This year, as part of the MYP Technology program at TIS, students in years 6 to 8 will be creating an online electronic presence to support learning through student collegiality and to promote creativity in a digital environment. We will be creating Homeroom wikis. A wiki is basically a web space. The main difference between a normal web space and a wiki is that the content of a wiki can be created and altered by multiple users in a collaborative manner.
The most famous wiki is probably Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia created by an enormous number of contributors. The benefits of online collaboration are that people from all over the world can contribute and creativity and knowledge is not impeded by borders or time zones. Wikis are also web-based. This means that as long as you have internet access, you can access and/or edit a wiki.
Using a web-based system will allow TIS students, teachers and families to access the wiki at anytime from anywhere. Times, dates, users are recorded by the wiki to allow for usage and traffic monitoring. The greatest benefit of using a wiki system will be allowing our students to experience the world of online sharing in a safe environment. Many of us are familiar with online spaces such as MySpace and Facebook. These are great for keeping in touch with friends or making new ones. However, without first hand experience and guidance, these sites can pose security issues for anyone unfamiliar with them. Our new wikis will mimic some of the features in these commercial applications and in doing so, help our students learn about using online sharing applications responsibly. They will also give our students the opportunity to be exposed to an authentic audience in their teachers, parents, family and friends from all over the world.
One of the benefits of using wikis is the collaboration factor. As the wikis are meant to be individual year level spaces, the collaborative aspect of these wikis will be limited to the homerooms, teachers, and consenting family members and friends. All users have to be approved by the wiki administrator. (Matt)
The content will be primarily of the students choosing with guidance from me. I hope the wikis will not only be an opportunity for individual expression but will support the teaching and learning at TIS. The homeroom wiki will contain general information about school life and a digital learning forum to support the MYP curriculum.
Collaborative wikis can also be created for students as an alternative method of presenting and working on group work. This is the real power of wikis and the potential of utilizing this kind of learning environment is huge. Along with the use of Google Apps, Web 2.0 technologies are being integrated into the curriculum and this “flattening” of the classroom will be an exciting initiative at TIS.
Our wikis will be hosted by Wikispaces, an off-site server company. Our wikis will be secured and be free of advertisements. We encourage all parents to become members of their child’s wiki and to post comments, leave feedback and to use this exciting technology to become more involved in their child's education.
This year, as part of the MYP Technology program at TIS, students in years 6 to 8 will be creating an online electronic presence to support learning through student collegiality and to promote creativity in a digital environment. We will be creating Homeroom wikis. A wiki is basically a web space. The main difference between a normal web space and a wiki is that the content of a wiki can be created and altered by multiple users in a collaborative manner.
The most famous wiki is probably Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia created by an enormous number of contributors. The benefits of online collaboration are that people from all over the world can contribute and creativity and knowledge is not impeded by borders or time zones. Wikis are also web-based. This means that as long as you have internet access, you can access and/or edit a wiki.
Using a web-based system will allow TIS students, teachers and families to access the wiki at anytime from anywhere. Times, dates, users are recorded by the wiki to allow for usage and traffic monitoring. The greatest benefit of using a wiki system will be allowing our students to experience the world of online sharing in a safe environment. Many of us are familiar with online spaces such as MySpace and Facebook. These are great for keeping in touch with friends or making new ones. However, without first hand experience and guidance, these sites can pose security issues for anyone unfamiliar with them. Our new wikis will mimic some of the features in these commercial applications and in doing so, help our students learn about using online sharing applications responsibly. They will also give our students the opportunity to be exposed to an authentic audience in their teachers, parents, family and friends from all over the world.
One of the benefits of using wikis is the collaboration factor. As the wikis are meant to be individual year level spaces, the collaborative aspect of these wikis will be limited to the homerooms, teachers, and consenting family members and friends. All users have to be approved by the wiki administrator. (Matt)
The content will be primarily of the students choosing with guidance from me. I hope the wikis will not only be an opportunity for individual expression but will support the teaching and learning at TIS. The homeroom wiki will contain general information about school life and a digital learning forum to support the MYP curriculum.
Collaborative wikis can also be created for students as an alternative method of presenting and working on group work. This is the real power of wikis and the potential of utilizing this kind of learning environment is huge. Along with the use of Google Apps, Web 2.0 technologies are being integrated into the curriculum and this “flattening” of the classroom will be an exciting initiative at TIS.
Our wikis will be hosted by Wikispaces, an off-site server company. Our wikis will be secured and be free of advertisements. We encourage all parents to become members of their child’s wiki and to post comments, leave feedback and to use this exciting technology to become more involved in their child's education.
Thanks,
Matt Plummer