Oh yay! So excited that I was
picked for this topic because I started using Wikispaces in my classroom last
year. I was planning on using it this year, but in April. Although, on my way
home this afternoon I was thinking about allowing my students to use the Wiki
next week.
Before
I get a little ahead of myself let me tell you about my wonderful class. I have
22 third graders. Yes, third graders using a wiki! Last week Lacey said, “ The article talks
about how we consider children to be born into technology as "digital
natives" and their parents are "immigrants.” Let’s be real for a
second, how many students use their devices for educational reasons? They are “digital
natives”, but not so much for education reasons. So using a wiki to do educational work is pretty impressive for children that
are ranging from 7 to 8 years old. Since
I have not done a wiki with my class this year, my post is going to be
referring to my other great class last year. Last
year, I had 26 third grade students and they loved the wiki. I had students who would turn in fake money they earned from their class jobs just to
spend five minutes on the wiki to do work.
Why
did I make the Wiki? In one of our college classes we had to do a paper on the
two wikis we were using for the class. As part of the assignment I needed the student’s input about what one my
students would like to use in the classroom. One day during class, I showed my
students the two wikis I was using in class and said, “Can you help Ms. M with
her homework?” I showed them the PBworks wiki and Wikispaces, I was using it in
my class. Then I let them play on my wikis to see what one they liked best and
was the easiest to navigate. Once they
were done I collected their input. And I
thought I was done, I really did this for the paper not because I wanted
them to use a wiki. Then one of them said can we make one? And as they say the
rest was history.
As it says in our
text, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts and Other
Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will
Richardson, “ There is no doubt that
teachers on the K-12 levels are going to be hard pressed to justify the use of
such an open venue for the publication of student work.”(p.60) With that quote in mind here is my
justification for my wiki. I also made the Wiki because I thought this year we
were going to a Smart Balance test, and I wanted my students to get use to
explaining their answers and becoming more metacognitive, instead of just radio
buttons test. I really like using the
wiki because my students worked in teams of four or more and they all could
help each other, explain their answers and show other students different strategies
that work from them. At first the wiki did not turn out the way I wanted them to use
it. Some of them would just type their answer, and then spend the rest of their
time using it like an instant messenger ,which is fine if it was related to
work. Once I saw they were not taking it seriously, I had to regroup myself ,and
show them how I wanted them to use the wiki. After a few long months, they
finally started using the wiki the way I wanted them to use it.
After
my students told me they wanted a wiki, I had a ton of questions running
through my head. Such as why am I making
this wiki? What can third graders do
with a wiki ? I feel I am not a lone,many teachers do not use them because they
have no clue what is a good purpose, how to use a wiki, why to use and their students
are not old enough. I understand these
were questions I first faced right before I made my wiki, I did not see this
last long in my classroom and it did! I am proud to say, I am one of the
success stories of using a wiki in my classroom. According to Richardson,
“ in using wikis, students are not only
learning how to publish content; they are also learning how to develop and use
all sorts of collaborative skills, negotiating with others to agree on
correctness, meaning, relevance and more.” (p.61.)
Page
63 in Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts and Other
Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will
Richardson give many different example of wikis uses in the class.
Thomas Friedman uses the wiki in his class to connect with another school in
Bangladesh to do a collaborative and investigative project about the world flat . Once the
students were done they were to give a report on their wiki.I found this cool
website called teacherforteachers.net
and it has a page about the wiki use in the classroom and it also gives
examples of real teachers using the wiki in their classroom. I really like this
wiki I found called The Third Dimension.
I like it because these two teachers are using this wiki as like a classroom
page. I also like how their first page is a
Glogster and people can click it to use different links. This is a good
example of using it for the parents too. I used my wiki last year, as a discussion board.
Every week, I would post some type of math or reading questions relating to our
curriculum. The students would have a week to post an answer and then reply to
their classmates’ answers. The other
goal I wanted to accomplish is I wanted my students to feel like this wiki was
there wiki. It was just not another medium that I was monitoring and telling
them what to do. Although, I did monitor it because one bad word gets out and
there goes the day. Being a teacher it
is a fine line of what role we can and want to take on to make sure we do not
scare our students away from sharing their ideas.
I
love my wiki, I can go on for days telling you everything about it. The good,
the bad and ugly, but you have a life and I am sure you are done reading my
ramble. I just want to touch super fast on safety because our book talks about
that a lot. On my wiki account for my classroom, I have it on super tight lock
down. To enter the site the students need passwords and they have to be invited
our request permission to join. All their post are private, and I do not allow
them to post any pictures. I do not allow them to take the wiki login in home
because I can not monitor the website 24/7 and I just need one bad Youtube
video posted on a Friday night and there goes my job. I really do encourage you
to at least try a wiki in your room and share your stories with me. Trust me at
first you will get the silly stuff, and you may ask yourself why did I do this?
But guide your students about the proper way to handle the wiki, and push
through the bad. In the end you will have a success story to.
All my Love,
Ms.M
http://makul1n.wikispaces.com/ The link to my class's wiki.
Works
Cited
Norris, Nadine.
"Wikis in the Classroom." Technology Integration for Teachers.
5 Aug. 2009. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.techforteachers.net/wikis-in-the-classroom.html>.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.
"Smart
Teaching - Top Online Teaching Programs." Smart Teaching RSS. 4 Aug.
2008. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/>.
Today watching Usher Live!
This is my computer area.
Hola Natalie,
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the pbworks vs. wiki paper. It seems like it was so long ago that we used pbworks. I would definitely choose wiki spaces because of your mentioned comments. First of all, you are absolutely right about our kids understanding of technology. We automatically assume that they will have no issues when applying technology in an educational setting. But, they mainly use technology for everything but for educational purposes! It does encourage me that a larger number of teachers are embracing technology in the classroom by using site such as wiki spaces in conjunction with traditional methods of learning. My older boys have used all the technologies we have been exposed to so far in our masters programs which is great for me when I run into a problem.
Second, I think it is great that you are using these site with younger students. I think most people outside the educational field would think younger students would not benefit using these sites. Teachers like yourself are proving proof, to parents and other teachers alike, that these tools could be used by a wide range of students. Like everything else, you need to establish rules and give them time to explore. I hope you continue to find new and exciting ways to apply what we have learned to make education fun and exciting for all!
Hi Matt,
DeleteYour comments are very nice! I know it seems so long ago I was making my Wiki for my third graders. This year, I have not done it yet, mine are a little more immature than my last class, but that can change.
As we know technology is changing the world, and I want my studnets to be able to know about the great benifits of technology in their life. I understand some people worry about technology being bad, but there really is some good in technology and I want my students to see the good.
Rules are a huge thing that makes sure technology does not turn to the "dark side". I had one that would write rude names and he lost his chance because that is not why I made this wiki, that was Cyberbulllying to me. I do not allow those names in my room why would I want them in my classroom's techology?
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI think you are so brave for pioneering this wiki technology in the classroom, especially with such young students. Of course, we can all see the value it could have, but few of us possess the fortitude to use it with our students due to one fear or another (you mentioned safety). I think we as educators only want to use technology we are perfectly comfortable with in the classroom, which keeps us from trying many things that could be extremely beneficial to our students' 21st century education.
You've done a really nice job making sure your students are safe on your Wiki. I'm curious, though, as to why you allow Youtube videos to be posted, but not pictures. Why is this? I love that all members of the Wiki must be invited and that all students have their own passwords. This way you can be sure (for the most part) who is posting what. Do you have parent access to your Wiki as well, or only students?
Hi Angela,
DeleteThank you for the comment. I was shocked that my little ones could do the Wiki when I gave them the assignment. As I said, and as you can see they get a little silly at first, but after I told them how to do post correctly, the post got better. What grade do you teach? You should try it in your classroom.
I do not allow any Yooutube videos to be posted or photos. Youtube is blocked at our school, there is no way the students could get into Youtube videos. This wiki, I have not been watching since the end of school. It is possible one of them remember the login and uploaded it at home. I did not allow parent access, as I said , I would not let them take home their login in card because I would have to monitor the website at night time, and I am old, I go to bed at 8. So it is a little hard for me to watch 24/7. When I show my new class how my last year's class did it I will review the wiki. As I said, I have not been monitoring it. I need to find away if I can set a timer on it that would help because some students stay up until midnight and they could post at 9 and I would not know.
Thanks for the post!
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI love reading about how you've implemented a wiki into your 3rd grade classroom. That is something that I would like to work toward with my second grade students. One of the biggest challenges I have had with using technology in my classroom is the inconsistency of the tech department and their availability to assist in setting up or changing any settings that are needed for the devices being used.
For me, when I get to creating the wiki I want to make sure I've gone through all the steps so I can be sure to limit the amount of time or issues the students will have to spend learning how to navigate to the wiki from their iPads. I also want to be sure that the safety of my students on these devices is taken care of because they are so young and will be taking these devices back and forth from school and home.
Hello,
DeleteWow you are so lucky to have the iPads, I wish I had iPads for all my studnets I only have one and it is mine. If I give it to a student and they break it, I buy it. Yes, I understand about the technology department, mine do/ did not know I was using this last year because I did it toward the end of the year. I am sure if I gave them more notice they could have time to set up more limts and I would not have to be watching it 24/7.
I wish you luck using it in a second grade classroom. I guess it depends on their behvaior and personality. I do not know your class, but if they could act mature for their age I would so use the Wiki with them. I forgot to say, last year I had a student who had a horrible illness and it kept her out of school for two months. She had to stay home and could not go outside. She used the Wiki's instant messanger to talk to the other students and keep up with work.It really made a huge difference in our lives.
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteWow! This is impressive for third graders. How do you allow students to go on the wikis? Do you have computer lab time or do you have a schedule for your class computers? My biggest issue is finding the time to teach students how to use the platform and then teaching the expectations. Even though we aren't taking the Smarter Balance I think the new MEAP will be similar to the SBAC. I think it is really important that you are having your students state their reasons. When we took the SBAC pilot I know that students could answer the questions but they were so intimidated by typing that they would just type a word or two.
I love that you said that you wanted them to have ownership over the wiki. I have started allowing my students so many choices this year and I can see a huge difference in their attitudes and work. I am sure that your students are more excited about the wiki if they are the owners of the wiki. Thanks for the website I am going to look into it. A teacher at my school uses a wiki to upload student work as a portfolio for parents to see their writing projects. Reading this post made me realize I can do this with third graders too!
Thanks,
Lacey Benton
Great article about using Wiki's with your third graders! I like how you started using it to prepare for the Smarter Balance test. Wiki's definitely offer an avenue for explaining answers, which is what Smarter Balance is suppose to do, in part. Offering students a way to work collaboratively and using their words to explain what's happening really hits a lot of different areas of learning and expressing their learning.
ReplyDeleteAs for the safety aspect of using wiki's with young learners, I also agree with your style. Keeping the wiki password protected, and private, allows students to work in a completely safe environment, without worry of unauthorized users editing content or making contact with your students.
A lot of my co-workers and others that I speak with always talk about how great kids are with technology, and I think that it's too broad of a statement. I teach computer, web design, and business classes in a computer lab, and each year I always find myself surprised by many of my students' levels of tech knowledge. They're all great at using their cell phone, and browsing YouTube, but many don't have the deep tech knowledge we usually assume they have. A few of my co-workers always talk about how much "smarter" their students probably are with technology, so they don't feel a need to spend class time teaching a lot of technology curriculum. I'm sure there are a bunch of students that have a technology knowledge gap as a result of this and feel left behind. I commend your efforts to teach kids how to responsibly use wikis, and not just assuming they have the knowledge and maturity to do so already.
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm very impressed with the way that you were able to incorporate Wikis into a third-grade classroom. No doubt, it shows that, with the proper constructs, educational platforms/programs that seem to be built for more developed students, can be used in the classroom.
ReplyDelete