4-D-1 Wikis In Your Classroom

About 6 years ago my district was really big on using Wikis when collaborating with fellow teachers, grade level or team, parents, and students. The district supplied many trainings on how to use them, incorporate them into teaching lessons and how to communicate with parents.  Then all of a sudden Wikis kinda fizzled out and then the district moved on to Google Docs.  

One of the most challenging part of the collaborative Wiki is getting every team member on the same page.  I will admit that I was the last one to get on board and I apologize to my teammates if I caused any type of stress for them.  I just had some unforeseen circumstances come up and I could not be the team member that I could have been.  Once everyone is on board things run a lot, A LOT smoother.  

As for my own classroom, I will not use Wikis because personally to me it is a technology that is a little outdated.  There are a number of things that I would like to change about Wikis, for starters make it more user friendly.  Now with all the newer Web 2.0 tools, i.e. Weebly,  a lot of sites offer drag & drop feature to make less stress on the user.  The main reason I will not use Wikis is because our entire district, including students, as a Google Doc account and it is much easier and more user friendly to share, and collaborate ideas.  

BLOGICAL DISCUSSION FORM 

Why should education leaders/teachers embrace digital technologies in their schools/classrooms?

If you are in a state that adopted the “Common Core State Standards” (CCSS) you really don’t have a choice. There are many English Language Arts standards alone that require students as young as kindergarten to use technology to read, produce and publish digital content and to collaborate in doing so. 

Here a few examples from the CCSS:

K – 12 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

5th grade –  Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

6th grade – Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

Programming and design – 3D printing, software development, engineering, graphics, architecture, transportation, art, medicine and much more all rely on programming and design skills.

So you think children are already mastering these skills and technologies on their own by using their smart phones and other technology?  Where is the money coming from to attain these standards?  Are schools going to create a new position to reach all these goals or is it going to fall back on the classroom teacher to make these attainable?  Where is the extra time coming from to make sure the students master these standards?  

I look forward to reading your feedback and hearing your take on these new digital technology standards.  

Have a great week! 

PS - Sometimes the blog requires me to to approve your response. So, please be patient I will approve your response.