The document discusses the use of wikis in education. It outlines California's vision for 21st century skills students need, including writing, communication, critical thinking and technology skills. Wikis can help develop these skills through peer collaboration, project-based learning and connection to community. However, barriers to classroom adoption include teacher and student uncertainty and training requirements. Strategies like mentorship and adequate support can help wikis reach critical adoption levels.
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Innovation wikis in education mutlimedia final project
1. Wiki Use In Education By Dona Sisk EDUC 8841 Dr. Foley Walden University Spring 2010
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10. Impact on Students’ Education Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality (2009) http://www.cosn.org/Portals/7/docs/Web%202.0/CoSN%20Report%20042809Final%20w-cover.pdf
15. Formal Influence on Decisions Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality (2009) http://www.cosn.org/Portals/7/docs/Web%202.0/CoSN%20Report%20042809Final%20w-cover.pdf
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Notes de l'éditeur
Welcome everyone. Today’s presentation will focus on the use of a innovative technology tool in education. Specifically the use of wikis in the classroom.
One of the pressing issues in education today is student achievement. The California State Board of Education Vision statement focuses directly on this issue. It states, “All California students of the 21 st century will attain the highest level of academic knowledge, applied learning and performance skills to ensure fulfilling personal lives and careers and contribute to civic and economic progress in our diverse and changing demographic society.” So when we read this, what does it really mean?
What does the vision statement really mean in regards to education? What are some of these skills necessary to be successful in today’s society? That is a very good question, and if you look at the screen, you can see we have listed some very good answers to that question. Writing skills, communication skills, collaboration skills, critical thinking skills, and technology skills…these five things are crucial skills necessary to be successful in today’s technological society. Individuals need to be able to write effectively, to communicate effectively, to be able to work well as part of a group in the pursuit of a common goal, to be able to critically approach and analyze issues, and to be able to utilize technology as an effective tool throughout all of these steps. So how as educators, do we make sure these necessary skills are utilized as key components throughout all subjects? How do we make sure these skills are addressed in the classroom? The answer is to integrate technology tools that will support the development of these different skills. One of those technology tools is the wiki.
So what is a wiki? Well, the wiki is one of the web 2.0 technology tools and is considered part of the social software grouping, which allows communication and collaboration via the internet. The wiki was first developed in 1994 by Ward Cunningham although it was not actually launched until 1995. Ward choose the name wikiwikiweb for the website he implemented. The name was based on a Hawaiian phrase “wiki” meaning very fast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wikis#Early_wiki_websites_for_software_development
The reasoning behind the development of the wiki by Ward Cunningham was to facilitate communication between individual programmers. He wanted to make a forum that provided an easier method to share ideas and information and which allowed all users to be able to edit and update the postings. This provided a method for collaboration that was not dependent on everyone being in the same place at the same time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wikis#Early_wiki_websites_for_software_development
There were some original developmental issues in regards to utilizing wikiwikiweb. When it was updated, any information that was changed or deleted was permanently lost. There was not a method for restricting who was authorized to use the wiki, which could result in contamination or loss of the data. Another large concern was the issue of organization because as the updating process continued, the information became more disorganized, which of course lessened the benefits of its use.
The response to these developmental issues was to modify wikiwikiweb. In 1995, People Index allowed people to see who was contributing to the page. In 1996, edit copy dealt with a backup copy of the page (later in 2002, it became Page History). Also in 1996, Wiki Categories provided an index to the pages, and in 1997, Road Maps provided lists of pages for specific topics. These improvements addressed several of the developmental issues that were raised. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wikis#Early_wiki_websites_for_software_development
In the early 2000’s wiki use increased in the business world for collaborative purposes. The common uses were for project communication, intranets, and documentation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
Now, the history of wikis is interesting, but what does it have to do with education? Well, wikis provide an avenue to integrate the use of the skills mentioned earlier such as writing, communication, and technology skills through group work utilizing wikis. The students are able to participate in projects that can be centered around a meaningful and real world learning experiences requiring group collaboration. In addition, students are able to work outside of the classroom, which means it does not take away from valuable classroom time. A curriculum director in New York was quoted as saying, “ “Today's digital natives (our students) expect to communicate, learn and explore their world using technology 24/7. To keep up with them, to meet their learning preferences and to engage them in the learning process, we need to make schools relevant to them. We cannot do that without keeping up with technology and Web 2.0.”
When we look at some of the data describing the impact these technologies have on students’ education, we find the percentages support the positive effect integrating these technologies have on communication skills, motivation, academic achievement, and self-direction.
Sounds good, right, but is it really feasible? Well, let’s answer that question. Students in today’s educational system are technology savvy. This familiarity and tendency towards utilizing technology is a great foundational base for integrating wikis into the education process. It allows for students to participate in an active learning process where the peer-to-peer interaction supports the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information, thereby developing a deeper understanding and gaining real knowledge. In addition, by building on this foundation, teachers are able to focus on developing the skills mentioned earlier (writing, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and technology skills) the students will need to be successful throughout their educational as well as professional endeavors.
Additional research continues to support the benefits of utilizing wikis in the educational setting. Once again the research notes familiarity and usage connected with effective results, as well as, the benefit for group projects and collaboration.
Are there any barriers to consider, of course. There are always issues to consider when change occurs. Introducing something new into the learning environment requires thought and planning. Issues of uncertainty by teachers is one focus point. Understanding that even though students in general are technology savvy, not all students will be comfortable with technology is a second focus point. Both of these situations can be addressed through appropriate planning and training, which should also include ensuring appropriate behavior as part of the online student experience.
When we consider the diffusion of the wiki technology, we can see the adoption of this innovation has attained critical mass for adoption. Even though there is still many who have not adopted use of this technology yet, the amount of those who have will ensure this technology will continue to increase in use.
When we think about the decision process for technology inclusion, we can see the decision process is divided between district and school level. This shows both can have a significant effect on the process.
But when we consider those who will directly affect the successful integration of the technology, we need to look to those who will interact on a regular basis with students. These individuals will be the ones who will be role models for the rest of the population in that environment.
The strategic approach for these individuals is to provide the proper training and support for the process. Make sure the connection to the standards are outlined and research data is available to support the learning benefit promised.
When we consider late adopters and laggards in regards to technology integration, it is important to understand why so the appropriate needs can be addressed during the process. One of the major reasons for the hesitation towards technology is unfamiliarity with technology. Another major influence is the resistance to change overall. If the technology is to be successful, these issues need to be mediated. So how is this done?
The strategies need to help ease those issues of unfamiliarity and discomfort. Making sure there is an adequate amount of training and support for these individuals is crucial. This includes the amount of time given for the adjustment period. It is also important to provide enough curriculum examples and activities that integrate the technology into the classroom. In addition, one way to ensure these teachers feel prepared enough to integrate the technology is to have a mentoring teacher or staff person that is assigned to work with each individual. This allows the teachers the peer-to-peer interaction to help them to work through the change.
For the successful integration of wikis certain attributes really need to be a focus such as being able to identify and articulate the relative advantage, the ease of implementation, and the trialability of wiki use in the classroom. So let’s look at these individually.
Relative advantage. What are some of the relative advantages of using wikis? One important characteristic is the support of writing standards. The ability to write effectively is an important skill for students to develop and improve. Students are expected to be able to exhibit appropriate writing skills in all courses. Teachers are expected to support the writing standards in all courses as well. Including wikis as part of the learning process allows for writing to be incorporated in all courses. Wiki use also allows the teacher to supports mutliple learning modes of students, as well as, multiple learning perspectives.
Complexity. Wikis require a relatively short learning period because they are easy to use and modify for the most part, and the integration process can be scaled to meet the different learning time for each classroom.
Trialability. An important aspect of wikis is the ability to decide how quickly and completely to integrate at first. Choosing a select group of teachers to participate in the first stage of integration, with other groups participating after a longer period of planning and training. This allows the early adopters to be mentors for the other groups as they become adopters. This staging of integration also allows for individual adaptation for the different academics.
The approach to use for targeting innovators and adopters is different depending on the group. To approach directors and department chairs, a centralized approach will be affective due to the administration structuring; however, if the goal is to target teachers directly then the horizontal peer-to-peer networking of a decentralized approach is more productive.
Key change agents can be technology educational organizations, directors, department chairs, or innovative teachers. Technology educational organizations are able to address centralized or decentralized approaches especially considering their goals are to work towards technology integration throughout educational environments. Directors are able to address centralized or decentralized approaches, while department chairs and innovative teachers would address decentralized approaches.
No matter whether the approach is centralized or decentralized, the roles of the change agents will be relatively the same if they want to ensure the success of the integration. The change agents will need to establish informational networks, affect behavior change, and establish problem resolution processes.
Even though critical mass has been attained in other areas, critical mass has not been attained in the area of education. Strategies for achieving critical mass in education would be to introduce the innovation to the department chairs and to the science and technology groups. This will help to spread the information and role modeling for a maximum benefit.
The role of the champion is very important. It is crucial to have an individual who will actively promote a new idea or innovation that addresses the needs of the organization. As stated earlier in this presentation some of these needs include improving writing, collaboration, critical thinking, and technology skills. So how can the champion help in this?
The champion can communicate how the use of wikis can promote the improvement of writing, collaboration, and critical thinking skills while utilizing technology skills.
Remember…The goal of education is for students to acquire academic knowledge, applied learning and performance skills so they are prepared for future endeavors whether those endeavors are educational or professional. Wikis provide an educational value with very little financial cost and very little training, as well as, prepare students to be participating adults in a technological society. The integration process can be as limited or expansive as deemed appropriate for each individual circumstance, and the benefit from increased motivation of the students will be apparent in the increased academic achievement.