Wiki Wiki

Well, I still have not gotten to a podcast...but it is still on my list! The new (to my classroom) tool that I will be using next week is a wiki. I have used wikis before, but never with my students. I'm not really sure why I haven't use them with students, but this week I realized that I needed to update one of my lessons, so on Monday I will be doing my first official Web 2.0 lesson with my new students, and then I will show them wikis.

I'm really anxious to see how they react to it. Will they seem bored by it? Or will they think it is fun? You never know with high school students. I think the key will be my ability to help them see how they could use wikis in their lives.

We started this week with a discussion of Wikipedia, they examined pages, followed discussions behind the pages and compared the quality within Wikipedia. It was eye opening for all of us. I think they are starting to understand the value of Wikipedia and how it can fit into their learning experience.

So the assignment I am giving my students is to recreate the school's website using a wiki. They will work collaboratively to gather information and make the changes that they deem necessary. I have created a couple of pages as a starting point and as a demonstration tool. Here is what I created and I'll update you when the students finish their projects.

http://orhs.pbwiki.com/

Wish me luck and send any comments or feedback you think would be helpful.