Wikis, wikis, wikis

Wikis as an educational tool? It looks to me like a terrific tool which is limited only by our imaginations. So what are folks doing with them? Take a look:

• Mr. Kuropatwa uses this wiki with his Applied Math class. The idea is to create a "solutions manual" in which students all collaborate to develop a learning tool for all of them to use. Students are not only expected to provide at least one solution of their own, but also to make "constructive modifications" to solutions which others have created. This is a high school wiki for, I believe, one of the less challenging math classes. Mr. K. also has a wiki out there for his AP Calculus class and other classes. Think collaboration for kids!
• Holocaust Wiki Project is a fascinating example of collaborative work and simulation as a learning experience for students. It is well worth exploring, even if wikis are not in your future.
• Web 2.0 Analysis Project - Students in this class are evaluating web pages; they are interested in design. I'd love to see them evaluating content!
• Adavis: Improving Instruction Through the Use of Weblogs Take your time with this one. It's full of great ideas coming from a master teacher of teachers.
• Check out the list of wikis on Witest Wiki. Lots of student wikis for your consideration.

Coming of Age - and other stuff

The beauty of the Web, the huge change it brings to us and to our students, is found in its open and accessible nature. I wonder how many of us have even begun to appreciate the scope of change that this can bring, should bring, will bring to education.

Self-education for educators is essential, then, if we are to both take part in this changing world ourselves and enable our students to take advantage of it. Thomas Freedman, et al, have provided a wonderful addition to our self-education bookshelf...and it's free. Coming of Age: an introduction to the new world wide web is a 92 page compilation of some of the best thoughts of the best thinkers in field of instructional technology in education. Once you have downloaded the material, you can read online or print all or some of the essays. What a gift!

For fun, try out the Visual Thesaurus. This one isn't free, but it's definitely fun. The available trial lets you do severaly word searches, and by leaving the website and returning, you can start the trial all over again. The cost is pretty reasonable, too, if you want to "own" it or have access online. I can certainly think a ways to use this with youngsters which would broaden their appreciation of language, the interconnectedness of words, the variations in meaning, and more.

Pew Internet and American Life Project has an interesting memo on our awareness of Internet terms.