Two Great 21st Century Ideas Using Wikis: Digital Backpacks and Visual Thinking Instructional Links

The best part about my new job is the collaboration.  When I was in the classroom I had lots of opportunities to work hand in hand with many incredible educators. However, the intense demands of classroom instruction often had me feeling like I spent a good deal of my time in relative isolation.  Now it’s my responsibility to spend every day brainstorming with, exploring on behalf of, listening to, and supporting efforts of the teachers in my district.  It’s an incredible charge and I’m already finding that it’s the learning opportunity of a lifetime!

Today I came across the following two great 21st Century ideas (among others) in ‘back to school’ preparation sessions with some of my colleagues:

 

DIGITAL BACKPACKS:

In building her WIKI one colleague (a 5th grade teacher) insisted on having digital backpacks ready to go for her students to use as soon as the first few weeks of school.  The really cool part of her vision was that she insisted we make blank pages then guide small groups in WIKI refresher workshops so that the students will be able to finish the pages on their own.  She is going to use the development of this structure to enhance her students’ ability to navigate the digital environment.  I like it!

This teacher has one requirement.  Each student’s backpack must be linked to the Digital Backpack page in her class WIKI’s navigation bar and each must have six distinct page links within it:  Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Other.  She plans to leave the rest up to each individual, promoting creativity and personalization.  She intends to teach her students how to use those pages to showcase their work, collaborate with their peers, and practice digital citizenship by communicating to a global audience.  I’m excited to visit throughout the year and witness the progress.  These students will be working in and communicating through digital environments in every aspect of their lives.  Consistently using their Digital Backpacks will allow them to function within that reality while learning in school.

 

VISUAL THINKING PROMPT PAGES:

I worked with another 5th grade teacher to design a WIKIi page and links modeled after protocols outlined in Making Thinking Visual by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karen Morrison.  So far, she’s created a page in her classroom WIKI’s navigation bar called “Visual Thinking” that connects to four other page links entitled: Step Inside, Circle of Viewpoints, What Makes You Say That, and “I Used to Think…Now I Think.”  Each of those pages has instructions explaining how to use the protocol associated with it, and each links students to connected discussion tables.  Students will regularly be directed to the pages which will be updated with new focus topics periodically.  This teacher believes that these visual thinking strategies will effectively encourage critical thinking.  I really like the way she’s using this digital environment to weave them into her team’s practice.  It was a simple structure to set up and it will be easy to update with fresh and relevant topics throughout the year.  I’m looking forward to seeing how this strategy unfolds!

As always, I’ll keep my eye on both of these great wiki applications and report back periodically:).

 

Post a comment

You may use the following HTML:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>