Dispelling 8 Common Myths for Educators Considering Launching a School Wiki

As the recipient of the National Silver Award for Best How-To Article for my article, 8 Ways To Use A School Wiki to Increase Communication, Collaboration, and Enrich Instruction, and as a wiki-aficionado who has helped countless educators set up their own wikis, I consider myself a Wiki Wizard. I was happy to learn recently that I was in good company as curriculum mapping guru Heidi Hayes Jacobs believes wikis are an essential educational tool of the 21st century. See her wiki here.

However, they still are a relatively new tool and the whole idea of collaborative writing, thinking, and learning is still new to a lot of educators uncertain about this brave new world of networked knowledge creation. When I suggest to schools that they can become more efficient, effective, and can grow their thinking by leaps and bounds, there’s sometimes doubt and trepidation about these uncharted waters. When I share they’ll never have to print another memo, school handbook, or lesson plan again and in general they’ll be able to save thousands by ditching the paper budget, I often have folks interested. When teachers learn that a wiki can eliminate the often intrusive morning and afternoon announcements that rob students of precious learning time, there’s also a lot of interest. When school leaders realize their staff will be able to engage in anytime/anywhere communication and collaboration, they know this is a good thing for their school and staff. When schools learn that they’ll save countless hours in collaborating on curriculum mapping and they’ll never lose (or have to carry a binder) again, well they’re usually sold. You can read how to do all those things in my article 8 Ways To Use A School Wiki to Increase Communication, Collaboration, and Enrich Instruction.

The benefits of using a wiki are endless and transformative. The downside is...well in my five years of using dozens if not hundreds of wikis, I have yet to see one, but, there are those who are fearful of the unknown. This post is written to help educators get past the fear and onto doing the work of meaningful collaboration that will ultimately benefit students, teachers, and leaders.

Dispelling the Myths of Wiki Dangers

Below is a variation on the sort of conversations I might have with a school who has concerns about launching a school wiki.

I followed your advice and created a free school wiki. I put up all our school manuals, set up a link for daily announcements, and created a page for every subject and every teacher. I was so looking forward to the creation of trusting and collaborative relationships between colleagues that do not normally have the opportunity to cross paths. A wiki would enable our staff to connect anytime/anywhere regardless of the constraints of schedules. I was so excited to ditch the paper and let the collaboration begin! No sooner did I get things started then my supervisor insist I shut it down because [insert concern below].

Here are ways to address those concerns.

Concern: Teachers could edit other teachers pages and we’re not comfortable with that.
Response: As with any traditional or new tool protocols and acceptable use should be put in place. If a teacher doesn’t want to collaborate or receive input from others s/he can indicate that in professional wording on the top of their page and set up a discussion tab for comments. If this were to happen however, a teacher could easily see who it was who did this. Address him/her directly about his/her preferences and revert to the previous version.

Concern: Everything could be accidentally or intentionally erased and gone forever.
Response: Nope. Not possible. You can always revert to an earlier version and you can see who made the unwanted changes and discuss the issue.

Concern: Everyone will know what everyone else is doing.
Response: Yep. They will. You want your wiki to be a place of sharing, collaboration, and celebration. All too often teachers close their doors and that’s it. Wikis provide an opportunity to take a virtual peak anytime, anywhere and learn from and discuss the nuggets you find behind those doors.

Concern: People could write things that are inappropriate.
Response: Yes they can and you’ll know who they are because the wiki lets you know in the page history. If you have a staff member inclined to engage in inappropriate behavior and they do so on the wiki, everyone will see that. Hopefully there can be a conversation so this is not an issue in the future. If this is a person truly intent no sabotaging the work of others, well 1) that’s a bigger issue, but 2) you can remove editing rights.

Concern: Resistant teachers who view technology as a burden will wish to continue excluding it from the curriculum.
Response: It’s important not to allow the luddites hold back the progress of those interested in enriching teaching and learning with modern tools. If there is a teacher or teachers who are not interested in sharing and collaborating, focus on those who are. If you work for an innovative leader like Jason Levy who uses wikis with his staff, there are expectations that the wiki is the place staff will go to gain and share information. All staff are responsible for the information.

Concern: A wiki can mirror inter-school politics if we let them.
Response: Just as in the physical school environment, it is important to set up protocols and respectable and acceptable use. Online interaction is an extension of what happens offline. Politics must be addressed in the same way whether virtual or physical.

Concern: There are people who shouldn’t see what we are publishing. Unintended viewers could be problematic.
Response: Wikis should have intended audiences. I recommend that schools set up an internal wiki that is private to educators and another public wiki that can be shared with students and parents.

To really learn how to use wikis best, you’ll need to jump in and start collaborating. Once you do, or if you have, please share any other concerns you or your colleagues may have about using this powerful collaboration tool. If there are, please share in the comments and I’ll do my best to address them. Until then remember to Wiki while you work and the rewards will come.

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The Innovative Educator Receives National Silver Award for Best How-To Article

The Innovative Educator received the national silver award for Best How-To Article from The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) in their 32nd annual Azbee Awards of Excellence Competition. While, I admit, I had no idea these awards even existed, or that I was in contention, before I was informed that my article won the award, I am honored to have received an award for my writing. The article, “Eight Ways to Use School Wikis,” was featured in the August 2009 issue of Tech & Learning magazine after being posted here on my blog.

If you want to read, the award-winning article, please visit 8 Ways To Use A School Wiki to Increase Communication, Collaboration, and Enrich Instruction.

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Related article: Blogs, Wikis, or Google Docs - Oh My!

You have read this article education wiki / free wikis for educators / wikis in education with the title wikis in education. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2010/09/the-innovative-educator-receives.html. Thanks!

Blogs, Wikis, or Google Docs - Oh My!

I’m often asked by educators why I use wikis, blogs, AND Google docs. “Why not just pick one?”. The answer is because I use each in different ways. Each of these platforms can be used for numerous purposes. Here is how I use them.

BLOGS
Use: I use my blog to share original information that I feel will be useful for a wide audience. I can place links in other platforms as appropriate to my blog posts.
Ownership: I am the master of my blog along with contributing editors and readers can participate by leaving comments.
Service I Use: Blogger
Cost: FREE for Everyone!
Example: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com

WIKIS
Use: I use wikis for group projects where multiple people are collecting and growing information. Wikis provide a very easy way for all of those involved to contribute. Wikis serve as containers that hold information that would be useful to those working on shared projects. My wiki has links to blog posts and Google docs. Another nice feature of the wiki site I use is the “discussion tab.” This enables contributors to discuss items related to the wiki page they are contributing to.
Ownership: There are administrators and contributors. The administrator(s) establish settings for contributors. Generally everyone has access to add and contribute information.
Service I Use: Wikispaces
Cost: FREE for Educators!
Example: http://21cpd.wikispaces.com

GOOGLE DOCS
Use: I use Google docs 1) just as others might use MS Word 2) to write collaboratively. I am writing my book using Google docs which enables my co-author and I to collaboratively provide input into the book chapters. I also use Google docs to collaborate with others who write guest posts for my blog. One of favorite uses of Google docs is to bring people together from around the world to contribute on a shared piece of work. Here are some examples of that:

• Innovative Ideas for Getting Teachers Excited About Building Their Personal Learning Networks Real Time from Hunterdon Central Regional High School
• Hiring the World to Be Your Professional Development Provider (free of charge)
• The PLN Matures. The Progression of the 21st Century Personal Learning Network
• Last Day of Free Ning Networks - What Should You Choose?

What is nice about Google docs is that you can see the cursor where other contributors are on the page and there is a chat feature so you can chat about your writing. There is also a revision history so you can see how the document has grown and who has contributed what.
Ownership: There is the document creator who can invite others to contribute.
Service I Use: docs.google.com
Cost: FREE for Everyone!
Example:


Over at the Free Technology for Teachers blog, Richard Byrne shares some more useful information for those wanting to know whether they should use a blog or wiki for a particular class or project. He shares Blogs, Wikis, or Docs: Which is right for your lesson? This is a great chart from Dr. Mark Wagner that outlines the features of each platform, each platform's drawbacks, and examples of each platform in use.

You have read this article educational blogs / google docs / wikis in education with the title wikis in education. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2010/09/blogs-wikis-or-google-docs-oh-my.html. Thanks!

Leading By Example - Transforming Education for the 21st Century

I’ve had the great fortune to spend a week at Alan November’s Building Learning Communities conference in Boston with a group of New York City school administrators who have made significant progress in becoming transformative leaders. I felt it was important during my week with these leaders for us not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk and (even if things got messy) use a variety of the tools they were beginning to explore so that in addition to learning about theoretical implications of innovative practices, they would have hands on experience in discovering what it was like using these tools. During our time at the conference our group used a variety of technologies to enhance the way we were communicating and collaborating. To set the stage it was important to establish that our work together wasn’t around learning about things like wikis, blogs, twitter, and learning networks (which we did learn about) but rather about working in innovative ways that enhanced the work we were doing.

Sharing Knowledge with Google Docs

Prior to the conference we established a Google doc where we would each capture our Schedules to enable us to share our plans for the conference. This would serve a couple purposes. 1) It allowed us to be aware of the sessions one another was attending as it’s always great to be able to connect with colleagues who experienced the same learning as you, process, and extend the thinking. 2) It enabled us to capture the knowledge each of us set out to gain so we had an instant record of our group’s professional development experience.

Using a Wiki for Collecting, Capturing, and Accessing Important Materials

We also set up a wiki page for our conference experience. This provided a place for us to collect and access all important conference information such as the conference program, our daily reflection. It also provided a place where we could capture notes and materials shared at various presentations.

Tweeting to Follow Conference Activities and Share Reflections and Plans

School leaders set up Twitter accounts which they used to follow the goings on of the conference using the tag “BLC09” for the first two days. By day three most school leaders were also contributing tweets that included instant reflections of what they learned that they planned to bring back to their schools. This is now permanently captured and available for future reflecting and all leaders have access to see what their colleagues are thinking of doing allowing them to connect and collaborate. Here are some examples of their tweets using the tag 21cl.

· I plan to introduce digital writing portfolios through student blogs, expand use of wikis/blogs, expand our newspaper to be multi-media

· I will learn and share Google secrets by going to http://tinyurl.com/nwyeey

· Use twitter and google docs to promote a sense of community that can be extended outside of school

· Have staff tweet to share what is going on in school using a school tag

· Teachers can tweet homework assignments

· Have students create tutorials using Screencasting. (mathtrain.tv)

· As a leader I will model using tech tools in my practice

· Use Google Docs to construct grade level planning conference agendas and collaboratively write lesson plans

Using Google Graphs, Spreadsheets, and Twitter to Poll Participants

Our group was determining what our online brand would be. To do this, all members of our group were asked to contribute by tweeting nominations for the potential group name using the tag 21cl. I collected the nominated names and placed the 25 nominees in a Google Spreadsheet which we planned to use as a free polling tool. Our group members names were placed across the top of the sheet and each school leader used their five votes to nominate their top choices. As they did this we watched the graph rise and fall. The winner was Transforming Leaders for the 21^st Century.

During Conference Reflection Using Google Forms

School leaders completed a Conference Reflection Form a few times during the conference to capture what they learned and planned to bring back to their schools. These were captured as

conference reflections that were published enabling each participant to have the ability to access their own reflection any time as well as those of their colleagues.

Posting Conference Reflections Using a Blog

Each principal is going to write one reflection in response to the question, “What specific thing(s) will I do as a transformative leader in my school?” This will be posted on our newly created blog at http://ted21c.blogspot.com.

Connecting Across Schools and Across the Year with A Free Learning Network

Our group spent a session designing and creating the TED21C Learning Network which will be used across the year for schools to connect, communicate, and collaborate both within their schools and across schools. School leaders created groups and customized their home pages.

Capturing Memories Using Flickr

Photos of our experience were captured at Flickr using a new account we set up at ted21C (friend us). These photos are also posted on our learning network.

I’ve spent a memorable week working with school leaders who are thinking about ways they will bring transformation back to their schools. During that time we were Flickring, Blogging, Google Docing, Polling, Networking, Tweeting, Eating, Speaking and more. I can’t wait to see their plans for taking some of what they learned back to their schools as they continue down the road of transformation.

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8 Ways To Use A School Wiki to Increase Communication, Collaboration, and Enrich Instruction

Wikis are a great tool to help a school enrich instruction, and increase communication and collaboration among staff. They are also free (for educators using wikispaces) and provide unlimited storage for digital materials including video, screencasts, presentations, pdfs, etc.



When I explain these benefits to educators and their administrators they often nod in agreement, but still want to know the nuts and bolts of what this looks like in practice. The best way to explain this is to use examples of actual school wikis in use here in New York City. I've selected examples of how schools are using wikis in the following ways:

1. Decrease Disruption of Instructional Time with Digital Daily Announcements
2. More Efficient and Effective Team Meetings and Planning
3. Collaborate On Important Documents Like School Comprehensive Education Plans
4. Enhance School Professional Development Using a Wiki
5. Share and Collaborate On Curriculum Maps
6. Save Trees /Save Time and Unclutterize Your Room or Office by Posting School Resources
7. Know Where Everyone Is When Schedules/Programs Are Posted
8. A Portal for All Your Lessons
   
   Information on How to Get Started

Decrease Disruption of Instructional Time with Digital Daily Announcements

Each day daily notes are posted on the school wiki. Gone are the days when instructional time is stolen from students with announcements that often don’t apply to them. Instead, each day staff knows where they need to look to find out the important information. The template Jason Levy, Principal of CIS 339 uses for his daily notes includes:

-Announcements and Reminders by Department

-Staff Attendance

-Out at PD / Visitors

-Staff Recognizing Staff

-Celebrating RED (Rigor. Engagement. Differentiation) in Practice

-Other Stuff:

Notes also may contain surveys and/or forms for teachers to complete, readings, or other important news and notes of the day. Many of these items (i.e. recognizing staff, celebrating RED) are dynamically populated using Google docs. This provides an ongoing reinforcement of staff priorities and vision.



After the staff member has read the daily notes they digitally sign a Google document with their initials indicating they have read the daily notes and they can also indicate if there are any questions, issues, feedback or concerns. You can see what this looks like here and here.



More Efficient and Effective Team Meetings and Planning

All team meetings and planning can be coordinated right on your wiki. This gives staff and administration a one stop shopping spot to see exactly what is happening and how work is progressing at various team meetings.



At CIS 339 the team meeting pages include team norms and activities in which teams should be engaged followed by a listing of each team and a link to all their meeting notes, agendas, documents, and materials. Each team meeting page also has a discussion board where conversations can continue. You can see an example of what this page looks like here.



Collaborate On Important Documents Like School Comprehensive Education Plans

CIS 339 uses their school wiki to collaborate on the creation, revising, and updating of their school’s comprehensive education plan. The wiki is organized with general planning and process documents, then each department has a section for their piece. This enables everyone to see where anyone is at any time and the discussion tab allows for ongoing conversation while the documents are being created. You can see an example of what this page looks like here.

Enhance School Professional Development Using a Wiki

Anytime your school is having professional development all the materials can be loaded to the wiki. No more copies to run off, folders to buy, teachers sharing if there aren’t enough copies, or worrying about writing on your only copy. Additionally, a discussion forum is associated with each wiki page. This is a great way to elicit feedback during professional development and to keep the conversation going afterwards.



Share and Collaboratee On Curriculum Maps

Wikis are a great tool for schools involved in curriculum mapping. Washington Irving High School (click thumbnail on right) posts their English department curriculum maps on their wiki. At the Marta Valle Secondary School, curriculum maps for each content area are posted on their school wiki. Departments begin with the curriculum mapping template that teams can collaborate on to complete. Department members can easily put links to all materials and important documents required for each piece of the map. This also allows for planning across grades and department since all information is transparently posted. The discussion tab provides a powerful communication mechanism for those implementing the curriculum to collaborate. You can see a sample of what that looks like here.



Save Trees /Save Time and Unclutterize Your Room or Office by Posting School Resources

Wikis are a clutter terminator. If you're like most educators, your classroom or office desk or bookshelves are filled with documents, memos, guides, etc. that while important, rarely need to be accessed. You know, the school handbook, conference handouts, flyers, guides, articles, etc. etc. All those documents, boxes and boxes worth, can be posted in an easily accessible format, right on the wiki. In addition to saving space, schools will save time by not having to place all these documents in everyone’s mailbox every day.



At MVSS you’ll find documents such as the opening day packet, school handbook, school safety plan, principal’s letters and presentations, frequently used forms, instructional resources, discipline code, quality review documents, the vision statement, the mission statement, school brochure and more. You can see an example of what this page looks like here. At CIS 339 you’ll find many of these documents as well as a compilation of relevant articles and links which you can see here.

Know Where Everyone Is When Schedules/Programs Are Posted

All teacher schedules, bell schedules, meetings, etc. can be posted right on the wiki so any staff member can locate their colleagues at anytime. This combined with the posting of staff absences and class coverages in the daily notes ensures that staff will always know where and when their colleagues can be found.

A Portal for All Your Lessons

At many schools there may be more than one teacher teaching the same subject/unit of study. However, there never seems to be enough time to collaborate. A wiki solves that issue. All lessons can be posted right on the wiki and using the discussion tab, teachers can connect and collaborate. I used a wiki to do this for teachers across New York City who were running iSquad 21st Century Student Support teams. The faculty advisors and I brainstormed lesson ideas and posted all the lesson topics on the wiki, then faculty advisors signed up for the lesson they were writing by placing their name next to it and posting their lesson. Each advisor wrote one or two lessons and we instantly had a bank of lessons accessible to all. You can see what that looks like here. I also coordinated curriculum integration teams responsible for creating technology-infused lessons in literacy, science, social studies, math, and fitness. Teams met in person from time to time, but most of their work was done remotely where they collaborated to write a bank of lessons that can be used and accessed by teachers anywhere which you can see here.



How to Get Started

You can have your own free school wiki in 30 seconds or less by visiting http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers. Once there you select your wikis name and click create, then Voilà, you have a wiki. If you want to know more about using wikis in education, TeachersFirst has created a handy Wiki Walk-Through which steps you through using wikis in education in a clear and easy to follow way. You can also, take a look at the Educational Wikis space. It has examples, a guide, and links to other resources.



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This post was picked up in the August 2009 edition of Tech and Learning Magazine .

You have read this article education wiki / free wikis for educators / promising practices / school wiki / wikis in education / wikispaces with the title wikis in education. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2009/07/8-ways-to-use-school-wiki-to-increase.html. Thanks!