Last semester, I had vague ideas of how I wanted to use a wiki in my teaching. This semester, I have actually done it! I teach 2 sections of the PLI course Introduction to College Writing. The students have been writing paragraphs so far; now they are getting ready to write their first essay.
The purpose of the assignment is twofold: to work on introductions and to allow students to become comfortable with an additional tool.
They will be using the wiki to critique each other's introduction paragraphs. First, I set up a practice wiki and demonstrated it in class. Any student who added a page, commented on an entry, or made changes to a page would get extra credit. In the next class, I answered the inevitable questions and explained the assignment again. The expressions on the students faces were positive; they were feeling less intimidated and more eager.
After I described the assignment to them, one student thanked me. She was happy I was helping/allowing/requiring them to do a wiki and lamented that no other teachers were showing them tools like this. Wow!
I have divided the students into small groups of 3 or 4. Each member of the group must enter their introductory paragraph. Beyond that, students will receive extra credit for any comment they make on another's introduction or any change they make to another's introduction.
If this works out, then I may have students do more precise work on each other's thesis statements (part of the introduction).
Another step may be to create a wiki to substitute for the paper-and-pencil peer critiques. Then, the guided comments can be accessed on the wiki, and the writer can try several responses to the reader's suggestion, eliciting more feedback.
Another step will be to incorporate true collaborative writing. But, for this, I will wait until I teach a section of 152, where students are do two group presentations. For a true collaborative assignment, I have a concern about how to be fair in grading. I would really have to look at the level and amount of contributions, but this could be daunting. Any ideas out there?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
"Going Digital Without Going Broke" Yeah, but maybe we can do it for free.
I read the article, "Going Digital [in the classroom] without Going Broke," expecting to find great things for the classroom. I did see a lot of wonderful tools, but, since IGoogle has so much for free, I'm not sure of the advantages of trying out these particular tools,...registering, learning, paying once the ubiquitous free trial runs out,... I'm sure they have a lot of extra bells and whistles, but, what IGoogle has, and what this course has already introduced me to, is overwhelming. (Oops! That slipped out by accident! I really meant to say "more than satisfactory.") What do you all think? Does this mark me as hopelessly un-millenial?
MATC Technology Users Group
I went to the meeting of the new Technology Users Group that Mercedes Fisher and Brian (Blackboard guru) are forming. Brian was explaining the comparative advantages of doing a wiki thorugh Blackboard and doing a wiki through a site such as Blogspot. Ont of the advantages of using a wiki through Blackboard is that students don't have to register for it and don't have to sign in to a separate site to use it. They simply sign in to Blackboard, with which they are already familiar. I would like to set up wikis for GENENG, to allow students to share and critique work. I've been delaying implementing it because I thought there would be administrative hassles. Soon, we will be working on Introductions and Conclusions. Last semester, I simply asked students to post their intros and conclusions anonymously on the Discussion Board. I didin't get enough response, and I couldn't use the results very creatively. This semester, I will have them post intros and conclusions in small-group wikis and , wow! the possibilities are almost endless!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I'm a little cofused about the set up of the blog pages.
Hello everyone. I'm a little confused about the setup of the blog pages. Mine doesn't automatically show a reply box. I know that at least one other does not either, because I struggled to find a way to reply to it earlier. However, in all of the blogs set up this semester, a reply box automatically appears after the blog. It this just a matter of changing some setting? Thanks for the help. (See how much faith I have in you? I'm sure someone out there knows the answer!)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Google Aps
Google Alerts will send a list of selected links to a designated email box once a day. This week, I signed up to receive Google Alerts on two topics, one of them being "Web 2.0 in Higher Education." Google Alerts finds information so much better than I do when I search the web. One of the most interesting links in today's batch was "Employers Want 18th Century Skills" http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Employers-Want-18th-Century/21687/
from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Who could resist a title like that? The author asserts that schools are moving away from effectively teaching linear thinking skills. The author believes that education stresses Web 2.0's non-linear thinking and interactive writing too heavily, harming students' abilities to succeed in the sciences. The article in itself is interesting, but the attached comments are more compelling. It got me thinking about my choices and responsibilities as an educator. Curious? Follow the link above.
One Ap I would like to use is Google Sites. It provides simple templates for setting up web sites into which one can embed various gadgets. I'm overwhelmed, but one of the templates, Project Wiki notes that users can "Pull all [their] project information together in one place and stay connected with [their] project team. Includes a project blog, a place for to-do items, team profile pages, a file storage area, and more!" I can see using this not only for the classroom, but also for group projects with colleagues.
from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Who could resist a title like that? The author asserts that schools are moving away from effectively teaching linear thinking skills. The author believes that education stresses Web 2.0's non-linear thinking and interactive writing too heavily, harming students' abilities to succeed in the sciences. The article in itself is interesting, but the attached comments are more compelling. It got me thinking about my choices and responsibilities as an educator. Curious? Follow the link above.
One Ap I would like to use is Google Sites. It provides simple templates for setting up web sites into which one can embed various gadgets. I'm overwhelmed, but one of the templates, Project Wiki notes that users can "Pull all [their] project information together in one place and stay connected with [their] project team. Includes a project blog, a place for to-do items, team profile pages, a file storage area, and more!" I can see using this not only for the classroom, but also for group projects with colleagues.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Do you know about the "Digital Nation"?
Check out this Frontline companion site for Digital Nation, a program which should be airing soon. Visitors to the site are encouraged to add material. Today's featured video (which may be gone tomorrow) tells of a woman who is "Going Digital at 83."
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Class Project
These are my project ideas as they now stand. Beware! This is a long post!
Three Ideas for Using a Wiki
First Possibility: In a weak moment, to help implement the English Department’s Strategic Plan, I volunteered to facilitate a department-wide discussion on how the English Department might improve advising, specifically to “discuss advising strategies and methods within the department.”
I had originally intended to use Blackboard’s Discussion Group for this. I have developed 3 questions that I would post; then I would urge, and urge, and finally beg, my colleagues to respond. As one aspect of analyzing their responses, I might use a Wordle to discover what issues seem most important to the group.
After taking this class, I’m now considering setting up a wiki as the first step. This would allow interested department members to, as ideas occur to them, contribute to the development of the final recommendations.
Second Possibility: All of the classes I teach are face to face, but all require the students to use Blackboard for specific activities. So, they have all developed some familiarity with Blackboard. I might set up a wiki in my class Blackboard sites, one that I could use to collect and distribute information in the case of an H1N1 outbreak. Frankly, I’m starting to drift away from this idea because, as the semester progresses, my initial skepticism about the threat of H1N1 has heightened. It is less of a priority to develop something for a what-if situation; all of the work may prove to be nothing but an exercise.
The third idea is to use a wiki in a specific class. Here's an example. Comm Skillls 2 requires students develop a cover letter and a resume in response to a position description. I could have students put their cover letters and their resumes in a wiki. After these are graded, I could change the criteria by having them respond to the requirements of a different position description. Instead of generating a new document, students could simply change the original. Perhaps each person would be responsible for changing their own document; perhaps groups could work on the documents together—asynchronously.
Comm Skills 2 also requires a lot of peer feedback. If the document were within a wiki, when students do peer feedback, instead of describing changes the writer might make, the peer could actually make those changes so the two writers could see and discuss the results, either immediately (face-to-face) or asynchronously.
I have the ideas developed. My next step is to become comfortable managing the wiki. I asked several questions: What about moderation? Are some sites for wikis more user friendly? Do some sites have more options? Do they all play well with Blackboard? I’ve already gotten some suggestions from both Rita and Mark about choosing a wiki host, whether to use the default that is available within Blackboard or whether to use another one.
Three Ideas for Using a Wiki
First Possibility: In a weak moment, to help implement the English Department’s Strategic Plan, I volunteered to facilitate a department-wide discussion on how the English Department might improve advising, specifically to “discuss advising strategies and methods within the department.”
I had originally intended to use Blackboard’s Discussion Group for this. I have developed 3 questions that I would post; then I would urge, and urge, and finally beg, my colleagues to respond. As one aspect of analyzing their responses, I might use a Wordle to discover what issues seem most important to the group.
After taking this class, I’m now considering setting up a wiki as the first step. This would allow interested department members to, as ideas occur to them, contribute to the development of the final recommendations.
Second Possibility: All of the classes I teach are face to face, but all require the students to use Blackboard for specific activities. So, they have all developed some familiarity with Blackboard. I might set up a wiki in my class Blackboard sites, one that I could use to collect and distribute information in the case of an H1N1 outbreak. Frankly, I’m starting to drift away from this idea because, as the semester progresses, my initial skepticism about the threat of H1N1 has heightened. It is less of a priority to develop something for a what-if situation; all of the work may prove to be nothing but an exercise.
The third idea is to use a wiki in a specific class. Here's an example. Comm Skillls 2 requires students develop a cover letter and a resume in response to a position description. I could have students put their cover letters and their resumes in a wiki. After these are graded, I could change the criteria by having them respond to the requirements of a different position description. Instead of generating a new document, students could simply change the original. Perhaps each person would be responsible for changing their own document; perhaps groups could work on the documents together—asynchronously.
Comm Skills 2 also requires a lot of peer feedback. If the document were within a wiki, when students do peer feedback, instead of describing changes the writer might make, the peer could actually make those changes so the two writers could see and discuss the results, either immediately (face-to-face) or asynchronously.
I have the ideas developed. My next step is to become comfortable managing the wiki. I asked several questions: What about moderation? Are some sites for wikis more user friendly? Do some sites have more options? Do they all play well with Blackboard? I’ve already gotten some suggestions from both Rita and Mark about choosing a wiki host, whether to use the default that is available within Blackboard or whether to use another one.
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