Teacher+WikiSpaces+Site+Reviews

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= NETS-T Standards for Teacher WikiSpaces =

.....//The NETS*T which I felt were most apropos pertain to properly managed WikiSpaces in general. Though a couple of the sites I reviewed below address __most__ of the NETS, I do not feel any one of them possessed all. I included all here because I believe that the intent behind wikis is to be 100% collaborative in nature and the definitely have the potential for being all-encompassing. I also chose to address the wiki review standards in this way because I do not believe it is relevant to the activity to state the few addressed and each wiki reviewed would have its own set, making these reviews monotonous.//

**1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity**
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers... .....a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness .....b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources .....c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes .....d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers... .....a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity .....b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress .....c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources .....d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers... .....a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations .....b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation .....c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats .....d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

** 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility **
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers... .....a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources .....b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources .....c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information .....d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools

** 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership **
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers... .....a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning .....b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others .....c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning .....d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

= Teacher WikiSpaces Site Reviews = .... .I reviewed each of the seven suggested wiki sites. This was a valuable task because I found things I liked and things I did not like, and immediately changed similar aspects of my own wiki page. ..... A Broken World was the first site I looked at. This was interesting because their goal was to replace their textbook with student-created content. The students researched and contributed to pages devoted to different events for World War I. Their home page clearly states their purpose and their navigation bar is specific and easy to use. They incorporated text, video, images, and maps for each section. Their discussion posts encourage viewer feedback and suggestions. Their resources page includes a student rubric for contributions, a class blog, and a Diigo group for bookmarking. I was pretty impressed with this wiki on the whole. The level was appropriate to the contributors (high school) and obviously reflects structured teacher guidance. .....Thousand and One Flat World Tales is a student collaborative effort inviting global involvement. The home page clearly states the focus of the project with instructions for participation. It was originally involved students from Hawaii, Korea, and Colorado. They included very detailed explanations of how the contributions would be “graded” by peers. It is structured so that you are a king with the power to let the story “live or die”. Stories were refined based on these reviews. If your story survived the entire process it was “published” on their page. I liked the “online safety” page they included. This is a good safeguard to include for any online student work. The project appeared to be very well thought through, though nothing new has been contributed, which leaves me to wonder if it is still active. ..... Bookleads has a home page which was created using Glogster. I thought this was an aesthetically appealing way to include their basic links. This wiki deals 100% with books and book related topics. It focuses on teen and young adult literature and is mostly links to sites for book reviews and author pages. It is quite comprehensive in what it includes. For a site like this I would like to see more student created work, like book reviews and author interviews developed from research. ..... Code Blue was a wiki devoted to science, specifically to the body systems. It would be helpful for them to include descriptions for the links listed on their home page along with a “mission statement” of some kind. The navigation bar is confusing because they do not explain what the divisions mean; they use the term “block” to mean some kind of grouping. The bar “appears” to be well-organized; however it was difficult to pinpoint the focus of each section. I think the “doctors” listed throughout are the students doing the wiki, but I am not sure because there is no statement explaining what we would find. I felt this site was confusing and had little fact information for a site which appears to focus on science. One thing I did like was that, like the Thousand and One Flat Tales wiki, they included a page for internet safety. ..... Dorman Data Digest was very dry. There is a broken link to their blog, though they did include a brief statement of purpose. They included very little actual content; there are tons of documents to download which have the content on them. This makes the site a bit unfriendly looking and boring to use for students (or adults). If it is intended solely to provide class content online for students to access from home then I can see the point. The last section on their navigation bar is a “webquest”; however it isn’t really a webquest by what I have experienced from other sites. There were no graphics, though there was a blog-type embedment called “The Daily D” that was kind of cool. It had active links in it like a webpage of its own. That is the only real place there were student contributions. There is a copyright adherence request buried on the home page as an attached document. ..... The Webster Class Wiki needs some work, in my opinion. Their purpose is stated in the section called “Wiki Warranty” but the home page that initially opens is not on the navigation bar so you can not go back to it directly. They have whole pages for a single sentence which seemed like a waste of time. Because of that, they also had no explanation for what each page’s content was so supposed to be. Despite the purpose statement on the Wiki Warranty page, it was difficult to follow the point of the site. ..... Teentalk had some interesting points. This is a site that was well organized and had a definite stated purpose. Their intent was to learn about each other and about logo design. This was a collaborative effort between schools in the United States and Malaysia. Like a couple of the other sites, they wisely included an internet safety page. They had pages each dedicated to one student’s contributions. The thing I found most interesting was the complexity of the material supplied by the American students compared to the Malaysian students. The Malaysians had pages which very extremely structured with aesthetically pleasing title graphics and menus linking to several pages of a portfolio. The American students had very bland, single page offerings. .....I’m glad we were forced to take a look at these other teacher sites because it made me realize what should and should not be included, and where, in my own Wikis. I made several changes to my professional wiki along with my class one. I originally had my full biographical information on my home page and a basic description of the wiki purpose on a second page. I rearranged these parts when I saw how valuable it was to have the purpose very first when the site opens. I also learned quite a bit about organizing the navigation bar with titles which make sense. The sites with more graphics and fewer link lists were also much more appealing and interesting. This was definitely a worthwhile task.