I really like the collaborative aspect of the wiki, as it allows learners to "build connections, demonstrate relationships, and in general develop understanding about complex issues." (Shrum and Levin, 2009, p. 50) I think this could be a really good way to involve students and the experiences and knowledge they bring to the learning experience. Because of the democratic feel of a wiki, which is created by the fact that anyone can edit it, I think students might feel more encouraged to offer their ideas there. The central concept of a wiki is that everyone is an expert, or, conversely, that there are no experts. For students who are not comfortable speaking out in class in front of a group, a wiki is a good way for them to offer ideas in a low stress environment.
One example of a participatory project in my content area (Special Ed/ English secondary) would be to post quotes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with modern day translation on the Wiki and then asks students to comment on the quotes, perhaps relating the plot and feelings of the characters to their own experience. There might be a way to incorporate text reader and speak to write software that would help students who have difficulty reading and writing.
The second thing that interested me about the assignments was the site on bullying that had an audio component to it. The audio component sounded like a text reading program. For children in special education, it would be very useful to have both text reading software and software that converts speech to text. (Vanessa, can you recommend any easy to access (i.e. free) and easy to use software that does either or both of these things?)
Reference:
Shrum, L. and Levin, B., Leading 21st Century Schools, International Society for Technology in Education, 2009.
The MAC has built-in text reading software - that allows you to highlight text and it will read the text to you (you can set the type of voice and pacing of voice). There are also a few paid and free text-to-speech software options as well. You will be reading about these this week. If you want me to show you how to use the built-in mac feature - mention this in class next week and I will show everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a specific activity you could have students participate in on the wiki?
Just a few minor issues with your citation and reference. In your citation - add a p. before the page number.
For your reference - see the syllabus - I have the text listed in the APA format - and you can see how it should look.