"Educationized" wiki?

According to this news article, teachers in Charlottesville, VA, are learning how to use open, web-based technologies to create, edit, and share curriculum materials. Specifically, they are receiving training in Curriki, the brainchild of Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy. According to eSchool News online, which also posted a story about Curriki earlier this year, McNealy envisioned Curriki as "a way to provide disadvantaged teachers and students around the globe with open and unfettered access to high-quality educational content."

That's great.

What is not so great is how Executive Director Bobbi Kurshan describes Curriki: "We've taken the wiki idea and educationized it."

This is horrible. It seems highly arrogant to suggest that wikis are anything other than educational to begin with. The whole wiki concept, after all, is based on community knowledge building!

I've explored Curriki briefly; it is indeed a free and open community with many members and lots of potential to grow and expand. But something about Kurshan's comment just flies all over me, especially after I read her bio and noticed the many affiliations and former positions she has held with commercial enterprises, including Apple and Microsoft.

Be vigilant! The education profiteers are sweeping in to co-opt the homegrown, organic qualities of the read/write web.

technorati tags: commercialism wikis

"Educationized" wiki?

"Educationized" wiki?

According to this news article, teachers in Charlottesville, VA, are learning how to use open, web-based technologies to create, edit, and share curriculum materials. Specifically, they are receiving training in Curriki, the brainchild of Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy. According to eSchool News online, which also posted a story about Curriki earlier this year, McNealy envisioned Curriki as "a way to provide disadvantaged teachers and students around the globe with open and unfettered access to high-quality educational content."

That's great.

What is not so great is how Executive Director Bobbi Kurshan describes Curriki: "We've taken the wiki idea and educationized it."

This is horrible. It seems highly arrogant to suggest that wikis are anything other than educational to begin with. The whole wiki concept, after all, is based on community knowledge building!

I've explored Curriki briefly; it is indeed a free and open community with many members and lots of potential to grow and expand. But something about Kurshan's comment just flies all over me, especially after I read her bio and noticed the many affiliations and former positions she has held with commercial enterprises, including Apple and Microsoft.

Be vigilant! The education profiteers are sweeping in to co-opt the homegrown, organic qualities of the read/write web.

technorati tags: commercialism wikis

"Educationized" wiki?

Choosing a wiki

It is time to create my first wiki!

I've decided a wiki is the best way to showcase the links, resources, and artifacts for my independent inquiry on eMentoring tools. But with nearly one hundred different free, web-based programs for generating wikis, choosing the right one can be a daunting task.

In this post, I will share a little of what I know about wikis in general, and then I will share the process I followed for selecting the right wiki program for my project on eMentoring.

First, a little background on wikis.

Simply put, a wiki is an interactive, editable web site built around a specific topic. The best wikis grow and thrive within a collaborative community of users who share an interest in the topic.

Perhaps the most famous example of a wiki is the international online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. But there are many examples of small-scale wikis, too. Of course, the scalability, utility, and constructivist nature of wikis have led to their widespread adoption across many content areas in education. For example, the International Collaborative Literature Project is a wiki shared between two classrooms, one in Israel and the other in Canada.

The Classroom 2.0 wiki is a great resource for educators to share resources and links about web-based technologies in education. It has a section specifically about wikis. (Now we are talking about "wikis within a wiki." Hope this isn't getting too confusing!) Visit this page and watch the embedded video titled "Wikis in Plain English." After watching the instructive video, scroll down to view an exhaustive list of potential uses for wikis in the classroom. This page also features links to specific wiki applications, examples of classroom wikis, articles and research on wikis, and many other resources.

Now, how to choose from the many free wiki applications currently available online?

Well, I started by reading the archived discussion on wikis at my favorite network for technology educators, Classroom 2.0. In this forum, teachers from all corners of the globe share their likes and dislikes about the various wiki platforms. These are invaluable, in-the-trenches insights from real folks who have already experienced the ins and outs of wikis in educational contexts.

The three most popular wiki applications discussed in the Classroom 2.0 forum are PBwiki, Wetpaint, and Wikispaces. These applications tend to meet educators' needs in terms of cost (free), privacy and security settings, and utility/ease of use.

I also noticed from the discussion that as teachers grow more comfortable with the wiki concept, they are beginning to demand more artistic control over the design and appearance of pages. Consequently, many teachers favor Wetpaint, which allows users to choose templates and font colors. Even those who love Wikispaces indicate a desire for more graphic design capability. (But others say they prefer Wikispaces clean, simple lines.)

All three applications -- PBwiki, Wetpaint, and Wikispaces -- offer features to customize and "brand" pages, and all three allow users to embed videos and other multimedia files. Wikispaces recently released a customizable widget feature.

To sum up, much of what drives wiki choice is educator personality (a preference for simplicity over artistic control, for example) followed by the intended audience. Do you plan to use the wiki to collaborate with colleagues, or is it intended to foster collaboration within a class of fourth graders?

Next, I visited WikiMatrix.

WikiMatrix allows visitors to compare multiple wikis and identify the best wiki application to fit their needs. At this writing, it is possible to compare 97 different wikis on the matrix, so unless you arrive with a few applications already in mind, I highly advise you use the handy WikiMatrix Choice Wizard. The wizard performs an instant needs assessment after you click your responses to a short list of questions.

It took me less than five minutes to complete the wizard. In the process, I not only narrowed the list down from 97 to 19 wikis, but I also learned a lot about the basic considerations and motivations that go into the creation of wikis. This was a powerful exercise!

I also felt vindicated to see that PBwiki, Wetpaint, and Wikispaces made the short list spat out by the wizard.

After completing the wizard, it is possible to click a button to generate a comparison matrix. The matrix enables you to judge the apps on a number of different criteria such as costs, intended audience, bandwidth requirements, topic restrictions, and security features. The matrix contains loads of information but is not very easy on the eyes; be prepared to do a lot of horizontal scrolling if you want to compare more than six or seven apps at a time.

I was in no mood to look at 19 wiki apps, so I generated a smaller matrix focusing on PBwiki, Wetpaint, and Wikispaces.

In the final analysis I chose Wikispaces for my project because of teacher testimonials regarding technical support and responsiveness as well as the fact it was created specifically for small interest groups and educational settings. In the long run, I want to create a web site that educators with varying levels of techno savvy will feel comfortable accessing, reading, and possibly editing. What Wikispaces lacks in visual appeal (compared to Wetpaint), it makes up for in terms of ease of use.

And that's what I think.

technorati tags: instructional technology web2.0 collaboration wikis

Choosing a wiki

Reflection on Dewey

Earlier this summer I took a course in educational philosophy in which we read "A Teacher and His World," an essay by John Dewey first published in 1935 in the journal The Social Frontier.

Apart from the sexism in the title, I found resonance in Dewey's argument. I regret that I cannot locate an open-source version of the essay to link to in this post. Sigh.

Here is a quote:

The sum of the matter is that the times are out of joint, and that teachers cannot escape even if they would, some responsibility for a share in putting them right. They may regard it, like Hamlet, as a cursed spite, or as an opportunity. But they cannot avoid the responsibility. Drifting is merely a cowardly mode of choice. . . . The first need is to become aware of the kind of world in which we live; to survey its forces; to see the opposition in forces that are contending for mastery; to make up one's mind which of these forces come from a past that the world in its potential powers has outlived and which are indicative of a better and happier future.

While the social forces are different, the times remain as disjointed today as they were when Dewey first wrote his essay.

We live in an age of global connectivity and social isolation, of community building and niche marketing. Vast amounts of data and information flow freely across virtual borders, while the security of geographic borders is hotly contested. Ours is a society hobbled by provincial, close-minded attitudes even as it pays lip service to concepts like “the human network” and “the global village.”

These social and political divides are caused in large part by the advance of the digital era, and, if I heed Dewey's call, I share some responsibility in “putting them right.” As a teacher and student in instructional technology, I see Dewey's call to action as an opportunity and not “a cursed spite.”

Because of technology's impact on our culture, I interpret Dewey's recommendation as an imperative for keeping pace with the changes in technology. It is simply no longer acceptable for teachers to say, “It's too complicated – we need more training,” or “I don't have time to teach computer skills, that's the business teacher's job!”

In truth, today's technology is cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to learn and use. Young people already know this; they are utilizing technology daily to collaborate, create, and communicate with others in new and exciting ways – outside school hours. During school hours, it is another story. All they hear is a litany of “no cell phones,” “no downloading,” “no blogs,” and so on. We deny them access to the tools they use for meaning-making and then scratch our heads in bewilderment as levels of student disengagement continually soar!

Dewey's advice means not only understanding how technology works and how to employ it but also being keenly aware of its impact on society. This means teaching about and through technology.

What exactly does this practice look like and how is it done?

Another implication stemming from Dewey's imperative is that I cannot be afraid to delve into new technologies as they become available. There is no need to wait for specialized training; many of the newest tools are free, open source, and user-friendly. When necessary, defer to the experts – the students!

As an educator, I bring my own expertise to the table: the ability to facilitate a dialog about the merit and worth of technology. By modeling how to be a critical consumer of technology, I can help my students develop the affective skills they will need for a lifetime of responsible and ethical engagement with technology. This seems to be in step with Dewey's directive that we make conscious decisions about which societal forces will lead to “a better and happier future.”

Again, what exactly does this practice look like and how is it done?

technorati tags: Dewey philosophy instructional technology

Reflection on Dewey

Reflection on Dewey

Earlier this summer I took a course in educational philosophy in which we read "A Teacher and His World," an essay by John Dewey first published in 1935 in the journal The Social Frontier.

Apart from the sexism in the title, I found resonance in Dewey's argument. I regret that I cannot locate an open-source version of the essay to link to in this post. Sigh.

Here is a quote:

The sum of the matter is that the times are out of joint, and that teachers cannot escape even if they would, some responsibility for a share in putting them right. They may regard it, like Hamlet, as a cursed spite, or as an opportunity. But they cannot avoid the responsibility. Drifting is merely a cowardly mode of choice. . . . The first need is to become aware of the kind of world in which we live; to survey its forces; to see the opposition in forces that are contending for mastery; to make up one's mind which of these forces come from a past that the world in its potential powers has outlived and which are indicative of a better and happier future.

While the social forces are different, the times remain as disjointed today as they were when Dewey first wrote his essay.

We live in an age of global connectivity and social isolation, of community building and niche marketing. Vast amounts of data and information flow freely across virtual borders, while the security of geographic borders is hotly contested. Ours is a society hobbled by provincial, close-minded attitudes even as it pays lip service to concepts like “the human network” and “the global village.”

These social and political divides are caused in large part by the advance of the digital era, and, if I heed Dewey's call, I share some responsibility in “putting them right.” As a teacher and student in instructional technology, I see Dewey's call to action as an opportunity and not “a cursed spite.”

Because of technology's impact on our culture, I interpret Dewey's recommendation as an imperative for keeping pace with the changes in technology. It is simply no longer acceptable for teachers to say, “It's too complicated – we need more training,” or “I don't have time to teach computer skills, that's the business teacher's job!”

In truth, today's technology is cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to learn and use. Young people already know this; they are utilizing technology daily to collaborate, create, and communicate with others in new and exciting ways – outside school hours. During school hours, it is another story. All they hear is a litany of “no cell phones,” “no downloading,” “no blogs,” and so on. We deny them access to the tools they use for meaning-making and then scratch our heads in bewilderment as levels of student disengagement continually soar!

Dewey's advice means not only understanding how technology works and how to employ it but also being keenly aware of its impact on society. This means teaching about and through technology.

What exactly does this practice look like and how is it done?

Another implication stemming from Dewey's imperative is that I cannot be afraid to delve into new technologies as they become available. There is no need to wait for specialized training; many of the newest tools are free, open source, and user-friendly. When necessary, defer to the experts – the students!

As an educator, I bring my own expertise to the table: the ability to facilitate a dialog about the merit and worth of technology. By modeling how to be a critical consumer of technology, I can help my students develop the affective skills they will need for a lifetime of responsible and ethical engagement with technology. This seems to be in step with Dewey's directive that we make conscious decisions about which societal forces will lead to “a better and happier future.”

Again, what exactly does this practice look like and how is it done?

technorati tags: Dewey philosophy instructional technology

Reflection on Dewey

School tech leadership idea

Scott McLeod designated July 4 as Leadership Day and challenged edubloggers to write about school technology leadership. I missed the "deadline" but am going to share an idea anyway.

I just finished my first-ever virtual learning experience, a summer course titled "Internet: Implications for Teaching and Learning." It was fun. We posted all assignments on the Internet and participated in weekly Moodle forums on a variety of topics. We presented our final projects -- ePortfolios -- in our instructor's "office" at Tapped In. (Hey, this 37-year-old tried online chat for the first time. That's huge!)

One of our assignments involved locating and participating in an online professional development activity. Many of the folks in the class shared discussion boards, forums, and networking sites specific to their content area, and most reported positive outcomes from their investigations, leading one woman to reflect, "I think it would be interesting if principals got their school on board with this global interaction perhaps designating some lesson planning time as 'chat time' and sharing what was learned periodically. It's such a great tool, but one that is not used often enough if at all."

That got me thinking.

I have experienced an awakening of sorts since starting this blog and setting up my aggregator about six months ago. There is a vast store of resources for personal and professional growth out there. Chris Lehmann has referred to them as academic networking tools, and I really like David Warlick's recent phrase, knowing-networks. If these resources are as untapped and underutilized as some of my classmates suggested in our recent Moodle discussion, then there is a huge ed tech leadership opportunity awaiting school officials where I teach in East Tennessee.

Here in Knox County the number of unscheduled inservice hours for teachers is tripling from 6 to 18 hours, beginning this school year (2007-08). The change was adopted to give teachers more control over the kind of professional development activities they choose for themselves. What if principals would agree to let teachers log online participation hours (or perhaps assign a maximum number of hours for certain activities like discussion forums or "webinars")? This might stimulate teachers to try some new stuff.

For instance, it took a summer course requirement for me to get off my duff and finally explore the Classroom 2.0 networking site -- something I've been meaning to do since April when I first bookmarked it on Del.icio.us!

At my former school we surveyed our faculty once annually about their personal expertise in all sorts of areas (not just technology). We took the data and assigned every staff member to "expert teams," and we published the list of expert teams in our faculty handbook. This is especially helpful for new and first-year teachers and interns who need advice with common, everyday challenges like printer troubleshooting or bookkeeping paperwork and so on. It would be interesting to survey the faculty to find out who is currently participating in online teacher networks. They could form an "expert group" and train the rest of the faculty!

Who out there is already modeling this practice? Is there a school or school system that recognizes and rewards teachers' self-directed professional growth via online communities and networks? I'd like to hear about it.

technorati tags: schooltechleadership professionalDevelopment web2.0

School tech leadership idea

School tech leadership idea

Scott McLeod designated July 4 as Leadership Day and challenged edubloggers to write about school technology leadership. I missed the "deadline" but am going to share an idea anyway.

I just finished my first-ever virtual learning experience, a summer course titled "Internet: Implications for Teaching and Learning." It was fun. We posted all assignments on the Internet and participated in weekly Moodle forums on a variety of topics. We presented our final projects -- ePortfolios -- in our instructor's "office" at Tapped In. (Hey, this 37-year-old tried online chat for the first time. That's huge!)

One of our assignments involved locating and participating in an online professional development activity. Many of the folks in the class shared discussion boards, forums, and networking sites specific to their content area, and most reported positive outcomes from their investigations, leading one woman to reflect, "I think it would be interesting if principals got their school on board with this global interaction perhaps designating some lesson planning time as 'chat time' and sharing what was learned periodically. It's such a great tool, but one that is not used often enough if at all."

That got me thinking.

I have experienced an awakening of sorts since starting this blog and setting up my aggregator about six months ago. There is a vast store of resources for personal and professional growth out there. Chris Lehmann has referred to them as academic networking tools, and I really like David Warlick's recent phrase, knowing-networks. If these resources are as untapped and underutilized as some of my classmates suggested in our recent Moodle discussion, then there is a huge ed tech leadership opportunity awaiting school officials where I teach in East Tennessee.

Here in Knox County the number of unscheduled inservice hours for teachers is tripling from 6 to 18 hours, beginning this school year (2007-08). The change was adopted to give teachers more control over the kind of professional development activities they choose for themselves. What if principals would agree to let teachers log online participation hours (or perhaps assign a maximum number of hours for certain activities like discussion forums or "webinars")? This might stimulate teachers to try some new stuff.

For instance, it took a summer course requirement for me to get off my duff and finally explore the Classroom 2.0 networking site -- something I've been meaning to do since April when I first bookmarked it on Del.icio.us!

At my former school we surveyed our faculty once annually about their personal expertise in all sorts of areas (not just technology). We took the data and assigned every staff member to "expert teams," and we published the list of expert teams in our faculty handbook. This is especially helpful for new and first-year teachers and interns who need advice with common, everyday challenges like printer troubleshooting or bookkeeping paperwork and so on. It would be interesting to survey the faculty to find out who is currently participating in online teacher networks. They could form an "expert group" and train the rest of the faculty!

Who out there is already modeling this practice? Is there a school or school system that recognizes and rewards teachers' self-directed professional growth via online communities and networks? I'd like to hear about it.

technorati tags: schooltechleadership professionalDevelopment web2.0

School tech leadership idea

Web 2.0 and the primacy of print

I jotted this diagram in my notes last month during a philosophy of education class. The instructor had cautioned us against using labels such as "myth" and "folklore" to describe non-scientific evidence, as these terms are evoked by Westerners who seek to marginalize the oral tradition. Prior to the Age of Enlightenment and the explosion of print, which helped elevate the scientific method, personal witnessing, dreams, prophesying, and story telling were highly regarded forms of truth seeking. Today, the effect of "print primacy" on the flow of knowledge capital and what constitutes literacy is the subject of debate among reading and language arts educators and scholars.

I am still thinking about this. Have we come full circle?

And then there is this video explanation of Web 2.0 by digital ethnographer Mike Wesch from Kansas State University.

technorati tags: web2.0 communication media

Web 2.0 and the primacy of print

Web 2.0 and the primacy of print

I jotted this diagram in my notes last month during a philosophy of education class. The instructor had cautioned us against using labels such as "myth" and "folklore" to describe non-scientific evidence, as these terms are evoked by Westerners who seek to marginalize the oral tradition. Prior to the Age of Enlightenment and the explosion of print, which helped elevate the scientific method, personal witnessing, dreams, prophesying, and story telling were highly regarded forms of truth seeking. Today, the effect of "print primacy" on the flow of knowledge capital and what constitutes literacy is the subject of debate among reading and language arts educators and scholars.

I am still thinking about this. Have we come full circle?

And then there is this video explanation of Web 2.0 by digital ethnographer Mike Wesch from Kansas State University.

technorati tags: web2.0 communication media

Web 2.0 and the primacy of print