Currently, my students are placed into Literature Circle teams. They are each reading one of their books of choice in addition to competing with one another during miscellaneous class activities, such as, vocabulary and grammar. The students work in groups to complete their personal dictionaries (vocabulary graphic organizers), and complete grammar and writing assignments. It would be neat to use Wikis to keep parents and absent students informed. For instance, if we worked on something collaboratively in class and I had the students creating their wiki page, I could post the link on Edmodo at the end of the day to show the parents what we are doing. A wiki is also a better place to host RSS Feeds. If I were to place my RSS Feed on Edmodo, it would clog the newsfeed and push other important announcements to the bottom. A Wiki would allow me to have a page simply for RSS Feeds that connect to my content area.
I was also very excited about how I could use the wiki to collaborate with my friends that are teachers. I have several different friends that teach 6th grade Language Arts in the area, but it gets difficult to collaborate because we get so busy with our own classrooms. If we had a wiki space that we could check, it would simplify our collaboration process. The only hindrance to Wiki Spaces is the Acceptable Use Policy. In order to get the most out of your class room account, students need to have their own account, which acquires an email address.
In my personal experience, any time I have to send home a permission form it becomes a huge hassle to get them back,or I never receive them. Next year, I am going to formulate an all inclusive letter to the parents about the variety of technology that we will be using throughout the year. I have also thought about hosting an informal course for parents and students at the beginning of the school year to help them become acquainted with the technology they will be using for middle school.
While I was investigating how I could benefit from using a Wiki, I looked at several other teachers who had implemented them successfully. My favorite teacher wiki was done by Mr. Lindsay. This man has every possible thing someone could want on his wiki. Some of the sections I found to be very useful were the Parent Help Desk, About the Teacher, and News in Events. In the News and Events section, Mr. Lindsay hyperlinks answers to commonly asked questions and includes a link to the class calendar. I thought this was very clever!
I find my biggest stumbling block in implementing technology is lack of background information. At the beginning of the school year, I was startled that many of my sixth grade students had a great difficulty logging onto the school computer and opening up Microsoft Word. I find this digital divide to be a significant issue in my classroom, and I am currently trying to establish a way to differentiate for this type of divide. I also see a digital divide in my parent population, which can cause difficulties when students have homework on the computer. If I had a Wiki with a Parent Help Desk, this would eliminate a portion of these problems.
I also looked at the Thousands Project. I do not see myself implementing something like this in the neat future; however, I think it is a great, cross-curricular way to get great writing ideas and create a sense of global community in the classroom. I think this Wiki is great, but I am not sure how the students fit in this Wiki. I want my students to take ownership in the Wikis and not become another task for me to complete. I would like to see students submitting the questions and looking for the answers. I am not entirely sure this is feasible, but students would be more invested in the activity this way.
The final Wiki I explored was entitled Schools in the Past. This Wiki's purpose was see how schools have changed over the years. The teacher had the students interview the parents and grandparents to see what their schooling was like. In addition to this, the Wiki page was made public so it could could potentially receive international feedback. Like the Thousands Project, I think this Wiki is very powerful because it allows students to see from a variety of perspectives.
My favorites things about Wikis are the easy access to them. A teacher can get an entire community involved with her assignments by opening up a Wiki forum. I definitely see myself using it in this kind of format in the future. I also love the Parent Help Desk included on Mr. Lindsay's page. I would love to begin preparations on a Wiki next year. I think it would be most useful in my 6th grade Language Arts class as a Parent Help Desk and as a page to include Frequently Asked Questions. However, I do not see it every replacing Edmodo in my classroom.