Response Blog #4

Wikis and Web2.0 tools aren't exactly new to me. Even though I don't use wiki's I have heard of them and I have used and explored them in the past. This week during my exploration and especially during the ERIC article and Keynote by Will Richardson, I have realized how beneficial wikis can be. Will Richardson said it best during his speech that the next generation of learners has to learn a completely new literacy then the literacy that we were taught. This virtual literacy doesn't have the same rules as the one one that we were taught. This is an interesting time for us because we are in the driver seat to guide these students into that new literacy. I also liked it when Will Richardson stated how we as educator should feel uncomfortable right now, because this is such a drastic change in our field.

It's scary to think about it sometimes, but also exciting. Take wikis for example. These are fantastic places for learners from anywhere in the world to gather together and learn from one another. I loved the example in the ERIC article of the Canadian school doing a community based project with the Japanese students. This was a touching tale that motivated me to begin thinking in that collaborative type of educating. I would start small.

My idea for next year would be to maybe team up with a friend who is a teacher in a suburban school. I would create a wiki and send my friend the information as well, that way both of our classrooms would be connected. We could organize similar type projects of the Canadian and Japanese schools to learn about each other's communities, etc. We could also use it as a forum for online discussion between students, almost like virtual penpals since most second graders don't have email addresses. We could also post projects and other researched materials. It could also be a place (with the right technology) for us to maybe video conference a cool lesson that one of us had planned. The more I think about this idea the more excited I get about it. In fact I'm going to email my friend when I get finished blogging.

This would have two benefits, the suburban students would appreciate the fact that a lot of people live in neighborhoods such as my students. I know growing up in a middle class area I was very oblivious to what almost 50% of our nation lives in; I was in a bubble so to say. And my students would see what other neighborhoods outside of their own is like since most of them don't ever leave the area. A possible downfall to this would be maybe my students feeling depressed or saddened to see what other kids lives are like, even though I doubt this because my students are resilient, but it is a possibility. My vision is already laid out, and I already have my partner teacher in mind, as I'm sure he would cooperate with me. I'm very excited to possibly collaborate an inner city classroom with a rural/suburban classroom. I think both classrooms would benefit from it.

I would use this wiki to get me up to par with using widgets and other rollovers when I'm designing the wiki. The website is called http://gettingtrickywithwikis.wikispaces.com/.
I know that designing this would be a lot of work (but that's what the summer's for). I also know that I will probably hit some rough patches with this but I think if I start small and take my failures in stride that it will be successful.