Week 5 - Wiki Week

I did not have any experience with wikis before this week, but I really had a lot of fun playing with it. I have come up with so many ways to use a wiki in an elementary classroom - classroom newspapers, newsletters, collaborative group work, projects that the entire class contribute to, etc. However, I decided to create my wiki for personal use instead of classroom use. A few friends and family members have recently started a new book and movie club. I created my wiki for the group to use to exchange information and ideas. I felt like this is something that I would use and learn from as well as share this technology with others.

I feel like wikis would be an engaging activity for digital natives. Even thought they may already be familiar with wikis, I think they offer a lot of available features that students will be interested in learning ore about and using (audio, animation, etc). I have a daughter who is a junior in high school. She hopes (hopes is the key word here) to go on a class trip to Italy next year. The first thing she said when I asked her about wikis was that they should use one for organizing the trip.

I haven't had time to explore the eLearning Tools much this week, but I have seen several things that look really interesting. Some that I want to spend more time on at Storytelling, Animation and Concept Mapping.

Week 4 - E-Portfolios & Assessment

Week 3 - Critical Analysis of Information / Delicious

I learned quite a bit doing the MAPping Information Activity this week. I missed several questions on the Information Literacy Quiz but after completing the activity I now know several new ways to check the validity of a website. I just got my undergrad eled degree a year and a half ago and it really surprises me that there was not more focus on technology. I understand that most people are way more tech savvy than I am (to say the least), but the only thing I learned about looking for reliable sources on the web in my undergrad classes was not to use Wikipedia!

We need to make sure students know to make sure they are using reliable websites when using the internet. The quiz has some really good activities that can be used to help students learn how to make sure they are getting valid information.

I had never used Delicious before and I really had a lot of fun playing with it. I had a random mess of crazy bookmarked and after deleting quite a few, I think they're fairly well organized. I like the fact that I will be able to access my bookmarks from other computers.