Wikispaces in the Classroom

Wikispaces in the Classroom released lots of information about the new look and feel of Wikispaces aimed at its use in the school setting. Click on the image below to access the variety of resources Wikispaces is offering to help teachers understand and use all the new features.

Little Kids, Big Potential

In browsing through blogs this week, I found a link to this video in Abbey Menard's blog post, "Whoa." I clicked on the link and recognized the name of the teacher, Mrs. Cassidy, who posted the video to YouTube in 2010. It's amazing to see what these students were doing back in 2010, not that long ago, but at a time, when many teachers were barely having their students blog, use wikis, or try Skypes.

Granted Mrs. Cassidy has considerable experience with the tech tools and has them in her classroom for students to use, but most of all, the message is that these students are communicating and learning in new ways. View the video, and take a few minutes to leave your reaction.

Thanks to Abbey for posting the link to the video. Visit her blog for other information. Busy as a Bee.

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Coincidentally, just today a tweet came across my Twitter feed that linked to a recent blog post Mrs. Cassidy wrote on the Innovative Educator blog, 5 Rewards of Teaching Young Students to Blog. If you're not convinced about the power and potential of teaching young learners to blog, you might check the post. Perhaps you agree with some points and disagree with others. After checking her blog post, 5 Rewards of Teaching Young Students to Blog, let us know your thoughts. Do you see rewards in teaching young students to blog? What issues do you see in young students blogging?

What's a Wiki? What's a Blog? What's Google Doc?

Okay, you'll hear a lot about all three of these--wikis, blogs, and Google docs--throughout this course, EDUC 584. Here are some videos to help you understand more about each of these wonderful collaborative, multi-media tools.

What's A Wiki in Simple English?




Did this video give you a good sense of what is wiki is?

Now, take a look at this video about What's a Blog in Plain English:




Okay, now you know more about wikis and blogs, and you now have an idea of how they differ and also overlap in specific ways.

Now, let's take a look at What's Google Docs:




Now, you have heard in plain English what's a wiki, a blog, and Google docs. Some of you already knew about all these tools, some of you probably knew about one or two, and for others, perhaps all three were new to you.

Overall, did you find these videos helpful? More videos about each of these tools and how to use them will be added to the Instructional Technology blog, so be sure to keep checking. In the meantime, what more do you want to know about any one of these tools? How can you see these tools being used in educational settings?

If you have used any of these tools, let us know how? If you already have a blog, with what blogging tool did you create it? For instance, did you use Blogger, EduBlog, WordPress, Tumblr, or one of other blogging platforms available? Have you used a wiki tool like Wikispaces? Have you experimented or made regular use of Google Docs? If you are using any of these authoring tools, let us know how easy and effective you find what you've used or are now using.