Mary+Rauch

sign up for free wiki site [] Possible wiki site to communicate with I’m deeply honored and absolutely delighted to have received the award for the Best Educational Wiki for the second time in a row,” says Arjana. “I launched the Greetings From The World wiki in September 2009 with 24 students from my class, because we wanted to create a virtual trip around the world and learn with and from our peers. When we won our first award in December 2009, there were 11 teachers from 10 schools in the project. Over the past year the wiki has grown into a truly international project with 21 teachers and 420 students from five continents. The cross-curricular approach and collaborative nature of the project definitely keep it going. We hope that more teachers and students join us in the future. **Greetings From The World is a wiki open to teachers of all subjects, to students of all ages, to speakers of all languages and to learners from all over the world.”** Second Runner up Metasaga is a journey through the culture, heritage and physical landscape. It allows leaders at all levels to engage in deep self- reflection by exploring their environment. It utilises a strengths-based, whole system approach to evaluate how they operate as leaders and the performance of the organisation they lead. It makes leaders at all levels reframe their thinking using metaphor, narrative, tradition and artefacts found in their own physical environment. It combines the business techniques of non-directive coaching, dialogue and appreciative inquiry with the traditional storytelling teaching of our culture,be that the Norse saga or Gaelic “sgeul”. Two other Wikispaces wikis did very well in the voting: Notes from moving toward web2.0 in k12 education Web 2.0 is simply the use of the Internet as a two-way medium- – -that it is a platform upon which content is not only consumed but also created.
 * Helps organize teachers who need to talk about up comming assignments and events**
 * [|Celebr8UandMeDigitally] gives Eva Büyüksimke?yan of Turkey and Alexandra Francisco of Portugal a space to celebrate special days and share different cultures with their EFL students.
 * [|Wissahickon School District’s eToolBox] from Ambler, PA is an alphabetical index of Web 2.0 tools, from **B**logs to **W**ikispaces, with evaluations and recommendations for each one.


 * In fact, I think the inherent characteristics of Web 2.0 are so aligned with significant educational pedagogies that we are going to have to dramatically rethink our educational institutions and expectations because of them**. Even though the benefits of Web 2.0, like those of a liberal-arts education, resist easy assessment methods and therefore present a challenge to how we measure educational success, I’m optimistic that they will ultimately prove so valuable as to require that we rethink teaching and learning.

> **Engagement.** This is often a promised result of technology, so I feel the need to address and defend it early on. Because the engagement of Web 2.0 is in the **act of content creation**, and seems to exist independent of the particular program being used or even of being in a formal learning environment, this claim seems not only reasonable but compelling. Students who continue to post to their blog or to stay involved in discussion forums during their vacations exemplify the power of Web 2.0 to engage students because of the authentic nature of the work rather than being required assignments. > **Authenticity.** Both having an authentic audience, and having the contributed work be authentic, argue for Web 2.0 as an active part of K-12 education. When I wrote essays in school (back in the day…), only my parents and my teachers saw what I wrote. I was, in effect, writing for “practice” with relatively little feedback. Students today are creating on the Web for very real audiences, and their writing or production has to pass a very real test: are they communicating well? Whether it is the **peer audience in school** which keeps their Web 2.0 programs within the “walled garden” of the school network, or it is **publishing for the world**, both the work and the audience are authentic. > **Participation.** That is, actually being a contributor to world’s body of knowledge. Previously, to pursue an educational interest as part of a larger part of one’s life work, that interest had to be within the relatively narrow confines of existing institutional structures in order to be worthy of publication or presentation–and was rarely available to students. Now, in an amazing flowering of the Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” model ([|www.thelongtail.com]), students (and teachers!) can find specific intellectual paths to tread where they are able to participate, say, as an historian and not as someone preparing to be an historian. **A student can write a report on an historical figure, or a scientific theory, and both publish that to the web and also participate in meaningful ways with other students and adults interested in the same topic.** (Think of all the historical figures and topics that might otherwise not receive much attention.) There is no good reason to keep our youth “preparing” for life until their mid-twenties when their contributions to society could be so important to both us and them much earlier. > **Openness and Access to Information.** The backbone of the Internet “Revolution” is openness. Open computer standards, open software, and open content. Web 2.0 is making obsolete many of the restrictions on access to information that were intended to protect the rights of creators, but instead mostly inhibited learning by others. When the world’s knowledge doubles in short periods of time, the incentives or rewards for keeping information proprietary significantly diminish, and the resulting willingness to share presents great opportunities to learn and to participate. **The ability to “look something up” or to learn something new has never been greater**. > **Collaboration.** I remember even when I was growing up that collaboration was said to be important. But, truly, it wasn’t. Or, at least, it wasn’t what was really rewarded, either in school or in the business world. Web 2.0 has actually given real practical value to a character trait we wanted to instill. In the world of Web 2.0, collaboration is not only king, but it can be seen and assessed–look at the history page of a wiki, for example, or the linked list of contributed comments on the personal profile page of a social network. **Web 2.0 has created an unparalleled ability to build or participate in personal learning networks and communities of interest or practice.** > **Creativity.** We are, to paraphrase [|Clay Shirky], in the midst of the greatest increase of creative capability in the history of the world. A regular student can write, film, and edit a video which then can be uploaded to YouTube and potentially seen by more of an audience than some commercial films actually garner. > **Passionate Interest and Personal Expression.** More than just the ability to build a profile page on MySpace, Web 2.0 actually gives both students and educators to build for themselves a online portfolio of the endeavors they are passionate about. Where the resume and the degrees have been our short-cut indicators of abilities and accomplishments, the personal body of work now contained and hopefully organized on the Web gives everyone who wants it the the opportunity for an expression of personal interest and achievement. > **Discussion.** A lost art in culture and politics, in my view, is the thoughtful discussion. One of the great features of Web 2.0 is the discussion forum, which provides an environment for learning how to actually talk about things. While I may feel that a lot of the discussion that takes place in the “blogosphere” is overly antagonistic in order to be seen, it is discussion, and often becomes much more thoughtful in the context of a discussion forum. > **Asynchronous Contribution.** The abilty to contribute to discussions after class, or from home, provides a much broader opportunity for participation that the traditional class discussion. Students with different contribution styles, or who process information over time, are now more participative. > **Proactivity.** Web 2.0 inherently rewards the proactive learner and contributor. My wife and I (both first children ourselves) raised our oldest child to succeed in the world in which we grew up, which rewarded being a good, quiet follower, who would to work for someone who would tell her what to do and how to do it. But the world has changed, and employers want and the world needs students who have learned to participate actively and independently. The “spirited” child (our second daughter) is much more likely to be able to work on things she likes and is good at because of her willingness to be proactive. > **Critical Thinking.** The vast amount of data on the Web requires more critical thinking than was needed when I was growing up. In my era of “trusted authorities,” Time Magazine told me most of what I needed to know about the news. There was actually a lot more diversity of opinion on most topics than I was exposed to, which quickly becomes evident when you drill past the first page of a Wikipedia article and look at the discussion and history tabs. Unlike the previous traits of Web 2.0, I think this one really requires good adult mentors, so let’s finish this list for now and get to that.
 * 21st Century Skills **

21st Century Schools, LLC recognizes the critical need for developing 21st century skills. However, we believe that authentic education addresses the “whole child”, the “whole person”, and does not limit our professional development and curriculum design to workplace readiness. 21st century skills learned through our curriculum, which is interdisciplinary, integrated, project-based, and more, include and are learned within a project-based curriculum by utilizing the seven survival skills advocated by Tony Wagner in his book, //The Global Achievement Gap//:
 * ** Critical Thinking and Problem Solving **
 * ** Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence **
 * ** Agility and Adaptability **
 * ** Initiative and Entrepreneurialism **
 * ** Effective Oral and Written Communication **
 * ** Accessing and Analyzing Information **
 * ** Curiosity and Imagination **

We offer the following new definitions for “School”, “Teacher” and “Learner” appropriate for the 21st century: **Schools** will go from ‘buildings’ to 'nerve centers', with walls that are porous and transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.” **Teacher** - From primary role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. The 21st century will require knowledge generation, not just information delivery, and schools will need to create a “culture of inquiry”. **Learner** - In the past a learner was a young person who went to school, spent a specified amount of time in certain courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today we must see learners in a new context: First – we must maintain student interest by helping them see how what they are learning prepares them for life in the real world. Second – we must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning. Third – we must be flexible in how we teach. Fourth – we must excite learners to become even more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.”

In order for our students to be prepared to navigate this 21st century world, they must become literate in 21st century literacies, including **multicultural, media, information, emotional, ecological, financial and cyber literacies**. Collaborating with students from around the world in meaningful, real-life projects is a necessary tool for developing these literacies. Students can learn that through collaboration, not competition, they can work together to make the world a better place. Students will use technologies, including the Internet, and global collaboration to solve critical issues.

__**First of all, the design takes into account the kind of spaces needed by students and teachers as they conduct their investigations and implement their projects. Spaces will be needed for large groups, small groups and for independent work. There should be plenty of wall space and other areas for displaying student work. This includes a place where the parents and community can gather to watch student performances as well as a place where they can meet for discussions**__.

When I design a unit I begin with a theme. Then I brainstorm, or concept map, the theme. I also begin outlining my ideas by creating a PowerPoint slide show on the theme. You can see a beginning level concept map as well as my PowerPoint on **Hurricane Katrina** online at the links listed below. You can also see some ideas for service learning projects connected with the unit. This event is most definitely a teachable moment!

Today was a teachable moment when the first student walked in and said Did you know there was and earthquake today? I should have assign the following questions. . Where What Who When Why

They could find information on the internet to understand the earthquake. Wikipedia quotes Wikipedia is a tool. It is not the future of learning, nothing ever is. To my knowledge, no teaching is advicating the use of Wikipedia, or any other tool, as the 'Official Answer to Everything, ever'

I'm certainly one who agrees more with the latter. I'm all over Wikipedia, and I've got everyone around me addicted as well. I think it presents a new challenge to classrooms, but a very positive and welcome one -- new sources, new methods for getting information, and new ways to take advantage of that online-focused mentality that pervades much of the MySpace generation.

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Since it has emerged on the scene in 2001, Wikipedia seems to have already gone through Schopenhauer’s “stages of truth” in the general public’s mind. More than a million people a day visit the site. My thoughts

Teach students to be critical and check out more that one source of information on the internet. I was not aware wikipeia was under the microsope so use it as a tool in your research but it can not be the only source. Teach them how to decide if the web site is authentic using rubrics developed by other educators. Once they are sure the site is authentic then begin your research using the best site they have found. Give them sites that you have checked prior for their reasearch. Never use wikipedia as the only reference in your research. Some questions to If it is on the internet how do we know it is correct? Anyone can publish on the internet and therefore change the facts to suit themselves with information that they have no clue about. Saturday group of "others," people whom we may not know and may never meet, but who share our passions and interests and are willing to invest in exploring them together. It's about being able to form safe, effective networks and communities around those explorations, trust and be trusted in the process, and contribute to the conversations and co-creations that grow from them. It's about working together to create our own curricula, texts, and classrooms built around deep inquiry into the defining questions of the group. It's about solving problems together and sharing the knowledge we've gained with wide audiences.