers. I think it is so important for teachers to be able to communicate effectively in order to help each other and drive each other towards professionalism.
ReplyDelete