BP6_2009102_wiki

Using wikis in science was a little harder envision at first. Then I had an idea as to when it would be useful for my students to have an online resource they can edit and add too. So I thought that the hardest thing, I deal with, is being able to keep those who are absent in the loop, and those who need extra help, a place to review. So the students would create a wiki that is based on each unit, they would each pick a topic to explain in their own words and post it on a site they all have access too. That way when it is time for a test, or even the big state test, they have their very own refresher! It would be the Manual to Life Science. The bonus it is it all in “kid speak.” Seeing

The benefit for a teacher is that you would be able to see who is editing, what edits did they do. You can track who is pulling their share or not. You can compare edits, and even pull any that are not appropriate. For students, there is the benefit of live audiences seeing and posting comments on the students’ work, making it more valuable to the students than just a paper they write in class. Also, students can learn from each other, get ideas and collaborate just like real scientists. In fact many tools that scientists use these day are the same web 2.0 tools that I am researching. Finding ways to link what we do in class to “real science work” has been a goal of mine. If students can see that what we are doing in class, is done out of school as well, they become more invested in their learn for they see that it has value.