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Asilomar 2008
Can our teaching and our non-fiction writing, not to mention our administrative duties, benefit from Internet technology? We will present three separate “wiki” opportunities for classroom teachers to use (at no cost). We invite participants to contact us as soon as possible and to explore these possibilities prior to Asilomar.
a) Unstructured Technology:
"Wiki" technology that teachers who are good at computers can use to build sites for themselves and their students—in a way that fits their unique teaching style.
b) Semi-structured Technology:
Templates for online magazines, both simple blogs and complex multi-page publications, that teachers can use for “back office” classroom management (assignments, etc.) or as a “front office” means to publish student writing.
c) Structured Technology:
Teachers, grad students, and students are invited to participate in a Justice!, an online publication on civil liberties that aims to bring to the public a comprehensive set of information, facts, and profiles within tightly focused sub-topics.
Current sub-topics:
Participants will be invited to complete research and writing projects to pull together a solid factual base for the publication. Opinion and comment will also be welcomed. “Justice!” will test the thesis that a community can collaborate effectively to create a publication that would be unlikely to survive using a standard for profit business model.
Click here to reach the start page for these technology options.
To prepare for this section, we invite participants to sample the technology and to explore the following resources. Please contact us with additional resources to expand our current list. And contact us via email with questions on using the technology options listed above.
Email Scott Davis: cune [at] aol [dot] com.
Resources: Wikis & Classroom Teaching
1. PBS: CyberOne: A Glimpse of the Future Classroom? Read this article about the importance of interactive tools like such as Wikis and their roles in today classrooms. NOTE: This site includes ads.
2. Flat Classroom Project This is a collaborative project among students from different schools on Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat. Includes teacher's blogs, resources, and student's product. NOTE: This site includes ads.
3. High School Online Collaborative Writing This site provides examples of how Wikis are used for online collaborative writing. Click links under "Some of the things we write about" to see student work using Wikis. NOTE: This site includes ads.
4. Wiki in a K-12 Classroom Here are examples of how Wikis can be used in a K-12 classroom.
5. Paul Allison's Wiki Teaching Check out Paul Allison's website to see how he uses Wiki in his K-12 daily classroom. Includes examples of high school student work and cautions of using Wiki from author's experience. NOTE: This site includes ads and links to external websites.
6. Holocaust Wiki Project This teacher is using a wiki to have students collaboratively write about the horrific events of the holocaust.
Background Reading:
Internet Technology & Its Impact on the Way We Work
1. Competing for the Future: How Digital Innovations Are Changing the World by Henry Kressel
2. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
Comments from Teachers
A Note from Chris Proctor (Palo Alto High School)
I use a lot of web-based resources in my teaching at Palo Alto high school ( my website is mrproctor.net, username=cune password=book ) including a wiki on which students will keep a record of what happens in my classes so that when they have to miss class, they have notes and know what they missed.
I am thinking about using forums for book discussions, but have not had much luck with these in the past (there is also the issue of students without computers or internet access).
One of my long-range goals is to develop tools that are robust enough to share with other teachers. Most software that exists for teachers is naive in its assumptions on what is useful to teachers.
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