Whew! We're rolling now.... hmmm... what to learn?

It's been a bit of a hectic start to the school year. There is always a flurry of things to get done, and most everyone has questions, even though we hadn't changed many things over the summer. One major undertaking was that our campus became totally wireless this year. Since so many of our teachers are using laptops, this is a welcome upgrade! It has somehow affected our ability to iChat in BonJour though. We just don't "see" each other anymore.

So, now that things are settling in, it's time to set our goals for the coming year. In our professional learning community, we are committed to life-long learning. So, what will our learning consist of? What tools will we use in our classrooms? Will we risk trying something new? How will we learn? Who will teach us?

The web is a wonderland of both useless and useful information. I love the fact that so much information is online and freely available. So much to learn, so little time. But, here's something to get you going. Check out Common Craft, where complex items are explained in plain English -- "their product is explanation." Confused about Web 2.0 tools such as Social Bookmarking, Wikis, and RSS? The Common Craft videos are great starters to introduce you to these concepts.

Happy learning!

More on Wikis...

In my previous post I invited readers to visit a wiki that was created for connecting the learning of those who attended IL-TCE. If you haven't yet considered using a wiki for your classroom... think again.

Why wikis? A wiki used in a classroom setting could provide an archive of lessons, and a long-term forum, as an archivable and searchable conversation among all members of the classroom — teacher and students. Students may expand on topics as they see fit, and teachers may guide the discussion where needed. It is a “many to many” technology, where knowledge is created for the benefit of all.

Check out Stuart Mader’s list of wikis in education at http://www.ikiw.org/category/wiki-uses/ and Mark Wagner’s online tutorial/presentation on wikis in education presented at the fall "K12 Online Conference" at: http://k12online.wm.edu/WikiWhileYouWork.mov

Thanks to two great companies, wikis are FREE and EASY for educators!

http://pbwiki.com, where creating a wiki "is a easy as making a peanut butter sandwich" (actually making the sandwich takes longer). If you set up your page in the education” category, it will be ad-free.

If you would like to help spread the word, pbwiki provides "Presenter Packs" which includes a free t-shirt, PowerPoint files and giveaways. See details at: http://educators.pbwiki.com

Just before IL-TCE, I had a great conversation with Ramit Sethi, PBWiki co-founder, about some of the new features and enhancements just released for PBWiki. Listen to this 9-minute phone interview!

http://wikispaces.com, will provide an annual “ad free” subscription to educators at no cost (regular $60 per year) Sign up at: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers. Adam Frey, co-founder of Wikispaces.com, presented several Spotlight sessions at IL-TCE.

I hope you will explore using wikis for your classroom. Remember, you are in control of who can add, edit or view the content. Wikis can be made public or private for your classroom. If you'd like to learn more, or have some guidance in setting up your classroom wiki, I hope to be presenting a summer workshop through ICE. Stay tuned...