One small step for GeekyTeach, one giant leap for... er, class 3G?
I've decided that I'm going to take the plunge with wikis after the October holiday (I get 2 weeks - hurrah for Fife!). I've installed TikiWiki and am currently setting it up. It has thousands of options, some which should be really useful. It's not just a wiki - you can attach user blogs, forums, comments, and more onto users and entries. There's a lot to get through in terms of the technical aspects of it but I'll spend the next few days to do that.
My plan with the wiki would be for each student to have an account on the wiki, and be able to:
- Add, edit and update pages
- Write in a blog (though currently need to think of what uses this could have)
- Comment on other pages and work
I want to try and bridge this with a Moodle site, which will have links to recommended sites, inter-linked glossaries to help with definitions, and maybe some lessons that students can choose to go through.
I'm going to use the Standard Grade arrangements as the basis for the wiki structure. It also allows me to make Moodle sections and filespaces that students can upload quizzes and revision materials they have made to.
If anyone is reading and has some feedback on what they think of this idea, please let me know. My main concerns are, at the moment:
1. How do I motivate the class to use this, and use it properly? I could cynically predict that some of the class will replace pages with expletives, etc, but I'm going on the basis that they have to understand that class rules extend to web pages. Would some sort of points/reward system make sense for contributions?
2. Pupils will need to make up their own definitions for the wiki, but can use my glossary and examples on the Moodle site to do this. The reason I want to give them this information is because of the not insignificant gap between real-world terminology and exam terminology when it comes to high school level Computing. Is this a naive way to view their use of the internet, or am I right to provide a solid cross-check for students to make sure they have the best of both worlds?
posted by Peter @ 3:54 AM
6 Comments:
One thing I'm trying with my students is, each lesson I appoint a class scribe who will have the responsibility of putting a summary of that day's lesson into a wiki page. This has worked reasonably well. My problem now is getting them to be confident enough to add to and edit the pages the scribes have created. :-)
Weltanschauung
David I came across this word in Soft Systems Methodology, perhaps it would be appropriate in the context of your class. Instead of one point of view you can explore multiple view points of your teaching/lesson.
To incorporate worldview, what if every pupil did a 5 minute blog on each lesson? This gives you 20 versions of what you've been talking about that day on record. The students that can/will make wiki entries can do this when they have time/feel confident.
I've taken a few days to consider this posting, Peter. It appears to me that you're focussing on the functions and the practicality of setting up the wiki and moodle facilities rather than trying to identify the purpose of the wiki/moodle sites and how they support teaching & learning.
You mention in your first concern the issue motivation and control of the facility. The basis of a wiki is that control is distributed to the users/authors. This clashes with the traditional röle of a teacher. You have to come up with a rationale for the pupils as to why they should invest their time and effort to participate in the online community that you hope to set up.
Why would they join your online community?
What's in it for them? Well it doesn't appear to be directly related to the Standard Grade curriculum so you can't argue that by using a wiki they will gain a deeper insight into an area of the curriculum.
It may develop team working, debate and compromise but again these are not explicit skills associated with SG Computing.
The argument for a wiki is not the end product of a website with accurate definitions, although this may be an indicator of success. It is that the process of dialogue and debate that requires pupils to investigate a new topic to allow them to contribute that is the worthwhile reason. It is (and I hate this phrase with a passion) a preferred learning style to participate in blogging/wiki/social software.
The second concern you indicate again centres on your desire to control their learning. People who participate in blogging can write what they want, it doesn't have to be right. But if you take it at face value and assume it is correct then, more fool you. It's about the process of reading points of view, creating counter arguments and ultimately debating the content with wider support from other online sources. You want pupils to develop the skills needed for this process without you having to intervene with the right answer.
I'm starting to feel like this would be a good bid for A Curriculum for Excellence project. The skills needed to participate in an online community are comparable to those in a C4E.
Last point's a technical one; I think Moodle has a Wiki module so there's no need to have separate site. I admit, however that I've never used it so I couldn't draw a comparison between Moodle and Tikiwiki.
Hi Peter,
How do I motivate the class to use this, and use it properly? Differnt age and situation, but my 2 pence worth.
With our smaller scale blogging experiment Sandaig Otters I just explain to the children that they are representing themselves and the school in a way very like a school trip. I expect high standards of behaviour. so far it has worked. I explain passwords are for them and that I will trust them. The children take blogging very seriously. Like David, I now use a scribe system with random partners so that less able children are supported.
IMO blogs can be used in lots of interesting ways without making them free for alls. Ours are class/school blogs not personal. If I get the chance to set up individual blogs I would still expect (especially in the early stages) to direct the children's writing to some extent.
thanks again for the great comments..
Kenneth, you hit the nail on the head with:
'The argument for a wiki is not the end product of a website with accurate definitions, although this may be an indicator of success.'
In my mind, I'll be asking the kids to take something they learned today and somehow add it to their own collection of information (either by blogging it first or adding it to the wiki, I'm not sure). My reasons for this need to be clear - I think primarily that this is a great revising tool, and it actually allows that mythical 'control of their learning' thing to happen.
But a blog with notes from each lesson isn't going to cut it later on. Should I be bothered about that, or is that just being hopeful, or asking too much of pupil input, instead of asking how they can easily benefit themselves?
I'm actually thinking that a hybrid of blog and wiki might be the solution. In other words, at the end of the lesson, we blog what we know about what we learned. These answers are grouped together, and through a 'two stars and a wish' type evaluation, someone's work will be added to the wiki.
I'm probably overcomplicating things, but there has to be a way to encourage self-learning,peer-assessing AND produce collaborative results.
And John, if you made it to the bottom of this speil, I think partnering is a great idea. The writing levels in my third year class vary from C to F, some students will find peer assessment harder than others, without something like partnering.
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