Taking the Plunge: Firing up a class wiki

I did it.

I created a collaborative space for my senior Biology class. I logged on to Wikispaces last night and created a private Wiki just for us - a communal spot to deposit resources, where the students can contribute rather than simply consuming what I can find.

Let me back up a bit...

For the last few years we have been exploring educational technology in our school, a K-12 independent school in Toronto. We have Smart boards in most rooms, and the teachers (at least in the Upper School) have laptops. We are piloting a 1:1 tablet program with our 9's and 10's next year, which has been the driving force behind increasing emphasis on EdTech.

Being of the Geek persuiasion, I have been looking at pedagogy and philosophy of 1:1 computing for a while, and experimented, with considerable success, with a Wiki in my Physics class last year. I used a trial Blackboard pluggin - which was a bit restrictive, but the kids really went to town on it, and as a class produced some great work. I have also toyed with - what would you call face to face interaction, virtual virtual networks? - setting up units where the students work collaboratively and freely. I have found that in some of these cases the students have learned the core content of what would have been three classes of lecture in less than one class, with time left over to socialize. It is both exciting and humbling!

So now I am experimenting with more flexible and dynamic collaboration through Wikispaces. My hope is that the kids will help me help them, by searching out clips and media on the web that I haven't found, and that they will feel both empowerment and ownership. We will see!

Ed