Parting Thoughts....

With respect to wikis....
There is really not more to say.  It's a powerful tool that empowers people to work collaboratively virtually.  Whether your team members are in the cubicle next door, or 18 time zones away, wikis make collaboration easier. 

There are many excellent examples of how wikis are being used in education.  I encourage you to google wikis and education, and then start clicking around.  There are wikis that can serve as resources, wikis that demonstrate how educators are using wikis.  And in some cases, groups choose to use a wiki instead of a website because all members can keep the wiki's information current, instead of relying on a webslave to make the updates. 

As for the end of our class...
 It's hard to believe the semester is already over.  I've been exposed to a lot of new and exciting technologies that I never knew existed!   It's my plan to try to incorporate several in my work and personal life: blogging, digital storytelling, wikis, iTunes U, Ning, LinkedIn, and MAYBE Twitter.  Maybe.

It's exciting and encouraging to see how new teachers like Jilian are trying to integrate some of these new technologies to empower students.  And I'm confident that ID'ers like Stephen will figure out how to make DL more effective and less isolating.  

Of the four online classes I've taken as part of IDDE, this has been the most engaging.  The subject matter lends itself to being engaging.  And I appreciated that Jing applied our feedback by setting up our brunch meeting, and by commenting more in the forums. 

It's been a pleasure learning with all of you, and I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Cheers,
Stacey

I digress - my planned DL experiences

Just a quick note of reflection....

I think I will take two online classes this summer through Villanova University.  Unfortunately our class will be long over, so  I won't be able to share my analysis of this experience. 

One class will be an intro to SixSigma type class.  I've experienced SixSigma front end analysis methodology, but I'd like to learn this process for future front end analysis work.  Since many corporations are familiar with SixSigma and that vocabulary, it will be handy to have this tool ready if needed.

The other is Project Management, with a goal of certification.  I've done my version of PM over the years, and I took the PM course offered through IDDE.  I am comfortable with the politics involved in being a project manager, so it might come in handy to be certified as a PM.  I'm actually pretty good and effective in getting things done through the efforts of cross functional teams.  [so keep that in mind if any of you need a PM for your projects]

While I'm not a fan of distance learning, I think learning these two subjects as DL courses should be fine given my purpose and my previous experience.  Had I never lead projects, then the PM course might be challenging.  And since my ultimate goal is NOT to apply SixSigma as a quality assurance tool, I should be okay learning this at a distance as well. 

I'm hopeful.

Real Life Wiki Use

My partner Jilian and I switched to using a wiki to finish writing our project.  At first we used Google docs, but found their approach limiting, and trying to format a document exported from Google docs is burdensome.   The wicki allowed us to post documents and to edit both the report and project documents easily.  And with the change notification enabled, I received messages showing the changes that Jilian made to the document each time she edited and saved her changes.  I didn't need to visit the wiki to see what she was doing. 

Here is our wiki if you'd like to see how we've chose to use this wiki -  611wiki.wikispaces.com 
This link will take you to the the Project page of our wiki.  To visit the Report page of the wiki, click the Report link on the right.  You'll have to scroll past the advertising to see the page listing in the right most column.  [you have to pay money to make the advertising disappear]

I've also set up a wiki for work, but I have yet to get my colleagues to consider using it.  There is one person in the office who sees the benefit, but I haven't convinced her to use it just yet.  One of the challenges we face in our office is that we sometimes work collaboratively on tasks, and we don't know what has (or hasn't) been done.   I think the wiki will work well when have to plan another event or project with people who are not in the office.

More Wiki ideas for the classroom

Here's a site that provides some useful information about wikis.   Among the wiki information it provides, the site gives ideas of how wikis can be used in an educational setting.  The site is called Wiki Ideas. 

And if you are interested in exploring wikis that are being used by other schools, teachers or classroom, all you need to do is google "wikis education" and you'll get lots of listing for actual educational wikis.  And there are websites that list links to educational wikis around the world. 

eBook Readers, aka Kindle

The NY Times published an article that reviews the various ebook readers that are available, or will soon become available.    Here's the link to the article for those of you who are interested: "Something to Read", by Danielle Belopotosky, December 2, 2009.

Wikis in the Classroom

Wikis are all about community and collaboration.  The wiki was created to allow a group of people working on a project to easily store and edit information in one central area.  All members see the same information.  All members have the ability to directly edit and add information. 

In the classroom, a teacher can use wikis in a variety of ways:

• As a workspace were student teams can work on a team assignment. 
• The teacher could assign a research project to the class, and have students post their research results to the wiki
• Students use a wiki to create an on-going vocabulary list, or list of definitions for technical terms (like we in IDDE are encouraged to do).  As classmates discover different definitions for various terms, these definitions can be added to the wiki.
• A class can use a wiki to collect and organize resources on a variety of sources.  For example, in this class, when we discussed social networking, several classmates named social networking sites that they have used.  A list of social networking sites could cataloged in a wiki, and students can add comments about experiences with these sites.
• In a creative writing class, the teacher could assign a theme or topic and have the students post their writing to the wiki.  Then each student could read and reflect on each other's writing.
• Language learners can work together to translate a passage into another language.

These are just a few ways one could use wikis as part of a curriculum.

Thoughts about my Kindle

I love my Kindle! 

I took it on my trip last week.  Before leaving I downloaded 6 books and one magazine. It was great not having to worry about a stack of books.  I love this convenience.  The Kindle is compact and lightweight, weighing less that one paperback book. 

The reading area is six inches by six inches.  It displays black type on a soft white background.  To my delight, I had no eye strain, even after 3 straight hours of reading on the plain.  Eye strain was a concern because I often suffer eye strain trying to read things on the computer.  It felt like I was reading more rapidly because I didn't have to pause to turn the page.  "Page Turning" is accomplished by pushing a page forward or page back button. The new "page" appears instantly.

Learning how to use the Kindle was easy.  Aside from reading, you can make notes, look up words in the dictionary that is included on the device, shop for more Kindle books.  The Kindle also has a voice reading feature, but I didn't try this feature.

The cost of books are mostly $9.99.  A few are less expensive.  Not all books are available as a Kindle e-book, but there are about 200,000 books.  Because I can purchase books for $9.99, I am willing to read some books that I might not necessarily read because I can buy them for less than the price of a physical copy.  (of course I could wait until the book hits the library, but I like to buy books)  I would probably not buy a book that I could purchase for less than $10, unless I want the convenience of the Kindle.  I would only buy books in which I don't plan to make notes.  So I wouldn't purchase textbooks on a Kindle since I like to mark up my textbooks. 

The only negative is that the device seems a little frail.  I haven't dropped it yet.  Because of its frail quality, I don't think the Kindle would be suitable for kids in lieu of school books.  They would be too easily broken.

Also, since highlighting and make notes directly on the pages of a book is not possilble, students might find it difficult to study with a Kindle. 

Lastly, since kids are already using computers, e-books could be made available for computers thus reducing the need for another device for students to keep track of. 

By the way, if you have an iPhone or a Touch, you can download a free Kindle reader app, which allows you to buy and ready Kindle e-books.   There's another free app called Stanza, and you can read free ebook that were created by the Guttenberg Project.  These books tend to be the classics.
-- Stacey