WIKIS FOR LEARNING
Next week we are having a discussion about the use of wikis for learning and we would love to have some rich, real and relevant learning wiki links to explore - preferably at a primary school level. I have only just begun working with wikis, establishing one myself for our cluster, so it will be one step in front of the next! Will have to watch out for the potholes! Hmmm - falling in can be an adventure itself!
I have just become aware of the discussion area for each wiki page which is so awesome. I am sure there are so many other exciting things to learn about wikis for learning. Vygotsky would be delighted. These Web 2.0 tools are "learning theories in action". What I have discovered already is that the pedagogy of learning alone should be enough to convince the most sceptical. The ease of using Web 2.0 tools and what they can do encourages all to get involved. I am beginning to feel like an evangelist and the excitement continues to grow!
Rethinking learning needs to be driven by a shared vision. This is where words and mind need to align and learning needs to have a strong presence. We can't hold on to the old and the new. There simply isn't the room. We can all laspe into the same teaching we experienced unless we change our mental models, yet the world for our five year olds is so different to our own historical experiences. Many of us have the right words, can talk about the 21st century learning in a knowing even pasionate way. However it is our practice that counts. This is what the children feel, see, discern and accept (well, in their early years). It is our mental model that drives our practice, not our words. It is our concept/s that impact into learning in our classrooms. Where does 21st century learning really fit into our mind's model of teaching and learning? Did our practice today reflect the words we speak when we talk so enthusiastically about 21st century learners? Is there a digital divide?
When it comes down to it, the future is about "you". What did you do today to make it happen?
RELLCO
Our Cluster Journey Together Into New Horizons.
5 comments:
Excellent post. You got me thinking and checking my own actions and making sure they line up with my words.
Wikis are growing in use. Here a a couple of links I know about being used - collaborative and for individual classes.
First three Voyagers and I are involved with;
http://plantproject.wetpaint.com/
http://voyagers.wikispaces.com/
http://skypetalkandwrite.wikispaces.com/T%26W+Diary
These are for sharing learning.
This one for sharing links; a resource (much like a delicious page but here all can add links)
http://primaryweb2.wikispaces.com/
To the left of the blog page for this final link I will post are links to their class wikis... year 5 & 6 .. where the children share their learning.
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=76589
Hope this gets people started ... millions of wikis and the uses are endless, especially for older children.
Thank you for your comments, also the links too Jody. They will enrich our discoveries. We will enjoy visiting and stretching our minds to the possibilities just waiting for us to unravel.
Best wishes
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine,
What a great posting...and you are so right. I am loving learning about blogging...and hopefully as soon as I have mastered it a little more, wiki too. Have a look at my site Lorraine..I have learned how to add slideshows...just by visiting another teachers blog! Cool huh! Also Helen has unblocked the Flikr site now, so I would love you to come and give the children and I a demo in our class some time! Let me know when suits you?
Enjoy the long weekend, Janet Blaauw
Hi Lorraine
I am just starting to get into blogging and have just created a blog site, but not posted anything on it yet, not sure what I really want to say and I can't think of anything provocative just yet. I need to find a photograph and think of what I want to say in my profile. I really do have to make time, say every three days or so, and read or write a blog, then it will happen. It is so easy to say, "I haven't got time". That is my excuse. I enjoyed reading your comments and those of others in your site. I know I have said this before, but to me it is the most exciting time in learning that has happened in my long teaching career. ICTs are really challenging my thinking and increasing my knowledge of pedagogy as well as building my skills all the time. Working with you, Lorraine, as our ICT facilitator, has made me aware of easy ways to ensure that emailing, blogging and using wikis can be a part of the day for our students. I am sure that these ICTs have increased the amount of writing digital natives do today as they provide a means for motivation to write. Having to think about what others have said and make a comment, whether it is in agreement or is a challenge, definitely focuses on high level thinking skills. I am not in the classroom enough to put into practice all that I would like to regarding ICT. Also my knowledge is still building so I can assimilate all those amazing technical ways out there to communicate globally. I also need to remember that I can talk about something but may not have put it into practice and also I must make sure that I really believe it. It is so easy to say something but often “actions speak louder than words” as you have stated in your blog.
Had trouble with this, lost it when I tried to log in and had to start over again. This seems to happen to me quite often when I have to post to a forum, the computer freezes or some other hitch happens. I guess I will have to learn to write soemthing in Word and copy it so it doesn't get lost. Would love to have a spelling check on this!
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