Blog 13: Helping a teacher use wikis
First of all, I would have to say that I commend Jane
for having the courage to try a new thing in her class and to ask her peers for
help. I feel that Jane’s situation is classic case of “intent vs. impact”.
Why? Because her intent was to provide to give her students an opportunity to
use new tools in the classroom and that the same time the students will learn
to collaborate with each other and accomplish the task together. However, the
issues that I see in this scenario are that the students did not receive clear
and specific instructions or Rubric. Also, they were not presented with the
right guidance when it comes to using the web, such as internet safety,
reliable sources and plagiarism. And lastly, they were not give proper guidance
to collaborate with small groups and as an entire class to form a stronger
team. Her intent was to allow her students to work together and learn in the
process, while using the new tool of Wikis in the Web 2.0 environment, but the impact to the herself and her students was not a good result. But, at the end of the day, it is not the end of the world and Jane will learn from that experience.
The first issue of not giving her students specific
and clear guidance, by providing them with a rubric to follow. The rubric would
explain what exactly their goal would be, thus students will feel motivated to
accomplish that goal. Besides goals, students need to know what is expected of
them. Therefore, a clear rubric will create an understanding between the teacher
and students and minimizes miscommunication. The rubric will guarantee
consistency and fairness for all students, since some students might put more
effort than others. Consequently, there may be more than one grade for any
given assignment and for each student independently. Having objective-based
learning assignment should enable students to know what concept areas they have
mastered and where they need to improve. Since a rubric students received a
specific grade, that personalized feedback can guide them to do better on the
next assignment and in the course in general. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/112001/chapters/What-Are-Rubrics-and-Why-Are-They-Important%C2%A2.aspx
I like to describe children as curious, inquisitive,
adventurous, fearless, unafraid, and trusting. Those descriptions and qualities
can get children in danger in their everyday life, as well as on the Internet. Parents
and teachers enjoy their children's curiosity, but also realize that curiosity assaults
on the Internet, there are many new and different possibilities we may know
little about. Teachers and parents
should learn to recognize, be knowledgeable, and capable to teaching their students
and children safe behaviors to follow when they are using technology. I would
recommend Jane to begin by harnessing the power of the Internet herself to
learn more and catch up to her students. There are excellent resources to help teachers
and parents learn some effective and easy-to-use strategies for online research.
As a teacher, we should expect students to display different levels of
responsibility at different ages. The same is true for internet safety and
cyber citizenship and the risk of plagiarism. Teach them about the risks and
ensure they care about keeping safe. Teach them about the need to know how to
avoid hazardous online situations, how to detect a potentially dangerous
situation, the importance of keeping personal information personal, and how
they might respond to tricky situations. Jane will feel more comfortable when she
is more knowledgeable about this new area of responsibility in teaching today.
Together, parents, teachers, students, and community organizations can keep our
children safe in an interconnected world. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship
Last and very important is the learning outcomes and
how groups will be organized, how student learning and group processes will be
supported, and how students will be evaluated. Jane needs to consider how the
process will play out in a classroom situation. How would she introduce the
activity? How much time is required? How will you debrief as a group? For collaborative
activities, she needs to focus on asking effective questions that engage
students in the types of learning she is trying to encourage. Plan each stage
of the group work over a period of time for which students will be graded. When
forming groups, do not allow students to form their own groups, because it will
likely result in uneven groupings. If possible, arrange groups by skills and/or
backgrounds. Try to arrange students by their comfort/ability level on a number
of skills (research, background knowledge of course topics, work experience,
etc.) and try to arrange groups that include “experts” in different areas. To
ensure that students are productive, set aside time early in the class to allow
for icebreakers and team-building activities. Plan to use class time for group
work to eliminate students having to organize times outside of class. Most of
the work that the groups accomplish can be done collaboratively online, thus
eliminating the trouble of coordination. Divide the overall assignment into
smaller pieces and set several deadlines, that way students work toward
reaching milestones, and include peer review in each milestone to encourage
self-awareness and feedback. Connect activities from the classroom, which
provide clues that assist students with the assignment. Have students share a
summary of what they learn during the assignment and address any misconceptions
or clarify any confusing points. Open the floor for questions. And that is it.
Good luck Jane! https://www.edutopia.org/stw-collaborative-learning-resources
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