Technology for a unit --

I am currently working on redesigning an ecology unit for my students. I've been exploring many options, but am not sure which is the best fit for me, so I thought I'd toss this out there and see what you have to say.

Last year, I had students post resources they found to a wiki - but unfortunately many students work was overridden by another student editing on the site at the same time. I would also like to have a workplace for students keep track of notes, journal and essentially set up a student portfolio.

I would like to take advantage of free resources if I can.

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Permalink Reply by John Sowash on December 21, 2010 at 9:45am

Google Apps is a great tool that can be used by itself or in conjunction with a Wiki. Google Sites is a "wiki like" product that might to the trick. I tend to favor Wikispaces over Google Sites for student projects, however.

If students are working in groups they can create a Google doc to hold all of their information. Up to 500 people can collaborate on a document simultaneously. Once they've got their information they can assemble it into a wiki or Google Site page.

I have done projects like this in the past and have experienced similar issues. I would recommend that you set up the structure of the wiki ahead of time. Create a page for each person/group. This will minimize the chance that more than one person is working on the same page (a big problem with Wikispaces). Don't forget the revision history tool! If someone does overwrite something, you can always get it back!