Using+Wikis+For+Your+Classroom

Vicki Davis has many ideas for using Wikis on her blog. You will also find many other ideas and so much information for teaching with technology. As always, one thing leads to another. Please explore her blog for more information. [] Her class wiki: http://westwood.wikispaces.com/

= • How I use wikis in the classroom  = = • I have two primary uses: classroom organization and classroom content. = = • Classroom organization  = = • The wiki is my hub. I guess you could say, I have a wiki-centric classroom. Whether it is blogs, podcasts, wikis, or vodcasts, if it is created in my classroom it is linked on the wiki. If the student creates it, they are to link it. It gives us one place to organize and post and one place to send content to me. = = • Classroom content  = = • I've organized my uses into 5 categories of educational uses. = = • 1 - Lesson Summaries  = = • When we complete a lesson, the students are to post "their lesson" to the wiki. This includes vocabulary but also concepts that are part of the lesson. This is a collaborative effort after the initial information is posted. What results is a great compendium of information about a topic that students can access from home when it is time to study. (So much for "leaving their book" at school.) = = • 2 - Collaboration of Notes  = = • This is different because this is student driven and student created. Many colleges are seeing this happen spontaneously on college campuses as students strive to make collective sense out of large amounts of material. Many educators fear this, but I embrace it. As the students edit, work and re-edit, they are learning. = = • Of course there are "bottom feeders" just as in anything, but although they look at the notes, they will never retain the full amount of those that participated in editing. = = • 3 - Concept Introduction and Exploratory Projects  = = • This is perfect for the wiki. Any time there is a topic that I do not know a lot about (usually because it is so new) we explore the topic together and create information on the wiki. (See mashups for an example of this.) We teach one another and interact on an equal playing field and emerge as pseudo-experts in our topic by the end of the period. = = • 4 - Dissemination of Important Classroom Information beyond the Classroom  = = • This week as we've worked on our Computer Safety and Privacy wiki book, my students are beginning to feel the calling of sharing this important information with others. We uploaded our first video about why you should protect your identity. =