Wiki Evaluation

http://shsaplit.wikispaces.com/home

This wiki classroom site was created a by Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Composition class at Suffern High School in Suffern, New York. The teacher created the basic outline of the page to help students compose “literature reviews” of the novels they have read throughout the year.  It seems that the teacher published wiki project directions and embedded the initial external links to guide their thoughts/research. Students were able to choose between the following novels to base their literature review upon: Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man. The students’ final literature reviews were posted on the wiki along with pictures, videos, and other internet resources. It was interesting to view all the different student perspectives concerning the same piece of literature. The students were able to tap into their critical-thinking skills to identify various influences on a piece of literature written in a specific era. The quality of written work was impressive. I do think the ability to write a review that can be seen by the public and not just the teacher increases engagement levels.     

http://thewright3.wikispaces.com/home

This wiki site was created by an elementary educator named Nancy Bosch. She structured the site to allow student collaboration on completing the page. Because the students are younger and less experienced in such literary work/technology, the teacher had to compose an outline on each page to help work completion. It was apparent that the students were taught about plagiarizing and citing their sources. The wiki was used as a means for students to show their understanding of several different texts. The students wrote chapter summaries of different books, described major and minor characters, describe an author’s background, and uncover history that lay behind historical fiction. The students were able to work on their writing, reading, researching, and collaboration skills all at the same time. The assignments were short, yet the published text on the wiki proved that students understood their reading.    

I do find the high school student wiki pages more interactive and visually appealing. I do believe that even elementary school students can be taught to create visually appealing pages (if not the students, then the teacher). It would be beneficial for both wiki sites to have posted objectives for the use of the wiki. I do believe the students are reading, writing, editing, revising, explaining, categorizing, and evaluating text. The students should have a few learning outcomes or objectives to read and internalize when using/completing the wiki page. As long as the project is aligned to the state and district curriculum standards in reading and writing, the learning will be worthwhile and justified.    

Reading Response and Class Expectations

My first thought that came to my mind after reading the first chapter of both Technology to Teach Literacy and Literacy 2.0 was that the meaning of "literacy" is ever-changing. When I think about literacy, I imagine students learning to decode in order to read and of students writing essays. Now, I realize that literacy encompasses the learning and uses of many other information sources. It was not long ago when students were considered literate when they were able to read and write to function in life after school. Now, students must learn to evaluate many forms of media and information to become responsible, knowledge members of society. Teaching truly is about teaching students to think about their thinking (meta-cognition abilities). Secondly, I did not realize there was a structure to help students make meaningful posts until after I read the blog post “Ten Habits of Blogging that Wins” written by Vicki Davis. She explains how students need to view and read several quality blogs before even creating their own posts. I recommend reading blog post because it contains information which you will not conceive with common sense alone.

Finally, I expect to learn how to use technologies to motivate students to read, write, collaborate, and share original pieces/thoughts. I hope I can design more “Constructivist” authentic projects to help students learn how to use all the resources available to them to solve a problem or convey an idea/opinion. Through this design process, I wish to identify how to teach students to have cyber-citizenship while giving other students feedback on their creations. I know reading, writing, and content can be maximized when they are incorporated into cohesive lessons – that’s why I love authentic technology projects!