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.

Sites to Use With Kids

The National Council for Educational Statistics provides NECS's Student Classroom with a variety of interesting opportunities for your students. This site includes an online graph-making site, a place for students to publish their own writing, math games and more.

Speaking of math, try this Count-On for the K-8 kids. In fact, click on the Games button and try it out yourself. I'm still trying to win Fliver!

Then there's Rainforest Maths (yes, maths...the UK way). Do remember that this is from the UK, so sections that involve measurement will be metric.

Carol Kress suggests Play to Learn. Her 2nd graders practice time and money skills on the site. Carol says it's pretty basic, but the kids love it!

And for the youngest of our students...or our wee ones at home, don't miss Poissonrouge. It may be too young for almost all of our youngsters, but it is so well done that it's worth a visit under any circumstances.

Collaboration Rules

In an article at eWeek, Ward Cunningham (developer of the wiki) said, "he has been interested in taking long-term looks at 'how wisdom is collected in organizations, … especially the wikiwiki Web style of talking about experiences, and the way that large groups of people can communicate'." Cunningham sees the development of open source (freely available to all) software as just beginning and sure to grow, " and it's not just because of cost, but because of end-user innovation." I'm guessing that Cunningham is right about the end-user innovation moving software forward to the benefit of all. It definitely benefits innovative teachers and curious kids!

Meantime, there are some excellent little programs for younger students at Sen Teacher Resources. This is a British site, so the instructional pieces around money won't work for American students. But lots of the materials are right on the mark! And for fun, be sure to look at these optical illusions. This is a PowerPoint show, so click "open" when asked.

Copyright-free Music for Educational Use

Several of you have asked about legality in using music in students' or teachers' educational projects. Fair Use Policy gives students and teachers lots of leeway, but the law is tricky and sometimes hard to understand. Here are two easy solutions:

C/Net's Music Download.Com only offers free music whose artists have given permission for its use. "Users may use the material on the site only for non-commercial personal or educational purposes." There's lots there, grouped by genre, with a handy button that says "download". Couldn't be easier.

Magnatune is a great site for teachers. As long as you are using the music for your educational project, you can download an MP3 version of the song and be free to use it.

• Go to the Magnatune site and click on the type of music you need.
• Listen to as many pieces as you wish. Listening is always free at Magnatune
• When you find something you want, click on License, then on Non-commercial (you may have some security screen pop-ups during this process. Just say "Yes" to get past them.
• Read the Non-commercial license explanation. Near the bottom of the page, click on "download the MP3"
• Continue to say "yes" to any security pop-ups
• When you see the list of available MP3 recordings by the artist you have chosen, you will need to find the title you want. To hear the recording again, you can click on the little floppy disk icon. To download song, right click on the icon and choose "save target as". On the resulting screen, select your download location.

This is a terrific site for music lovers. Take some time to explore new artists, then think about BUYING a song or two. You not only listen to the music before you buy, you actually choose HOW MUCH to PAY! I have purchased several pieces and have been more than happy with my choices!