After watching the initial video about Wiki, I wished I could have used this two weeks ago. Tonight we just finished our 8th Grade Dance Presentation. The students were the choreographers and the costume designer. They had to select music that best represented the message that they wanted to convey to the audience. During the planning stage the students could have used Wiki to share their ideas. They could have created categories of topics that they needed to address and then shared their ideas under each of them. The only downside that I see to using Wiki vs a Blog is that you do not have record of what the previous person noted if it gets erased. At least with a blog, you are able to have running record of a conversation. At times, having a running record can be too much. If you do not have the time to read all of the comments, you may only skim through the comments and miss the important ideas or thoughts.
After creating my on Wiki space, I find it very overwhelming. I did not know where to begin or what my focus should be. As the Arts Coordinator, I find that most of my staff are not comfortable with Arts Integration. Thus, I decided to create my Wiki space around that theme. I find that the Wiki is a good resource and I hope once I finish developing my Wiki, it will begin to be a resource for me and others who would like to implement arts integration.
Very cool idea! Just think by this time next year you will be comfortable with wikis enough to guide students through the process :D Just think you could partner with a community theater group too to integrate arts into the classroom for teachers! Or students across the country at various art schools similar to Thomas Pullen. How powerful your wiki could become for teachers and students alike!!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the only downside to wiki is that you have no record of what the previous person wrote if it gets erased. This can become a problem if you choose to give an assignment grade or score for student's who post on wiki for an assignment. I have not yet tried to create a wiki, but from the looks of your blog I can see that it was overwhelming and difficult.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see how you use the wiki to work that "Arts Integration" piece. Keep us in the loop.
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Looking to integrte the arts in wiki will open the door for more opportunities and ideas related to your field, you could actually pioneer this and reach out to others in your field for more thoughts. Kind of remind me of how i'm trying to implement my wiki in physical education, for a beginner such as myself it'll be a daunting task but i believe it can be done with others continually giving the support needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that wikis can be overwhelming. I did not even know where to start once I created mine. I like the fact that it can continue to be edited as I go along and, therefore, can change whenever I need or want it too. I Am hopeful that throughout the summer I will have an opportunity to "play" around with the technology and become comfortable with it enough to implement it in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also agree creating wikis can be overwhelming at first. If you begin with something like you mentioned about having the students make suggestions would be a great way to start using wikis. As far as losing something important, I think the owner can always retrieve lost items, but am not sure about this. I know in Google sites, the owner has the capability of retrieving deleted items. I want to look into this, and please let me know what you find out. I personally think the biggest hurdle is getting students to use wikis, a new tool for many in high shool.
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