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Welcome!
The web has revolutionized the way information
is shared in today's world. Information can be made available instantly
around the world
by anyone with a computer and a connection. Education often comes
late to the dance. Educational pioneers, however, are developing
ways to use the power of the web for collaboration. In the WELS
we have a wonderful opportunity to use tools such as these to bring
our schools and students closer together.
This workshop will expose you to these technologies,
primarily blogs and wikis. Working together we will discover and
discuss ways to use these tools for communication and collaboration.
Objectives
- Participants will examine various means
of online collaboration and communication including: email,
list serves, discussion boards, chat, instant messaging, blogs,
and
wikis.
(Particular attention will be given to blogs, and to a
lesser degree—wikis.
- Participants will develop a list of potential
uses for blogs and wikis in the K-12 educational setting.
- After establishing a Blogger account, participants
will be able to post text, images, and hyperlinks to the
workshop blog.
The Toolbox
This list is made up of text-based communication
resources. Audio and video resources continue to become more common,
but won't be dealt with in this workshop.
Email
List serve
Discussion boards
Chat
Instant messaging
Blogs
- a contraction of 'web log'; an online journal
- a quickly updatable website requiring little technical knowledge
- a medium for sharing brief personal thoughts, links, and images
- RSS (real simple syndication) allows pulling together posts
from multiple blogs (Bloglines)
- Some examples:
Wiki
- Editable website
- new web pages dynamically generated by use of WikiWords (CamelBackText)
- Passwords can help control who edits what
- Wikipedia -
The world's largest wiki?
- CLHS
Physics Wiki - Sharing online physics resources
- SDSU
EdTec Comps Wiki - A great idea to pull together resources
for comprehensive examinations!
- Wikis that don't look like wikis - One | Two | Three
Activity #1
With a partner: Open a copy of this Inspiration
file. Use arrows to map the characteristics of the various forms
of online
communication
tools.
Activity #2
With a partner: Each choose a set of example
blogs. Take some time to browse through them. Be sure to take a
look back into the archives. What can you tell about the author(s)?
What is the purpose of the blog?
All of these blogs has some relationship to education. Show your
partner something interesting from at least two of the blogs that
you checked out.
Using Inspiration or another tool of your choice, brainstorm ideas
for educational uses of blogs. Don't limit yourself to instructional
uses or collaborative uses only...let yourself go! Be ready to
share with the class.
Meet the "Train the Trainer II" Blog
Meet the "TtT2 Wiki"
- TtT2
Wiki - modified version of open source
pmWiki (your playground!)
- How the wiki works
Challenges for using blogs/wikis in K-12 education
- Technical glitches (for students and teachers)
- Privacy policy
- Slam books/Teen Temptations
- Pounding nails with screwdrivers?
Assignment
Before tomorrow's session, post a 1 paragraph
bio (with photo if possible) to the TtT2
Blog. In a second paragraph,
share one cool educational web resource you've discovered in the
past year. Be sure to include a brief description and the hyperlink.
Feel free to comment on each others posts.
Play around with the TtT2
Wiki. Add a page from
the MainPage-build on each others work...100% constructivism!
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