Connecting with 21st Century Students

This year I have explored the use of a Wiki in the classroom with my sixth graders. Along the way we have also looked at other Web 2.0 tools, some with great success and others we decided just did not work for us.

Next year I will continue to build on what we have learned this year in using the Wiki in class. Each student will have their own page, possibly making it public so family can share the learning with us.

Please visit the Wiki at:
"A Classroom Wiki"




Goals, ISTE NETS*T:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

a.	promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
c.	promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
d.	model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

a.	design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
b.	develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
c.	customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.

Activities:

• Maintain a class Wiki that students can use to collaborate and communicate about subjects they learn throughout the year.
• Make discussions available for students to use to answer questions and engage in dialogue with their classmates and other members of the Wiki.
• Create team pages for students to develop in Science and Social Studies.
• Have time for students to learn the Wiki, how to use the Wiki, edit pages, upload pictures and files, wait their turn to edit.

Evaluation: (screen shots of rubrics)

• Rubrics from Read•Write•Think: Wiki & group participation
  
• Online self-assessment
• Written self-assessments

Second Life

I've been in SL for a few months and have done quite a bit of exploring, learning and meeting new people from all over the world. I've gone to lectures about Special Education, about science... I've seen concerts, learned about composers... I enjoy going to the museums, one of my favorites is the Abyss Museum of Ocean Science. I'll never dive to the bottom of the ocean but in SL I can walk around on the bottom, click on links to research and learn more information on the Web and I can come face-to-face with all kinds of creatures of the deep.

What I have found:
•Universities from around the world in SL
•Other countries represented in SL: Israel, France, Turkey...
•NASA, NOAA, ISTE, Discovery Education Network
•Science Friday from NPR
•People to practice languages with...
•Live music, theater, movies, dancing...

The possibilities of SL are endless and will only grow for me as a teacher. As a teacher of 11 & 12 year olds, I am unable to take my students into this world but as they get older they will get there. I am fascinated by the work of a colleague and his teen grid island 13-18 yrs old in which he teaches them computer science, robotic and applied technology. The things these students are creating are amazing!



If you are logged into SL you can use a Slurl to go to the Abyss Museum of Ocean Science.





An article I found in Transforming Education Through Technology had a good piece on Second Life, what it is and how it is important to education.

Gaming

Gaming can and does have its place in the classroom if the game enforces a skill, provides a usable assessment, or encourages discussion about content according to T. Snyder. Moderation and vigilance should be used when using games to help alleviate the fear of inappropriate games. Educational games can help supplement the curriculum or be used to review skills. Teachers must teach students the games within the context of the curriculum.

•Girls game too and look for roles that are powerful and independent.
•Games can challenge us ethically by seeing behavior in a virtual space.
•Gaming is educational.
•Games can be used for teaching global issues.

As a teacher, I am always looking for ways to hook my students in the curriculum. Educational games that are available online in many forms are a way to achieve this. I also find that I like the games too and will take time to learn some of them to help my students become successful also. Games have always been a part of school and in this century they can be incorporated with technology. I think that there is an education that needs to take place besides just getting the students interested. The parents also must be included in the games and why they are important.

Social Media

There are lots of rewards and risks involved with social media but 21st century skills need to be included in the curriculum and can be taught using social media. Whether children are taught blogging in school or taught how to navigate a social network they are going to be involved at some point. Educators should be incorporating these in their classes. Resources like the Guides to Social Networking: Rewards and Risks and other literature on the website for National Institute on Media and the Family, are good places to start a conversation with other teachers and with parents.

•Parents must be aware of what their kids are doing, online or offline.
•Students must be educated in Internet safety, by teachers and parents.
•Blogging is a form of communication along with texting...
•There is a lots of fear from change, especially with regards to the Internet.

As a teacher I need to also be aware of social media, even if I don't use it in my classroom. I need to be aware of the different sides to the issue and know what my students are talking about. Ideally I can use it to their advantage to help them learn and be excited about learning in a way that is engaging and even fun.

Wikis

Anything I want to know about anything is on the Web in a wiki. I’ve found wikis on role playing, knitting, furniture, giraffes and of course education…

This collaborative, editable by anyone Web 2.0 software is a good way for teachers to engage students. Students can share their work with a real audience for a purpose beyond the classroom. Groups of students can take ownership of pages. They can work together beyond the classroom even if they can’t get together physically. Students and teachers can work together from all over the world. There are so many benefits to creating a wiki and being a part of one. All the tech standards can be taught through wikis, any subject in school can be a part of a wiki.

Wikis:
•editable
•collaborative
•easy to use
•fun
•creative
•free

As a teacher I can guide my students towards all kinds of Web 2.0 tools with wikis being one of them that we are currently using in class. The wiki lends itself very well to the classroom. I can have my students use it for all subjects we cover, it is a place where we put our class agenda, all the homework is listed. Students can learn how to do so many things through a wiki. The main thing for me as an educator is that it fits my teaching style, it fits the students learning styles and we have lots of fun learning what the wiki can do and what it can’t!