Wikis open classrooms to collaborate

I have used wiki pages in the past and even took a wiki class from Lori during the last school year. I have always liked the ideas of easy group collaboration using technology (kids love technology). I realize the limitations of people putting "whatever they want" on a wiki but pbwiki does a nice job of limiting outsiders from adding to my wiki.

When I took the wiki class I immediately saw the power of students working together. I made my wiki page and then went back to my classes, told them how cool wikis are and then did nothing else with it! As usual, time constraints got the best of me and I never had kids do anything. Now after the differentiated learning activities I have participated in this year, I feel that a wiki site is the perfect place for differentiated student projects. Students who are struggling can develop the basic ideas part of the wiki by providing general information. Students who grasp high level concepts can apply their knowledge to designing detailed items for a curriculum topic wiki page. This is how I envision an entire class being able to work together in a differentiated way.

As I watched the videos on wikis, I felt more open to trying a class content wiki page due to the ideas presented, such as: using a wiki page to manage other wiki pages; collaborating on topic and project ideas; connecting to digital media beyond the textbook. I also like what teachers said about having to teach students "digital citizenship". Without these online morals, students could cross the line and publish something that could be offensive. Many students need to be taught to think before they act. Finally, I like the idea that the wiki can be password protected and therefore be secure, yet open to advancement from many, trusted student minds.

Video Sharing Sites

I think there is a high potential for student learning when they watch short video clips during class as well as at home. These videos can help students' minds "shift gears" during class as well as engaging them at home; when they click on a link they are saying "I am ready to learn"- this is powerful because it is on their own time. Here are my ideas about the websites I reviewed.

Next Vista for Learning This site has good potential for student learning. I love the fact that it is not for profit so there are no ads to distract learning as well as not risking the questionable sites and content. The problem that I have right now with Next Vista is that it is low in content as far as my classroom content need goes. I realize that it will grow in time but right now it doesn't have the amount of materials that I need.

Teachertube I like this site a lot. Again, no ads are great and it seems to have a higher quality feed than Next Vista. I like that anyone can upload a video and this will allow student projects or "at home" experiments to be displayed. Curious kids often do really cool stuff at home. I believe these kids should be allowed to share their experiments with other people around the world on a distinguished site like Teachertube.

YouTube The mother of all video sharing sites! Good things about YouTube are that there is tons of good content already on the site and every kids has been to YouTube at some point in their lives. Many kids go there to relax so that if students are already in front of their computers at home and are asked to click on a link and view a video for homework it will be in a format that they like and is easy to access. The negative aspect of YouTube is that there are many topics and advertisements that are not appropriate to display (even in the sidebar) in class or possibly subject kids to at home; you never know what banner ad will be up when the kids clicks on the link from home.

Clip Blast This is a site I have never heard of before today. That said, I will definitely be back in the future. The idea that it is an "all in one" site that searches the internet from video clips from any website is great. Of course, this opens the door for objectionable content and possibly being blocked for students while at school. I do like the neat, professional look to the site as well as the ad free view will watching videos. I didn't like that I couldn't pause the video that I watched from YouTube through Clip Blast. Overall, I feel that this is a very useful site that I have bookmarked to use later.

As far as educational content and relevance, ease of use, and possibilities for my classes goes I have to rank Clip Blast first followed closely by YouTube. They have the most content that applies directly to my contents and I will continue to use them in class. As I said above, students may view content that is not school appropriate and they may not be able to access these sites from a school computer.

Whether we like it or not, online videos are here and kids are watching them. I think that harnessing the student interest in these videos can help us out when they view school content in the comfort of their own homes. How cool would it be if an Earth science video went "viral"?

Blogging Reflections

I am very interested in getting classroom blog discussion up and running. I hope to introduce it in the second quarter of this year and am thinking of thought provoking posts (say that five times, fast) so that my students will be itching to weigh in with their two cents. I definitely feel that there is a place in my classroom for blogging as it will get students to think about science outside the classroom and then focus their thoughts in a coherent post. This will allow the more "vocal" students to share their opinions without any time constraints normally present in the classroom setting.

I see myself using blogs to discuss erosion around town during November and hope students will share their erosion observations (hopefully through the use of digital pictures). I will then steer the blog into an environmental discussion where students can delve into how important soil is and yet how easy it is to lose to natural events.

I am reading a good book

I have been reading a very interesting book called The World is Flat. It is a very interesting read on how the internet has allowed people from all over the world to become competitors and/or collaborators with people anywhere on Earth.

If you would like to know more about Thomas Friedman (the book's author) you can check out his wiki page.

Welcome to my blog

Hello and welcome to my new blog. I love the idea of blogging but haven't put enough time into blogging to get gratified by it. This is my first real attempt to get a blog running.