Wikis That I Investigated
Class assignments that include elements of project- based learning, collaboration, authentic work, and an audience can help students develop and refine higher- level thinking skills (Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum). Wikis and the other tools discussed in chapters four and eight of Web 2.0 How- To For Educators prove that to be true. After investigating some wikis, I am interested in using it as a tool in my personal classroom. While investigating Wiki, I saw some that I thought were amazing and some that I thought were amazing ideas that needed to be executed better. Here are a few of the ones that I looked more into. When you get a chance click the links and take a look at them for yourself.
http://primarymath.wikifoundry.com
This Wiki was an interactive way for teachers to collaborate and share ideas for teaching different math standards in the primary grades. I loved that it had input and communication for a variety of primary grade teachers. Some of the videos do not play unless you press download. I feel that the videos should be ready to play when others visit your site. As a teacher I want to be able to go to your site and everything be ready for use. I loved that on the site many math topics were available and that it was organized so that the different topics had different tabs.
http://kcountingbook.wikifoundry.com
This Wiki is to help kindergarten students with counting from one to one hundred. The concept of showing the different pictures to represent different numbers is amazing. I wish the person who made the Wiki had completed it and made sure the all the pictures has good quality. There were some numbers without pictures and some pictures that were not of good quality. The idea of this Wiki was great and is a great tool for Kindergarten teachers if the Wiki was complete and clear to see.
http://gowest.wikispaces.com
This Wiki was amazing. It is actually the Wiki that made me consider using Wiki in my own classroom. This Wiki made to teach third graders about Westward Expansion is a great tool for teachers. This Wiki has visuals, graphs, and is organized so that students can easily find all the information that they need. When reading the teacher reflection I read that this Wiki project was very beneficial to the students and that it would definitely be used again. This example of a Wiki shows that Wikis can promote student engagement, collaboration, and higher-level thinking.
Wiki In My Classroom
The State of Wiki Usage in U.S. K–12 Schools: Leveraging Web 2.0 Data Warehouses to Assess Quality and Equity in Online Learning Environments discusses how Wiki helps students with expert thinking, complex communication, and new media literacy. I want to push my students beyond what they are used to when it comes to their learning. Using Wiki is one way that I can push my students using technology. In my classroom I plan to use Wiki as a way to have students s=explore different standards. Some examples of topics I can use a Wiki for are the Regions of Georgia, The Creek and Cherokee, and the states of matter. I plan to also use Wiki as a way for students to go home and communicate with each other on topics from class. Prior to reading and exploring Wiki, I thought it was only a tool that could benefit older students (4th grade and above). I now see that there are different ways to use Wiki and it is appropriate for all aged students.
Investigating Tools Tha Can Be Used In My Classroom
![Picture](/uploads/8/0/6/7/80670448/zoho-blog-3.jpg?165)
Zoho Doc
I’m still not too familiar Zoho and haven’t decided if it is a tool that I would like to use yet. In this picture shown I was experimenting with Zoho to make conference notes to attach to report cards. I could share this document with the teachers who push into my classroom and they could add their observations to the document and when we all finished our input the document could be printed for the parent of the child to view.
I’m still not too familiar Zoho and haven’t decided if it is a tool that I would like to use yet. In this picture shown I was experimenting with Zoho to make conference notes to attach to report cards. I could share this document with the teachers who push into my classroom and they could add their observations to the document and when we all finished our input the document could be printed for the parent of the child to view.
![Picture](/uploads/8/0/6/7/80670448/slide-share-blog-3.jpg?168)
Slide Share
This site allows teachers to search for presentations. One thing that I always talk about with other teachers is not reinventing the wheel. Using Slide Share is a great way to get information for students without reinventing the wheel. It is also a great tool for posting personal presentations so that they can be accessed from another computer or device. My class is currently learning about the states of matter. In the picture shown I searched states of matter and a variety of presentations came up for me to choose from. I recommend that al teachers use this tool.
This site allows teachers to search for presentations. One thing that I always talk about with other teachers is not reinventing the wheel. Using Slide Share is a great way to get information for students without reinventing the wheel. It is also a great tool for posting personal presentations so that they can be accessed from another computer or device. My class is currently learning about the states of matter. In the picture shown I searched states of matter and a variety of presentations came up for me to choose from. I recommend that al teachers use this tool.
![Picture](/uploads/8/0/6/7/80670448/gliffy-blog-3.jpg?163)
Gliffy
This picture is from Gliffy. Gliffy is a collaborative tool. Graphics, chars, and diagrams can be made collaboratively using this tool. In the image I was playing around with Gliffy to make a Venn diagram on The Creek and Cherokee. This tool could be made with a grade level team to create similar diagrams and charts to use with students.
This picture is from Gliffy. Gliffy is a collaborative tool. Graphics, chars, and diagrams can be made collaboratively using this tool. In the image I was playing around with Gliffy to make a Venn diagram on The Creek and Cherokee. This tool could be made with a grade level team to create similar diagrams and charts to use with students.
Pedagogy Wheel by Allan Carrington
Allen Carrington’s Pedagogy Wheel goes hand in hand with Bloom’s Taxonomy. Looking at the each section (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create) has many tools that fall under it. This wheel shows the positive effect that Web tools have on learning. Web 2.0 tools reach students on a basic level all the way to a level of higher- level thinking. My goal as a teacher is to hit all six sections on the Bloom’s Taxonomy triangle. If I integrate Web 2.0 tools into my classroom, then according to the Pedagogy Wheel I will be able to reach my goal with my students.
Final Thoughts
In addition to the tools I mentioned earlier in the blog (Zoho, slide share and Gliffy), here are some images of other tools that I investigated. You will see the photos seen above in the blog and you will see an image from Skype, Jot Not Scanner and 30 Boxes.
Gorski, P. (2005). Education equity and the digital divide. AACE Journal, 13(1), 3-45.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0 How-To for Educators. Eugene: ISTE.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0 How-To for Educators. Eugene: ISTE.