My Wiki and Website

I now have my very own wiki using "wikispaces" and my very own website using "weebly". At this stage there is not very much information on either of them, but feel free to check them out regardless. The links are as follows:

http://rachelod.wikispaces.com

http://rachelod.weebly.com

The notable differences that I can determine between a wiki and a website are mainly that with a wiki, the author and other individuals that access the wiki can edit, modify, add to, and delete information as they see fit. Hence there is a real sense of interaction, collaboration and sharing of information. Whereas with a website it is the author that decides what information will be published, and it is the author that has access to editing and modifying this information. Thus, making the website read-only material to those that access it (Commoncraft, 2007. Weebly Inc., 2010.)

Supporting students learning using a wiki, could be achieved by getting students involved by having them review or edit their peers work, such as in a narrative they may have written as a classroom task (SmartTeaching.org, 2010.). The use of wikis fits neatly into the Engagement Learning Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman 1999.) However wikis and their use would also link to the Big Six theory step four 4. Use of information. Students would engage with information, or in this case the narratives to determine the narrative's content and its relevance connecting to and using relevant software and hardware, such as spell checker and wikis (Berkowitz, et al, 2010.)

Supporting students learning using a website could be achieved by uploading examples of students' work, such as their narratives as a final product so that the wider community may be exposed to them. The wider community being the rest of the school and the students' families. This again links to the Big Six theory step six being, "Evaluation", which focuses on the final product, including the process that lead to the final product. Students, peers and teachers alike can evaluate their work and others (Berkowitz, et al, 2001, 2010.)

References:

Berkowitz. B., Eisenberg. M., & Johnson. D. (2001). The Big 6 - Information & Technology Skills for Student Achievement: Skills Overview. Accessed July 22, 2010 from http://www.big6.com/2001/11/19/a-big6™-skills-overview/

Berkowitz. B., Eisenberg. M., & Johnson. D. (2010). Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Skills Curriculum Based on the Big6 Skills Approach to Information Problem-Solving. Accessed July 22, 2010 from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/file.php/4033/LMC_Big6-ICT_Curriculum_LMC_MayJune2010.pdf

BoLeuf. & WardCunningham. (2000). Wiki: Welcome Visitors. Accessed July 23, 2010 from http://wiki.org

Commoncraft. (2007). Wikis in plain English. Accessed July 23, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Accessed July 22, 2010 from http://home.sprynet.com/%7Egkearsley/engage.htm

SmartTeaching.org. (2010). 50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom. Accessed July 23, 2010 from http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/

Tangient LLC. (2010). Wikispaces: Wikis for everyone. Accessed July 24, 2010 from http://www.wikispaces.com/

Weebly Inc. (2010). Weebly: Create a free website. Accessed July 24, 2010 from http://www.weebly.com/

Weebly Inc. (2010). Weebly Tutorial. Accessed July 24, 2010 from http://www.weeblytutorial.com/