. . . Say Hi to the Wiki Lady!

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Nine” (Session Four) :

TASK:  Contribute to a Wiki & Set Up Your Own Wiki Page  . . .

Well, this was very informative but a little confusing at the same time.  In an earlier task, when I was setting up my edublog, a reference to the DSCETC Learning 2.0 Wiki indicated that I need to go here and post my edublog link.  Well, at least I thought that was what I was supposed to do.  I went there and ended up creating a wiki site and was finally in after access was granted.  At this point, I did see the edublog links but not aware of anything else to do there until I reached this task (thing 9) of contributing a link to the site.

Finally, I was able to complete this task and contribute.  The thing that stands out to me about wiki sites is that they are similar in ways to the edublog site we created earlier.  There are a few design difference between them as well.

After searching around, I found a nice blog summarizing the differences by MPLIC ILS & Tech Train.

“In short, a blog is a “website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in reverse chronological order”.

“A wiki is “a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit, and change content…and allows for linking among any number of pages”.

What are wikis better at than blogs:

• Wikis are better at archiving information for easy access.
• Wikis are better at gathering information from a group of people.

What are blogs better at than wikis:

• Blogs are better at quickly sharing new information.
• Blogs are better at starting and maintaining a dialog between the publisher and reader.”

So, how you want to present your information and content will determine as to which one of these formats will deliver it the best.  If you can use a word processor, then adding content to either of these formats should not be much of a problem.  Editing the design and look of these sites can be a little overwhelming but worth the effort.

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Eight” (Session Four) :  WIKIS

Stretch TASK :  Wikipedia topic of interest . . .

My topic of choice in Wikipedia was “Windows 7.”  After reading the wikipedia entry, I found it to be very informing and accurate.  It was heavily noted with 47 references.  Interestingly, many of the references were from various blog sites.  So, do I automatically assume that the material being quoted is coming from reliable sources?  Maybe or maybe not.  Further reading is required to visit the referenced blog and check the integrity of the posting before final conclusions can be made.

However, the information was organized rather well covering a brief history of Windows 7 development.  The content summarized new features as well as removed features.  Hardware requirements were given in a very concise list. The content about Windows 7 appears to be valid and covers the basic information regarding the upcoming release.

There was much controversy surrounding Windows Vista but none is evident in this article concerning Windows 7.  I think Microsoft may have learned a valuable lesson from public reaction to its previous operating system release.  Over 50 Mac versus PC commercials on TV have magnified the issues with the early Vista release that has caused so many problems with users.  Microsoft has promised that Windows 7 will be much better than Vista.  Well, we will see.

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Eight” (Session Four)

Discovery Exercise / TASK 1:  Checking out educational wikis . . .

My Voki Personality Greeting

Well, isn’t that personal “avatar” a little interesting to say the least!  As I was visiting each of the educational wiki sites, the greeting at “Grazing for Digital Natives” site caught my attention.  I was greeted by an interesting animation.  So, I decided to check it out and was able to very simply make my own.  In the proper context, I believe this could be a very good enhancement to help welcome the reader.  It’s different and fun.  The downside for this type of item is that it is embedded and links back to the Voki site from where it is streamed to you.  Many things affect how video and audio is streamed and the site visitor may not have the good fortune of hearing your greeting on occassion.  (Click play to hear my greeting above or come back later and try again if the website is busy.)

On the Holocaust Wiki Project site, I found the content to be organized very cleanly and it resembles the Wikipedia Site.  Eye appeal makes a big difference to me when reading sites.  Some websites are so cluttered that it is hard to navigate.  Information organized in such ways to help the reader focus is essential to good pages.

I loved the Primary Math wiki.  It is an excellent use of how several different math classes can actually build a wiki site together.  Adding pictures helps personalize and allows the students to see some of the actual things they do in the classroom.  Each of the classes have their own sites which they share more details about what’s happening in their classroom.

I love the student involvement in the Room 15 Wiki.  Many of the articles were about cell phone use at school.  Naturally, the students are all for having them in class and they give their reasons.  But, as smart educators, we know that this item can be also used in “unseemly” ways.  Vicki Davis, in her blog, “Spies Like Us” demonstrated how it can be abused.  (See Thing 4).

Because technology does not frighten kids like it does with many adults, I can definitely see students creating and building wiki sites in relation to classroom activities.  Time constraints at school may prevent students from posting during class time.  Wiki’s can be accessed at home as well at school and make it possible for students to edit and update these sites at any location.  Homework takes many forms and the nature of homework is also evolving from the tradition assignments given to students to more interactive ways of learning.

When visiting these various wiki’s, do you ever feel like Christopher Columbus setting sail to explore and look for a new world?  It’s over there – let’s go discover it!

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Seven” (Session Three)

Stretch Task:  Create a Custom News Feed . . .

Well, this was very interesting and very useful.  Ater going to Google News, I typed “microsoft” into the search box and many related articles were displayed.  I added this feed to my reader to see what’s happening with Vista and the upcoming release of Windows 7.  Now, that I have been adding subscriptions to my reader, this one was a breeze.

The first article I read was about Microsoft getting us ready for Vista’s Service Pack 2 to be released soon.  It’s about time!  We need to make it more stable.  Vista Update.

Before I installed Service Pack 1 on my Vista machine, I think it was quite confused about how it should operate and run the programs.  Things were definiteIy crashing left and right and every other direction you can imagine.  Internet Explorer stopped working and I had to install Firefox which worked perfectly.  Copying and pasting of files is such a simple task but if you hit the right “bug” it’s a thing of the past.  No one, even Microsoft wasn’t sure of what to do short of reinstalling the operating system.  Course, third party copy programs worked fine.

I think that facing these types of “challenges” could be said of some of us in classes such as this as well.  Hey, I think of this class as a service pack to enable us to operate better and patch some holes and gaps in our effectiveness as learners.  After adding Web 2.0 tools to our toolbelt, we can definitely construct a learning environment in which we won’t feel like an outcast.

Another interesting article concerns Microsoft being sued because of Vista and the “Vista Capable” ruling.  The original lawsuit was brought by Dianne Kelly who purchased a PC described as “Vista Capable” in November 2006, right before the new operating system hit the market.  Apparently, it didn’t work very well.  Well, of course, probably numerous other people had the same problems.  Microsoft should learn not to release “buggy” software to that extent.  We have enough of those creatures running around us already.

Creating custom news feeds in a RSS reader can be very helpful in narrowing down news content that I wish to have delivered to me.  I may not have time to pick up a newspaper if this keeps us.

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Seven” (Session Three)

Thing 7a Task:  Begin to Build a Reading Habit . . .

One of the subscriptions that I added to my reader was Flickr, a photo feed of interesting pictures.  I am amazed at the unique ways images are captured and the artistic angles of many of these photos.  If you don’t like to read, at least here’s a site where you can look at pictures.  Maybe you could even share some of your own!  This is an example of a red barn and it does not say on it, “See Rock City!”  It’s in Idaho.  I love the little sprinkling of snow.  (For Main Flickr site.)

Since I am interested in photography and like to work with images, I also added a fun site in our list that turns pictures into jigsaw puzzles called Daily Jigsaw Puzzle.  Here you can make any of the pictures on the site into a puzzle or upload your own.  There are competitions among users and points awarded to those that can assemble the puzzles the fastest.  I am not sure what you will get for winning but I am sure you will have fun if you like jigsaw puzzles.  I have notice a multitude of websites is now using flash to deliver content to users in many areas such as jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, math calculations, brain games and variety of other things.

In an earlier task, “play” was mentioned as one of the 7½ habits for effective lifelong learning.  Much of the “flash” content that I see on the web is in a game style format.  If it is not fun to do, then let’s do something else seems to be the driving attitude for most kids and probably many adults.  If I visit a site that seems to be alive with excitement then I usually hang around awhile to see what they are doing.

I find that I do more reading on screen these days than I actually do in real hand held books.  I need a bigger monitor!

K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “Six” (Session Three)

Discovery Exercise (Feed Your Reader) . . .

Finding an edublog is not a problem.  But, finding one that is useful on a daily basis can be a challenge.  Among the thousands upon thousands that exist, the one bright spot is that someone has already been writing about something of interest to you and me.  After seeing the multitude of blogs being posted, it becomes very clear that we need special tools to help us focus and maintain a connection to our favorite links.  The benefits of a good blog reader is clear.  The Google reader was a good selection for a reader because I already have an existing gmail account.

Locating favorite blogs to add to the reader does require an enormous amount of viewing other blog sites to determine their value and compatibility to your likes and preferences.  The use of blog search sites are excellent ways to locate specific types of blogs.  I liked the Google Blog Search.  I found it easy to use and a great tool in locating blogs of interest to me.

One subscription can generate a lot of topics from the blog site.  I can see why one would try to limit the number of subscriptions in the reader.  This could get out of control and generate too much reading material to digest.