iPods=communication=Wiki/Blogs

One of the reasons I became so interested in technology last year was because of the positive effect that Wikis had on my students as well as me.  When I started using Wikis last year, I was not even sure how they worked, but I knew the ability to communicate with my students from my home was extremely important to me.  In addition, the students reading and writing about their friend’s writing was another positive benefit of Wikis.

As I mentioned in the post Gotta Keep Reading, I introduced the class to our Caplin Wiki/Blog page.  I knew the students loved the video so that was my hook and since Sunday night I have had many students comment on the video.  I also added a Constitution video and asked the students to write at least 3 new facts they learned using the keyboard on the iPods. This was also well received, and it was fun to read the students were sharing videos with their parents and siblings.

Now that we have iPods the whole idea of Wiki/Blogs is like a snowball rolling down a mountain. The ideas are endless, and we have just started.  The first idea is to continue downloading videos to their iPods.  This will save class time because the students can watch the videos at home and take notes then the next day we can start with a conversation about the video. I plan on showing focused clips of video to reinforce important concepts.   A second idea is to post inquiry questions about our current content areas for example in geography, “How does climate and land features impact the economy in Canada?”  The students can type their answers as well as add pictures to support their answers.  They are able to find pictures on the Internet take a snapshot and then add them to the Wiki. With both these ideas,  the fact that we can carry on conversations outside of class time will start a whole new level of conversations as well as higher level learning that I am very excited about this year.