Wikis

As an English teacher and now literacy support teacher, I believe the wikis have the most promise. They are easy to set up, controllable, relatively safe, and perfectly suited for many English/literature/writing/vocabulary activities. I can put the weekly vocabulary words up; students can find pictures that help them remember the words and their meanings; students can write collaborative stories on a wiki using vocabulary words. Often I use vocabulary to get students to write more complex, longer sentences. I might give the words I want them to study, model a particular sentence structure (for example, a sentence that begins with a participial phrase), and students can collaborate on the wiki following the sentence structure and using the vocabulary word in the sentence they create.

In former days, I collected all those papers of sentences and definitions (and sometimes my sentence assignment was to write sentences of at least 25 words), took them home, and scanned them, writing comments on usage, etc. On the wiki, students are collaborating, no paper is wasted, it's a snap to review, and the outcome for students is the same: they learn the words, they learn to write complex sentences, and I'm not dragging 50 pounds of paper to and from school every night.

I also see wikis as a great tool for editing and revising formal papers. Even though I haven't tried it yet, I'm looking forward to working with a colleague to get students to upload their papers and revise a peer's paper on line. The amount of information we can put on a wiki, the way it's organized, and the fact that teachers can follow every edit and addition is amazing. The teachers in my building who have experimented with wikis so far are very pleased with the results.

Wiki gets my vote for most useful Web 2.0 tool.

21st Century Literacies

Currently I’m drowning in 21st Century skills. I’m learning them (call me a digital immigrant)—but really, a more accurate statement is I’m trying to stay ahead of them. Sometimes all I see are near-impossible challenges (schools have to re-invent themselves completely) and sometimes I see incredible opportunities for reaching our students.

One of many blogs I’ve read lately focused on four areas for literacy:
• It must be inquiry-driven;
• Technology should SERVE pedagogy, not the other way around;
• Technology should enable students to research, create, communicate , and collaborate;
• Learning must be networked.

Another blogger referenced Tony Wagner’s article “The Global Achievement Gap” and the seven survival skills he believes are necessary to prepare students for 21st Century literacy:
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Collaboration across networks
• Adaptability and agility
• Initiative and entrepreneurship
• Accessing and analyzing information
• Curiosity and imagination

Everything I read and study seems to meander back to the above points. I don’t believe educators have to throw out the curriculum, but they do have to rethink how they present the material. And perhaps presenting the material is the wrong phrase (because it implies teacher-centered, and I believe we need to be student-centered). For example, as an English teacher, I believe Shakespeare has a critical place in my curriculum. But do I teach the Elizabethan theater? Poetic devices? Soliloquies, monologues, and asides? Or do I take the universal themes of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth and design a critical thinking plan that embraces wikis, blogs, twitter, and supports collaboration among students. Maybe they don’t write a four-page essay; maybe students work together to solve a problem using a play as a catalyst. We need to keep students engaged by providing authentic activities.

Same old, same old. I haven’t addressed cost. I haven’t addressed educating our teachers. I haven’t addressed student safety. How will it all come together? I wish I could predict what our schools will look like in five years. I hope they will be filled with engaged teachers who love to learn and promote learning; I hope our schools will be student-centered and flexible.

It Works!

http://www.mypodcast.com/members/podcast-rec.html?action=list&pc=58601&BT10SID=e000f863997f12c70a522cb6cc5118f3

Above is my URL for my very first podcast: English 9 Final Exams. It's just an audio about how to prepare for final exams which are coming up very quickly. I'm always amazed that students don't know how to prepare for exams, or they think the review part isn't important, or they think they can do well without studying, or they think that studying will lower their grade (that's what one student told me today).

This whole process--the uploading and downloading and creating a feed took me five-plus evenings--10 hours. One thing didn't work, then another, and I am struggling with how the process actually works. In any case, I'm finally successful, and I can move on to the next assignment challenge.

Podcasts

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/feedintro?id=fahsuth0jkon39vl3qvf5rlhlc

I'm hoping the above feed represents my first (and possibly only) podcast attempt. Designing the material, creating the audio--both a snap. Figuring out how to turn it into an mp3 file, not so easy. Figuring out how to create a feed has taken me four full evenings of trial and error (grrrrrr!). And this may not work, which means back to the drawing board tomorrow evening.

One Small Leap

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2257/2273024249_438b4dd4e7_m.jpg

I uploaded this photo from flickr--now I'm trying to backtrack to give the photographer credit. It was taken during a trip to the Antarctica. I uploaded this photo because it reminds me of me--jumping without a parachute. I know the caption on the actual photo says "Who says penguins can't fly?" but right now I can't locate the photographer. Would you believe there are over 11,000 photos of "Antarctica penguins"?

I uploaded family shots onto flickr and selected "private"--just family and friends I invite will be allowed to see my photos--all are of the family holidays, so I don't see how our personal pictures will be of interest to anyone EXCEPT family and friends.

Flickr requires some thought--especially its use in a public school. I talked with our art teacher today about using flickr in his class: he informed me that right now our school policy is not to publish on the web student pictures or artwork. I think that's probably smart until we get safety and copyright issues sorted out. I had originally thought students could keep their art portfolios on the web through flickr and always have access to their work. I also thought that students could comment on others' work as well, letting the artist know how his/her art affected the viewer.

Now, back to the photograph and why I picked it. I feel like that penguin--I'm taking a leap I don't completely understand, but I know that I can't sit back on the iceberg and watch. Web 2.0 will transform education in ways I am just beginning to understand. As a former English teacher, I might carefully select photos that have something to do with the topic or the writing assignment I am teaching--say I wanted my students to write an analysis of Hamlet I might pick a provocative image or images in which students compare/contrast some aspect of the play (its theme, characters, setting, etc.) with the image. Or perhaps students research an image and analyze how/why that image relates to a theme in Hamlet. NETS-S standards in this activity would be 3a and b.