Wikis in Education

Case Study about the use of Wikis
The above link is an experiment that was performed to see how students use wikis. The results of this experiment taught me that students do grasp the opportunity to publish their own work, but they do not edit material on other pages. I find that interesting since one of the main points of wikis is to have multiple people editing the information on the site. Even though the researcher created a homepage, when the student decided they did not like the homepage, they created a brand new one instead of editing the one which was already made by the researcher. All six students interviewed even agreed that it was better to write their own page rather than edit an already written one.
What's even more interesting is that students actually seemed to collaborate when it came to the design and technical competence of the wiki. It also seems like the students believe that it is the words that get them grades and not the pictures. In the discussion board, there were very few comments about written content, but there were several comments about the visual design.

Strategies for Using Wikis in Education
The above link is very interesting because it gives you five great examples of how to incorporate the use of wikis in the classroom. The first way is for collaborative projects such as a group of students completing a research project focusing on a specific tribe of American Indians. What makes wikis ideal is that because they are online, students can access them outside of school allowing them to work together without actually having to be physically together. The second use for a wiki is to demonstrate a student's knowledge. Basically, it can be used to summarize what they learned in their own words. Wikis are also a good online resource for the classroom since it can meet school district website filtering requirements, and it provides students with acceptable resources for their school work. As used in this class, wikis can be used for a classroom webpage. The use of wiki as the classroom webpage eliminates the needs for maintenance of a separate website and to learn how to use special software. Finally, wiki can be used as a "filling cabinet" in that teachers can store files, images, and videos on the website.

10 Best Practices for using wikis in education
The above link is a great way to tie the two previous links together. The first link tells us about students using wikis, the second describes different ways to incorporate a wiki, and now this link informs how to get students involved in using wikis. It provides ten simple ways to get students to use a wiki. First and foremost, give directions and time for practice. As students get more comfortable with using it, they are more likely to contribute. Students then must abide by the wiki conventions. As with any other new project, the teacher must be patient with the students and a "culture of trust" must be created within the wiki. Meaning that icebreaker activities are a big plus! Again, as with any other assignment, clear and explicit expectations are a must as are unique and meaningful activities. To help with collaboration, a common goal for collaborative activities should be made. As learned from a previous study, collaborating seems to be tough for students so setting a common goal really helps. Finally, as with many other assignments, the instructor must define roles and the activity, remind students of course deadlines, and model examples of collaborative activities.

Social Media Survey

The survey I posted got 32 responses. The results are posted below:

Survey results

I found it very interesting that almost 70% of responders were concerned with privacy. I am wondering if the privacy concerns are due to the fact that it is something that is talked about a lot in the news and media or because people are genuinely concerned. 

I also found it interesting that almost everyone uses social media to stay in touch with friends and less than 1/3 of people use it to flirt. It was interesting to see that exactly half of the people who took the survey felt more comfortable talking and/or meeting people online. As for trends, I did not notice any distinct patterns between the males and females or any other correlation of answers. 

PEW, Videos, and Survey

The most surprising thing I read was that older boys are more likely than girls to use social networking sites to make new friends. At first, I interpreted this as just "friending" people in order to say you have more "friends." But after re-reading it, I started to think it meant actually meeting up with people using the site. When I think of people being concerned with how many "friends" they have, I think of that as female trait. But then I thought about men looking for women to date which would correspond to why boys make more friends through the sites.

Another interesting statistic to me was that only 55% have a social networking site. I expected a lot more than that. It surprised me how Myspace was updated the most. I didn't know people still used Myspace.

It surprised me how random those teens were in their behavior. It seemed like one thought jumped to another, and that these thoughts were seemingly unrelated at times. This was more true for Boxxy than Sexman, but even Sexman had his moments. Boxxy's voice was interesting to say the least. She was talking a mile a minute while her voice kept changing. Her hands were everywhere, and it really seemed like she couldn't sit in one place for a second. Sexman seemed significantly more calm and spoke at a much more consistent rate. I am a bit concerned about Boxxy's well being. I'm not sure what Gaia is but the fact that she's posting videos intended for strangers concerns me. I just hope she doesn't try to actually meet these strangers. Also, Sexman was very vulgar for his age. The fact that he loves fights and uses such foul language worries me about what he could do in the future. I feel like he could really hurt someone or get hurt from his love of fights. What I find most surprising, though, is how many views both of their videos had accumulated. I don't understand why so many people watched their videos.

I am an Ambivalent Networker.

"If you are an Ambivalent Networker, you have folded mobile devices into how you run your social life, whether through texting or online social networking tools. You also rely on ICTs for entertainment. At the same time – perhaps because of the volume of digital pings from others – you may sometimes find all your connectivity to be intrusive. You are confident in your ability to troubleshoot your various information devices and services."

I am a bit surprised that I scored as an ambivalent networker. I don't think I run my social life though texting or online. I don't even know what ICTs or digital pings are. I feel like facebook is a good way to catch up with friends you don't see as often such as peers from high school, friends you grew apart from, and even people from your hometown. My entertainment sources don't have to involve technology, though, as I can easily spend the entire day reading a good book. I don't find my connectivity to be intrusive at all. I enjoy being connected to the entire world and find it pretty amazing.

Reflection on lesson plan 1

I learned that basing a lesson plan on something you enjoy makes the lesson plan easier to finish. While trying to look at different ideas, better concept maps, I tried other subjects but after a few sentences I saw it wasn't what i wanted to do. By finally choosing chemistry, my lesson plan started to almost write itself. It become easier to stay focused on my task in hand and the time didn't feel like it stopped. I learned that doing something that you enjoy really makes a difference.

I'm interested in how to make a better lesson plan. I'd love to learn how to think about the bigger picture behind the lesson plan instead of just focusing on one random lesson. It feels like a missing puzzle piece waiting to be put into it's right spot.