Wikis, Blogs, and Education

I was going to title this "wikis, blogs, and kids" but my main focus with the wiki in the beginning of this school year is to encourage our faculty to start using the computer, particularly the Internet more. So I created a staff wiki. I know, I am only asking for abuse but I have got to keep trying. Our communication (or more appropriately- lack of) over the past few years as a staff has just about crippled our school. I am hopeful that by having a one stop for all things discussed and decided we will be better informed of the happenings at STAA. One can dream right?

Last night's class touched on some old and some new. The Technorati website hosting all the really cool free stuff is just one example of how far technology has come and if we can get our educators to use all these fun toys, think of the motivation we will provide for our students. They love all the creative avenues technology has to offer. At the end of last school year I introduced my students to HTML, which is actually old technology, but they loved learning how to write computer language and to program so that the computer could respond to the language. They are so eager to try it again. It makes my job so much fun. I just wish I could get all the faculty on board and use these inventive tools for collaboration, integration, and education.

I do see that some of our Jr high teachers plan to use blogging in their classes and more teachers are hosting websites for their classrooms. I want them to become comfortable with the wiki as that is more of a communication tool between home and school and the students can do the editing. The possibilities and ease in the classroom with a wiki are endless. As I stated in class I am embarking on trying to get moodle running on my server at school. I know it will be a work in progress all year, but in the end I know it will all be worth it. So much to do, so much to learn, so much to teach!

I have 3 wiki's and think by the end of the week I will have a 4th. It gets a bit much to keep track of. One of my wiki's is for my family-the big one. Every year I plan a huge camping trip up at our cabin for about 70 of our closest siblings and their families. This year was a piece of cake as everything was posted on the wiki and we did not have 100 emails to decipher.

Keeping the lines of communication open in education is very important and the new tools on the Internet have greatly improved those lines. It is imperative that educators get on board with the information age and use technology in their courses every day.