I’ve been on a mission to convince, cajole, or coerce (gently of course) my colleagues to use wikis and Web 2.0 tools in their classroom.
My convincing speech always begins with the questions, “Have you heard of a wiki? Do you know what one is?” My colleagues nearly all reply with a cautious, “Yes” because they are at least familiar with Wikipedia. The conversation continues and ultimately they say, “But, I don’t know how I’d use them?” or “Why should I use them?”
So, why would a teacher want to use Web 2.0 tools in their classroom?
Besides sounding cool and techno-hip while talking about your class wiki, there are a host of reasons to embrace the use of wikis in your classroom.
They are the logical step.
Our students are the “Net Generation”. They’ve been using a mouse since infancy and can “hunt and peck” faster that most adults who have taken typing courses. They live by cell phones, text messaging, instant messages, e-mail, and send invites to school club meetings across Facebook. This is a technology that students have embraced, yet most schools have not.
We owe it to our students to allow them to use this technology to demonstrate the same skills we already require. We also have a responsibility to teach them to be effective communicators. With the increase of this technology it is imperative that they use this technology effectively.
They reinforce life-long skills for a life-long leaner.
Isn’t this the goal of so many educational institutions? These exact words exist in our school’s mission statement- “to graduate life-long learners”.
More and more companies are seeing the value of these tools and are embracing them in the ways in which they conduct business and communicate with customers. As companies embrace the use of this technology, the ability to communicate effectively on line will be crucial. Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine and Ross Mayfield of Socialtext have created a wiki on Fortune 500 companies that are using blogs.
They expand the classroom.
Wikis offer an outstanding opportunity for teachers and students to communicate and collaborate beyond the walls of the classroom. Just like on-line classes have allowed so many people to pursue degrees within the confines of their own varied schedules, Web 2.0 tools in a high school classroom will also allow students to work and communicate on their own terms.
Important also is that the users have control. Used in a classroom setting the tools encourage responsibility. Everything students contribute is recorded and visible for their peers and teacher to view. They automatically have a responsibility to the group.
The free-form concept of a wiki allows ideas to grow.
I love the concept that the group is ‘smarter’ than the smartest individual in the group. The communication and collaboration inherent in a wiki allows students to draw from the intelligence and experiences of the entire group. In addition the hyperlinks in a wiki can allow students to expand their information and contacts to other information on the web.
While slower, a wiki is like brainstorming. A student can post a few sentences or a paragraph and spark a discussion that evolves in time to be something amazing. Toss a snowball on a hill and watch it build as it rolls.
Collaboration has been a staple of teacher training and classrooms for years. This is modern collaboration.
Technology allows for the combination of a large variety of different information and presentation types.
Wikis may include any of the following and much more- video, photos, text, slideshows, audio, music, charts, graphs, calendars, maps, html, etc.
Definitions of some Web 2.0 tools
I’ve borrowed this list from Vicki Davis, of Westwood Schools, and her classes wiki.
Blogosphere, Wiki, Social Bookmarking, Podcasting, RSS feeds, Folksonomy
