Looking back on my experiences in CEP 811, I have a lot to be proud of. Eight weeks is such a short period of time to accomplish all I have. There are plenty of things to be proud of, but I know that my accomplishments are merely building blocks upon which even greater teaching will be built upon.
The WebQuest and StAIR projects were clearly the most labor intensive, but I learned a lot of lessons during the process. Both projects encourage student exploration which is awesome. However, engaging exploration without boundaries can render your lesson largely ineffective and in some cases even put your kids in a dangerous situation. Building the WebQuest taught me that restricting internet research to a chosen list of sites can really help to focus students. The StAIR taught me to try to predict problem areas with content and create mechanisms that will provide extra assistance to students. A teacher can never think too far ahead, especially using when using technology.
Educational application of Web 2.0 has been the biggest eye opener for me. While WebQuests and StAIR’s are very powerful tech tools, they take a very long time to create. I see Web 2.0 as a digital update to classic analog classroom activity. It takes very little effort to move student notebooks from spiral notebooks to a blog format, but there are very real benefits on top of that ease.
I will take advantage of wiki’s and Google Doc’s for collaboration. I will use jing to provide dynamic feedback to my students on projects so that I do not need to use valuable class time. I will use Web 2.0 to expand my classroom beyond the classroom walls and beyond school hours. Really, there is so much that I want to do with Web 2.0… but I need to implement these tools in a logical manner.
The philosophical difference between my tech approach now after taking CEP 811 is that I start with an educational need and then think of the tools that will help me to address it. I’ve always used technology to enhance learning, never to use technology just to use it. However, using the “problem solving” philosophy allows me to maximize my instruction.
A new goal of mine going forward is to keep building upon the work that I’ve already started. I want to make my StAIR and WebQuest better than they already are and I want to continue to make new ones. As a lifelong learner I cannot be satisfied with my teaching, I must continually improve it.
Showing posts with label wiki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wiki. Show all posts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wiki’s & Collaborative Constructions
This post is all about Wiki's!
Ok, maybe wiki's don't warrant an exclamation. But they can be powerful collaborative tools. Wikipedia by itself has changed the way people access information. How amazing is it that everyone can contribute their individual knowledge and research towards one single entity like that? Essentially we can synthesize all of the world’s knowledge and have full access to it as long as we have internet connectivity.
While Wikipedia has had its issues with users providing inaccurate information, I believe that it has become more consistent the longer it has been around. There is no doubt in my mind that it can continue to trend this way the longer it has to establish itself.
Today, I contributed to the John Glenn High School (Westland, MI) page on Wikipedia.
When I searched for the school, I found a stub article containing little more than a few sentences and a link to the school’s website.
Here’s what it looked like:
I had stumbled upon an e-portfolio of a former student teacher at JGHS some time back, and decided to contact Brian Galvin to ask if it would be ok to use his brief history of JGHS for the Wikipedia article.
I know that Wikipedia need not have 100% factual information, just verifiable information. But I figured since I had his email that I would extend the courtesy.
His response back was emphaitic with approval, but he also told me where he got his information from: Two teachers that had been teaching at JGHS since it opened in 1964!
As a man who loves history, I would have loved to sit in on that conversation.
Anyways… I added a history section that also was cause to add the page’s first refrences. I also looked up the geographic coordinates of the school and added those as well. Here’s a look at the changes:
After I finished with Wikipedia, I set out to create my own wiki. I must have played around with my newly created account on wikispaces for four hours before I figured out what I wanted to do: A handbook of technologies and their educational application(s).
I’m very much intrigued with the idea of pulling the outside world into my instruction, so I thought… why not pull in outside contributors?
I have friends and contacts across all career paths. Often, in conversation my friends mention something that sparks an educational idea for me. Maybe it helps a lesson or maybe it helps me to address behavioral issues… the bottom line is that it helps.
I wanted to create a wiki that focused on technology use in education that could be contributed to by individuals who have either have experience with teaching or experience with technology. This way maybe we could synthesize these areas of expertise and use technology more effectively because of it.
Right now, in order to make sure to establish a sustainable process, contributors are added by invite only. Let me know if you would be interested, and I’ll send you an invite.
Thanks for the read!
Ok, maybe wiki's don't warrant an exclamation. But they can be powerful collaborative tools. Wikipedia by itself has changed the way people access information. How amazing is it that everyone can contribute their individual knowledge and research towards one single entity like that? Essentially we can synthesize all of the world’s knowledge and have full access to it as long as we have internet connectivity.
While Wikipedia has had its issues with users providing inaccurate information, I believe that it has become more consistent the longer it has been around. There is no doubt in my mind that it can continue to trend this way the longer it has to establish itself.
Today, I contributed to the John Glenn High School (Westland, MI) page on Wikipedia.
When I searched for the school, I found a stub article containing little more than a few sentences and a link to the school’s website.
Here’s what it looked like:
I had stumbled upon an e-portfolio of a former student teacher at JGHS some time back, and decided to contact Brian Galvin to ask if it would be ok to use his brief history of JGHS for the Wikipedia article.
I know that Wikipedia need not have 100% factual information, just verifiable information. But I figured since I had his email that I would extend the courtesy.
His response back was emphaitic with approval, but he also told me where he got his information from: Two teachers that had been teaching at JGHS since it opened in 1964!
As a man who loves history, I would have loved to sit in on that conversation.
Anyways… I added a history section that also was cause to add the page’s first refrences. I also looked up the geographic coordinates of the school and added those as well. Here’s a look at the changes:
After I finished with Wikipedia, I set out to create my own wiki. I must have played around with my newly created account on wikispaces for four hours before I figured out what I wanted to do: A handbook of technologies and their educational application(s).
I’m very much intrigued with the idea of pulling the outside world into my instruction, so I thought… why not pull in outside contributors?
I have friends and contacts across all career paths. Often, in conversation my friends mention something that sparks an educational idea for me. Maybe it helps a lesson or maybe it helps me to address behavioral issues… the bottom line is that it helps.
I wanted to create a wiki that focused on technology use in education that could be contributed to by individuals who have either have experience with teaching or experience with technology. This way maybe we could synthesize these areas of expertise and use technology more effectively because of it.
Right now, in order to make sure to establish a sustainable process, contributors are added by invite only. Let me know if you would be interested, and I’ll send you an invite.
Thanks for the read!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)