ED585_SP09

=**ED585_SP09 Unit 7 Discussions** =

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Explore the following sites, if you are new to wikis or would like to know more about using wikis in your teaching:

Educational Wikis Wikispaces Help for K-12 Teachers [|TeachersFirst: Wiki Walk-Through] [|MediaWiki] [|PBWiki] [|The Scribe Post Hall of Fame] [|Seed Wiki] [|Qwika Search Engine] Share your experiences, thoughts, and resources related to wikis by adding comments on this page (Click on "Edit This Page" on the top and Editor tool bar to format your text). **Please post your comments below mine and add your first name at the end of your message.** I can view Recent Changes (on the left navigation bar) and see who made changes to this page. Let me know by email or call if you have any questions. Thank you.--jm

I was unsure of how to utilize Wikis. However, after reviewing the "Wikispaces Help for K-12 Teachers" I was able to navigate through the Wikispace. I especially enjoyed the video tutorial. It was easy to understand and was a good resource for a first time user. I can certainly see now how Wikis could be integrated into the classroom. - Jennifer

Wikis could be a valuable tool to "hook" kids into discussing educational content or critically think. I have had a few in-services on the pros and cons of wikis and their uses. The best aspect is kids are online often already so it may be easier to get them to participate. - Darren

I have limited experience creating wikis. I have found myself using wikipedia to look up general information about anything that I do not know about. It is a quick easy way to learn a lot about a topic and allow me to begin looking up other information about a topic. I really enjoyed the Wikispaces Help for K-12 Teachers. There was a wiki tutorial on there that was really helpful with starting your own wiki. The TeachersFirst: Wiki Walk-Through gave me alot of good ideas about where I would use a wiki. I belong to the local historical society. I think this would be a great way to post pics and stories to get the community to comment on their memories. - Ray Post Just playing a little on our wikispace. This is the bear we encounter at our cabin in [|Potter County, PA.]

I'm glad you have had some great ideas of using wikis, Ray! Thanks for sharing the picture! --jm

I may have to check out those sites. It sounds like you did receive a lot of useful information. For not knowing a lot about them, you do have some great ideas. I think communities would enjoy posting memories as long as they knew how. I am still a little overwhelmed, so I could imagine how some of the older generations feel, but overall I think it is a great idea!! --Jaimie

I know almost nothing about Wikis. (I added my info at the top of the page and it didn't look right so I'm trying again!) I have used Wikipedia.com to begin a search on a topic. I did not think wikis could be used in the primary grades effectively. After exploring a few sites I discovered that my first graders could possible use wikis. I discovered a wiki that had math sharing. Students added a picture to show an addition problem with cubes and asked "can you guess my addition story?". There was also a wiki that shared a teacher-tube video on telling time. So I thought I would try to add to this wiki. I'm not sure I am doing this correctly but time will tell. I am going to explore some more sites about using wikis in the classroom and then return with what I found. --Theresa

Like Theresa, I do not know much about Wikis. I recently attended a teacher induction at the NEIU and the main idea behind this session was technology. They did speak briefly about Wikis and showed us a quick demonstration on how to use one. I was amazed with the way that they could be implemented into the classroom. I think that they are beneficial to students at an older age level, but would not be appropriate for my students to use, unless I was not introcuded to another way that they could be used. I would use a wiki more in my daily life than in my professional life at this point. -- Jaimie

I tried to post a message earlier, but I'm pretty sure I somehow managed to post it in the wrong place because I can't seem to find it. So let me try this again. If it isn't already completely obvious, I have practically no wiki experience. I know that many secondary teachers use them in their instruction, but I never really considered the ways which wikis could be used with my young learners. After browsing through some of the resources it has become apparent to me that there are ways that I can incorporate wikis and make them beneficial and meaningful to my students. I plan to explore some more and work on getting comfortable with the creation and implementation of wikis before I jump into using them in my classroom. --Allison

Like Allison I thought that I had posted a message on this page earlier in the week, but I don't see it - so if I am missing it and it is her sorry for posting again. I have not had any wiki experience until now. My district does not allow us to access wikis, blogs, etc. We now are not even permitted to have external links on our personal school websites. Everything that I have checked out looks really cool and useful. I am going to continue to explore and see if there are things that I can use here at home for my own kids. -- Carla

Looks like I've finally been accepted as a member :) I guess my credentials had to be checked. Anyway, I agree with many of the other postings as far as using a wiki with older students. I think there is a lot of potential to hook students in and they would most likely enjoy the aspects of a wiki for a school assignment. I believe they see it as more of a "real world" experience as many of them see social networking as normal ways of life. I'm not convinced of the same thing for younger students. I liked the idea of the story starter, found above in the Wiki Walk-Through, for younger students, but I find the logistics of a wiki a bit cumbersome for young students. -- Cathy

It took me some time to figure out how to join the wiki, hence the delayed posting, but I think I've got it figured out now (hopefully). I have had essentially no experience in creating or using wikis in my classroom. I know that many of the secondary teachers use them, but I did not think it would be very useful for me or my students to incorporate them. After browsing through the resources, however, I can see that wikis are not quite as overwhelming as I thought and that there are some ways to use them that would benefit my young students. I will continue to explore until I feel comfortable in some way using wikis in my classroom. Allison Carroll

I was at a class today in which the word Wiki was mentioned. It was at a class that I least expected to hear this term. It is a class that I am required to take through the diocese in which I teach. The Assistant Superintendent of Parish Religious Education, who was teaching the class, had been at a curriculum meeting earlier in the day. Apparently during that meeting someone mentioned she should create a Wiki to keep people up-to-date and informed on various issues. She had no idea what a Wiki was. But it made me think about what a great idea it would be to share ideas among teachers within a school district. Almost like we are doing through the class discussion. The teachers could post websites, questions, solutions, teaching strategies... that work in their classroom. --Theresa

These wikis are pretty fun but I had trouble with my original panda bear image, and I thought I somehow "blocked" the other bear picture. Wikis are an interesting aspect of the web, and I would definitely use them in my class. D Yeager

I too had some difficulty joining in but think I have it figured out now. I have never used or really looked at a wiki prior to this last week's assignment. I have heard the term used but never actually checked them out before. I think wikis could be very useful in the classroom to allow students to share information and thoughts with you and other students. I am not sure how to use it in math class but I am going to keep thinking and looking for some good ideas. I would like to maybe try it out later this year or next. If you see any good math ideas please let me know. Thanks! Jenny Schmutzler

I am finally here! I had some troube along the way but now I understand how to edit. I went through the Q & A of wiki's and now have a much better concept of how I can apply it. As I stated before I think a wiki is an excellent way to exchange ideas not just across the curriculum but also in your specific subject matter. I want my lessons to reach across many subject lines so they are diverse and powerful. Learning how to navigate wiki's can help me design better lessons and prepare my students for new technology challenges. Christina Kennedy

O.K, I am finally here as well. However, For some reason my computer has not been very friendly, so I am working on a fellow teachers laptop who reqested membership and all is well. I still don't know what the problem is but I do understand how to get here! In the discussion space I had stated before that I was impressed with all of the information available. I did not see a whole lot that related to art education but I am sure that they exhist. If I can continue to get clearance through our tech dept. I will continue to further investigate. Jason Wittel

I thought I was posting for unit 7, but atually it was unit 8 (last week). Anyway, I'm here now and took some time to read what everyone else had to say. Like most of you I'm not very familiar with wikis. I do see that this could be a great instructional tool for students. This format fits with the environment they spend many hours in every day. So why not capitalize on that and use it to engage them in the learning process. I wanted to try adding a picture. My dog "Blue"- he's too smart for his own good. Jason Willits

Although I don't have much experience using wikis in the classroom I think they can be very usefulas long as students don't take advantage of their uses. It is a great way for students to colabarate thoughts or ideas about projects without meeting up. I think teachers can also use them to communicate between one another. It allows people to share thoughts when ever they want and allow others to review those thoughts on thier free time. This is a great way to combine new technology based learning strategies with the more tradtional teaching - techniques.- David Tirpak