Wiki Tech Reviews and WebQuests

Setting up a wiki using PB Works was super simple. Of course, there are many possible uses for wikis within the classroom. I love that students and teacher are not restricted by time or space to collaborate on assignments. Students can work in groups on a presentation regardless of one student leaving for resource or another leaving for a doctor's appointment. Endless possibilities.

The technology reviews were very beneficial. There are many new emergent technologies coming onto the scene, and it's very difficult to keep up with the latest, particularly for us non-techies. One particular resource that I will use the classroom is Storybird. This is a collaborative story writing site that allows writers to pull from beautiful, professional illustrations to inspire stories.

The WebQuest assignment was a good exercise for me. It allowed me to set up a website for the first time, which was actually quite easy. The WebQuests themselves, however, did not prove to be my favorite educational tool. I like the concept of using web resources to self-teach, but the format was just brutal. I read many WebQuests online and through course bookmarks and they just about put me to sleep. Introduction, task, process, resources,  and evaluation don't exactly scream "fun" to a bunch of elementary students. I could see high school students being more receptive to this type of assignment. I would not use a WebQuest in its traditional format with my elementary students. If I modified it somewhat to make it a bit less intimidating I could potentially work it into my curriculum, maybe call it WebQuest Jr.

Technology in the Classroom

The past three weeks, I've had a chance to teach in a classroom with a Smartboard. Love it! I am amazed by all of the possibilities. The students arrive each morning to find their names on the Smartboard. To choose their lunch, they simply touch their name and slide it into the appropriate box. Once lunch count and attendance have been taken, they are sent to the office via email. No more need to send a runner to the office. 


Smartboard has also helped add interest to my lessons. Typically, I would use the Smarboard to display dynamic PowerPoint presentations, but I also used it for simple things like video and displaying student work pages created on Word or directly on the Smartboard notebook. 


Beyond Smartboard, there were many other uses of technology represented in the classroom. Each student worked weekly with a program called Odyssey. Based on test scores, individual paths in language arts and mathematics were created for each child. Students had fun playing games and completing activities on the computer which helped support learning. Students also used a program called Pixie to create colorful cover pages for a social studies project. Pixie provides easy to insert clip art and fun font options.