Wiki experience

In the last post I told you what a wiki is, and I added some links for you to see some examples of what people is doing. Now I'd like to share with you my own thoughts about my wiki adventure.

I have to say that I had never used wikis before. Although it is similar to a blog, It was a little bit difficult to me. There were too many things to learn: how to embed videos, pictures or widgets and how to order them to make the wiki visually attractive (which is very important if you are using it for educative purposes).

Once you know how a wiki works, it turns into a very useful tool for your lessons. First of all you can get your students' collaboration encouraging teamwork. Besides, All the students have the same opportunity to contribute to the creation of the website and share their knowledge You also get your students motivated by using new technologies and offering them a new way of learning. Moreover your students develop writing skills and social skills.

Maybe now you are thinking 'what about disadvantages?'. Well I can't think of many disadvantages... Perhaps that you need internet connectivity to use it, and an internet connection is not always available or that information can become untidy. However, it's not a big deal.

The next question that may arise is ' How can I use a wiki in class?'. After visiting wikis, and looking for examples of educational wikis, I've realised that a wiki have too many uses. For example, you can create presentations and study guides. Your students can also share notes and give feedback. Students can perform debates or use it for the project proposed in class. It has hundreds of utilities, Just be imaginative!!!

See you next time!

Wiki Wiki Wiki

Hi everyone!! Here I am again. Today, I'd like to talk about wikis. I didn't know what a wiki is o what it is for, but once you've learnt about it, you realise that it is a useful tool for teaching and get your students motivated.

Before showing you some examples of wikis that are already in use, let's discover what a wiki is. A wiki is a website that can be edit by lots of users from different computers, that is to say, they are collaborative websites. Here you have some examples:

TCLworkshop. Using wikis in classroom: This wiki offers you a complete guide to the wiki world. It explains you what a wiki is, what you can do with a wiki, how you create and edit a wiki and so many useful information. Only people from the TCL Workshop course can edit, and they must be members of the space. In this case , the wiki is being used as a course management system.

Teacher collaboration: This wiki has been created by pre-k teachers of Louisville Academy to collaborate on curriculum development, lesson planning, and Working on the Work. So, as you must already know, not everybody can edit. The wiki is protected. However, it can give you some ideas about themes to include in your English class.

Uses of Mind mapping in education: The creator of this wiki allows everybody to edit it. Everybody can access to the available information (Mind Mapping Software), but you can also make comments on it. It is a way of trying to put ideas together and to know the experience of people using this software.

You can find more examples on this web!!!

Now, I'd like to tell you about widgets. Wikis also use embeds, the same as blogs. I'm using some of them now, and I think it's worth having a look at them:

Schooltube: It's just like YouTube, but it is made by students. They upload videos about many topics: music, cooking, history, films... Maybe you must encourage your students to make a film and uploading it. I'm sure they'll love it. You just have to register your school and start working on it.

Voice-thread: You can make your students speak English with each other easily. Students discuss over images or videos, so it creates very funny debates among students. They'll have a good time creating short slideshows and recording their voice on it. You need to be logged into this website to use it

Wordle: This website is used to create funny and imaginative posters and embed them on your own web (or wiki). You just have to write the text you want to convert into a kind of poster, so it is very easy to use. You can choose the color, the type of font, the position of the words... So creative.

Again, here you have a link in which you can found other embeds.

Thank you for your attention, and see you soon!