6

We make our tools, and then they shape us.

We have created such advanced technologies that allow us immediate access to one another, and as a result, we have grown dependent on them.

- Social software allows people to collaborate through computer-mediated communication & to form online communities

- Schools inhibit rather than support knowledge building by:

- Focusing on individual students' abilities & learning

- Requiring only demonstrable knowledge, activities, & skills as evidence of learning

- Teacher-hoarding wisdom & expertise

- Students' knowledge tends to be devalued or ignored

- Wikis

- Allows users to add, remove, or edit available content

- Problem > anyone can create & edit wiki pages so the content may not be accurate

- Environments for students to engage in collaborative work that can continually evolve & improve

- Promotes critical analysis > students evaluate the ideas being co-constructed, make decisions regarding their validity, & participate in a knowledge-building community

Wiki project idea: Students are faced w/ complex choices & outcomes affect the characters

Idea: Students can create their own version of Wikipedia to study or review for a test

Technology can be used to promote collaborative learning. Prior to reading the chapter, I was familiar with several of the community building resources discussed, such as wikis and blogs.

I like the idea of using wikis for class projects, such as the Holocaust project. Students' learning is enhanced when they are able to share and discuss their ideas.

Both teacher-created and student-created blogs are beneficial to use in the classroom. I plan to have a classroom blog for my students and their parents to visit. It will mainly feature what we have been studying in class, and I will post videos and pictures of class activities. The use of a blog in my classroom is the same as the idea of tweeting in the classroom, which I discussed in a previous journal entry. The main difference is that, with a blog, the user has an unlimited amount of characters he can type. So, in my classroom, we can go into detail when discussing what is learned in class and the activities in which the class participates. The benefits are also the same as using twitter. For example, it can improve students' writing.

I also like the idea of each student maintaining his own blog, although this may only be suitable for upper elementary students. The teacher can give students prompts or questions and have students respond to these on their blogs. Because blogs are more informal writing than formal, I think that students will feel more comfortable sharing their opinions. Blogs are also great tools to use to evaluate students' understanding of material if they are required to reflect on activities and information learned in class.

I like the idea of connecting my students with others around the world. Resources such as KidLink, Global Schoolhouse, and iEARN make this possible. It exposes students to people of various cultures and backgrounds and allows them to interact with people who have different perspectives from them. These resources are great promoters of diversity.

The chapter reminded me of a web site I critiqued for another class--Teachers(dot)Net. The site was founded to provide teachers a community, free of charge, where they can communicate, share, and contribute their experiences, knowledge, and ideas. The site offers lesson plans, classroom projects, email discussions, articles, a forum, and job listings. The site is a great supportive community that is beneficial for teachers. For instance, the "Chatboards" section, or the Mentor Support Center, acts as a forum where users can post questions, ask for advice, start a discussion of any topic, and respond to others' posts. All the sections in the forum are active, and by responding to others' posts and by contributing new discussion topics, users are able to network and build relationships with other users. The site also allows users to subscribe to various mailrings, where they can receive information ranging from hot topics in the classroom to specific subject areas, and connect with others who share similar interests.