The following reflection is in relation to the Wikis E-learning Toolkit Activity.

In December 2008, I introduced the concept of a wiki (using pbworks) to the parent community of my grade one classroom.  The wiki is called “Oasis of Learning“.  The main purpose of the wiki is to communicate with a very active volunteer base.  Parent volunteers sign up on the wiki when volunteer opportunities are available.  I have also posted our weekly spelling lists on the wiki, which are sent home in paper format, however, many parents have been pleased that they are able to access the information on-line as well.  The wiki is a private wiki in order to protect the privacy of classroom activities, students and their families.

In ETEC 510, we were responsible for editing a page and authoring a page on the ETEC 510 Design Wiki.  I authored the page on Universal Design for Learning.  This Wiki was much different than using pbworks.  It utilized MediaWiki.  What I found interesting with this project was that I was introduced to and learned some html.  Although this was frustrating at times, I loved seeing how the code changed the overall look of the page and piqued my interest in html in general.  Furthermore, I realized that Wikipedia is edited in this way and that got me thinking about the different types of Wikis and their ease of use.  Pbworks uses a WYSIWYG editor which requires no knowledge of html code, where as Wikipedia and the ETEC 510 Design Wiki require basic knowledge of html code.  I am assuming that Wikipedia uses this format to deter people from making easy,  unfounded edits.  That being said, comparing the two (Wikipedia and pbworks); they are used for very different purposes.

Also in ETEC 510, I completed a collaborative group assignment using pbworks.  The goal of this project was to identify the relevance of a particular set of ideas – e.g., about how objects are designed, how people learn, what kinds of learning spaces support meaningful engagements in knowledge-building, the affordances of social networking and collaborative learning – and to engage in a time-limited design practice that is informed by scholarship.  Our group decided to design a learning space that would contribute to the overall improvement of oral fluency in second language learners by utilizing the Wiki technology and Skype.  Visit http://etec510-65a-designproject.pbworks.com/ to view the final wiki project.  I enjoyed working on this project and setting up the wiki.  As a second language teacher, I believe that I will utilize this project with my students.

Overall, I must say that Wikis are a technology that I am very fond of.  The affordances of this technology are numerous and relate to the field of education in so many useful ways!

Posted: 06|2|09 at 22:29. Filed under: E-learning Toolkit.
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