curing in social networking and using it as a learning moment for me and my students.
I used a closed Wikispace to get my students engaged in networking for the Yearbook class and used what they love doing and that is telling stories about what they were doing outside of class as well as issues around doing a page for the yearbook. It was a way to give voice to my students as well as a way of writing to them privately if there was a concern.
The biggest challenge I had to impart to my students about social networking was how to set up thier pages so that they were by invitation only, how to stay safe and to be bold enough to report a person who was trying to get them to do something they weren't suppose to.
I think that the idea of what you post online and how you broadcast information is another issue.
If I run across anymore information, I will let you know. I am nterested in your project, are you willing to share more of it?
Peggy…
ows almost everything to be done by drag and drop. The colorful visual environment will be very appealing to hs students who dwell in that kind of virtual environment. I haven't found an area there that would allow building and showcasing a big project, so I thought of using rafi.ki for communication - homepage building - introductions and something like wikispaces for actually building a collaborative project.
The rafi.ki team wants to grow and are very open to suggestions for developng their environment.
HOWEVER, I showed it to some of our teachers reccommending it for use on our collaborative project. They didn't like it precisely because it was too open and allowed too much opportunity for communication within the rafi.ki community. In my eyes, rafi.ki has done a very nice job of allowing a "safe" yet open environment. I haven't yet given up trying to convince our teachers about using it. But if that doesn't work I have some other ideas of how to get our kids on that platform :-).
Reuven…
It may be a long time coming. You have to do it yourself or your district has to help you do it. There are password protected, limited access hosted wiki/blog services that protect kids and limit access to outsiders. Advert-free, etc.
Many have been discussed on this site. Wikispaces, Blogmeister, PBwiki, come to mind.
The "walled garden" is the safest way to begin. If you can host your own installation of Moodle, the learning management system, it offers very good security and levels of access. If you can't host, there are inexpensive sites offering Moodle. Some as low as $10/month.
My opinion is that you scaffold the experience just as you would many others as a teacher. Offer support while moving students in the direction of independence.
I'd be happy to point you toward some good resources or share the ways in which we (in my district) have manged to keep kids safe while providing access to some of the resources you mention.…
ology and can pass on your experiences. I'm going to look into this - but I fear (already) that our educational institution (TAFE - Technical and Further Education) in Sydney will block most of it. However, since reading your post, I feel more encouraged to keep trying.
I think you'll find that Wetpaint will work! I now use wikispaces to keep my resources on but it's not that user-friendly for students who have little computer or English speaking skills to begin with. Wepaint does indeed seem more user-friendly. I still love moodle for structure - but I really have to spend hours getting to grips with all its features (way too many for me) - but everything I do with my students has to go through a series of passwords and protocols before we can begin so maybe I'm being unfair to moodle.
I'll check the hosted site - though I wonder if this will work for me in Australia.…
ans under an open license.
Another option is WIkispaces, a wiki site that includes a CC license on all content. (I use this site a lot, but one downside for lesson plans is that it's not really a "destination" site for folks looking for lesson plans.)
Finally, regardless of where you post (or even if you just distribute in print), you can always add a CC license that tells others they can use your resources. The simplest way to do this is to just write "licensed under Creative Commons Attribution" on the site. Or if you want to get fancier, use the CC license wizard. This tool will give you a CC piece of artwork and also some code that will get your lessons into CC search engines.
Free and open sharing is great for everyone!…
e where to begin typing - or have them create some type of outline of heading for organization before collaborating. The main drawback is that you need to be 13 to have your own Google account.
Do you have Google Docs for Education at your school. If not you should consider asking for it. You can customize everyone with a the same email domain, doc, sites, calendar, chat (I don't use this). Its easy for my students to share docs with each other because all our email addresses are the same username@vcstudent.org. I also use the calendar for due dates and place directions and handouts on Sites. I administer all of the accounts so I have full control over who has access.
If you decide to go with a wiki (I use Wikispaces - free for teachers!) make sure you make plenty of pages for students to write their own information. Most wikis can only be edited one at a time.
Good luck.…
of people logging in and trying to edit at one time. If each student has their own individual login, they can rotate the login & post responsibilities so everyone gets a chance to post/edit content. If you have multiple people editing one page during one class period, maybe assign people a time frame to post/edit content and when their time is up, hit save and they can go back later and add more if needed. While someone is posting their content, others could be doing their work/research preparing for their turn at putting their content on the site. I've also started a wiki through wikispaces (http://vanguardcomputers.wikispaces.com) and we're starting a project now with PC industry innovators. Some people have multiple students assigned to them and thus will have multiple students from across different class periods, so I'll be going through something very similar soon.
Sean Hanson
The Vanguard School
Paoli, PA…
Added by Sean Hanson at 4:10pm on January 26, 2009
ve been using wikispaces so I might stay with that. I have evaluated several commercial portfolio sites but have not found the combination of ease, affordability and function I want. There is not much leadership in my school for this so I am on my own.
I am rambling here to tell you that I very much appreciate the leads from all of you. This will motivate me to get to work on it.
Gail, I looked at the Flip and ended up with the Kodak Vi6 (I think that is the number instead.) It is a little bigger but I thought the quality of the image was better and I liked the battery solution. I don't think you can go wrong with the Flip though. Most reviews pointed to that. There is a big difference in price between HD and the regular Ultra and between the Mino and larger. I found the Kodak on Ebay for about $110. A tripod is a good idea. It is hard to hold a small camera steady.
Thanks again to everyone
JP…
l in completely different time zones to me) is email contact between students and the sharing of a combined Australia/US wiki. We could add pages as new people may come on board but the focus would be on presenting historical content and geographical research and comparing the "home" country to others around the world. So far it seems like Kim and Jamie are interested in working with me so thanks heaps guys. Also thankyou Scott for your advice.
I am a fan of wikispaces so check that out. Also have a look at my class wiki and student wikis linked to it. We are part of a 1-1 laptop program so our new found resources are helping a lot with this sort of stuff. My wiki site address is www.4chwiki.wikispaces.com.
Thanks again for your wonderful response and I look forward to working with you all. Cheers!…