Part I: Wiki Exploration

This module has been very useful and relevant to me as an educator and for several reasons. First, it allowed me to
create products using the collaborative tools we were asked to explore that I can not only use with my students in the
units we are currently working in but also gives me the ability to store for use at a later time. Second, the article by Reich
et al (2012) was incredibly relevant to my situation as a teacher in a Title I school and the issues and concerns we try and
overcome on a daily basis.

I would first like to address the important issue of quality and equity with wikis as discussed in the article by Reich et al
(2012). The research within this article discussed how their findings showed discrepancies in usage and the opportunity
to access higher order thinking activities between schools with different socioeconomic populations. They further
reported, through their extensive research, that wikis in schools serving lower income students tended to cease with
usage earlier than with school of higher affluent populations (Reich, 2012). They, however, did not conduct research for
the reason to this finding. I feel that in order to overcome this discrepancy, a reason for this difference in type of usage
and amount of time wikis are being used needs to be found.

The three wikis I investigated were FHS Wolves Den, Mr. Lindsay's Wiki, and HUMS3001: Censorship and
Responsibility. As I had read the Reich et al (2012) article first, I wondered as exploring these sites, what type of
school each one was in regard to diversity and their socio economic populations. Some wikis I explored were still in use
as compared to others that were not. Were these created by teachers of students from less affluent homes or are these
teachers no longer in that grade or subject anymore? I continue to wonder, if these wikis were used in both affluent and
less affluent schools, how would they be utilized and what would be some of the barriers that would be showing up as
evidenced in the research completed in the article we read.

The FHS Wolves Den wiki is very much an example of what I would hope to achieve in my own wiki. It had wonderful
opportunities for students to work collaboratively, provided unit resources for students to easily access, and also
provided opportunities for students to comment and ask questions in real time. Although this site is not currently being
used any more, I was thrilled that we were able to gain some insight in to how it was used and the types of products that
can and were created with it. I very much liked the easy access to all of the links through the bar on the left. It made me
rethink how I have my new wiki set up and how I would like to change this format to include many of these same types
of features for my own students. The Hunger Games page included a poll for students, unit vocabulary and questions,
and specific resources that were geared toward assisting students with this unit.

Mr. Lindsay’s Wiki was a site I had investigated that was a bit more disjointed to me. It did not offer the collaboration
piece that I was looking to gain ideas from and reminded me more of the older versions of a class Weebly or website.
The organization was a little overwhelming for me and not as user friendly. All the more so after having explored
through the FHS Wolves Den with its ease in maneuvering through the various tabs and resources available. However, I
would like to note there are some great links for student support and some additional information geared towards
parents and how they may assist their students, and especially with the math links. This site does not seem to be active,
although there are many resources that other educators teaching at the same levels may be able to utilize and include
within their own resource toolbox.

The third wiki I explored and investigated was the HUMS3001: Censorship and Responsibility. This was a wonderful
example of a wiki and for several reasons. First, I very much gained some great insight in to the development of certain
areas of the wiki through the discussion board and through the direct interactions between the author (mediator) and
the students. This was evident through the very informative discussion on plagiarism and its implications. Second, this
wiki was all about collaboration and on authentic and real-life learning topics. The wiki was provided to students at the
university as a platform to access and creating their own pages while working on university related activities.

My initial view on utilizing a wiki in my classroom is that of excitement at all that it can offer my students. I currently use
iTunes U, but it is limited with the set-up and the availability to collaborate and communicate as compared to all that is
possible with a wiki. Being as obsessed with Hawaii as I am, and then reading in this module that the term wiki was
derived from the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki meaning “quick”, I was already intrigued. This resource is quick and easy to
learn to use, allows greater collaboration capabilities, and as silly as this may sound, the name was derived from a
Hawaiian word, which also happens to be the theme for my classroom. I knew then that this was a tool I wanted to be
able to use with my own students. Through this tool, I can still include all of the resources they need for completing
personalized learning projects which is all the more important as I try and move more in to the role as a facilitator.
However, this tool also offers the opportunity for students to work together in a productive and collaborative manner. I
very much appreciate how the history of page changes and saves are available, which is very important in understanding
the contributions and participation of all of your students.

Wikis, I also feel, would be excellent tools to utilize for professional development within a school or even within a
district. They could be used as a platform for teachers within the same discipline to collaborate together. So many of us
are reinventing the wheel year and year, and through the utilization of district level wikis, this could enable us to share
ideas and collaborate even with teachers outside of their building walls. I would love to be able to create a wiki for the
8th Grade Georgia Studies teachers even if just in my learning community. I feel our content area is so specialized and
resources are very limited. By using this tool to help us work together, we could gather our resources in one bank and
that could easily be accessed for the benefit of all of our students.

Part II: Productivity Tools and Collaboration for Student Learning

I was excited to be working on this module right now as my standards have been updated for this year and I had some
new projects I wanted to try with my students. The productivity tools we have been introduced to in this module were
excellent for helping me to accomplish these real time goals. The first product I created was through the use of Google
Slides. I wanted something that I could
use to support the standard we are
currently in, which is SS8H9: Georgia in
WWII. I had created a personalized
group learning activity on WWII
artifacts. However, I knew I needed to
review and discuss with my students
what artifacts in history are and what
they can represent before having them
try and find artifacts on their own. I
decided to use Google Slides to create a
slideshow presentation on artifacts that
would include images, information and
examples, and a video from the Smithsonian discussing how they made the decision to choose ones they felt were
important and represented America through different time periods. As many of my students are English Language
Learners, I also added in an audio section allowing them the ability to hear me reading each slide. The Google Slide can
be embedded within my iTunes U course as well as shared and played in our class.
 The second product I created was through Office Forms. It will
be used as a ticket out the door during an upcoming unit on
the SS8H11: Modern Civil Right Era in Georgia. With this Office
Form I am asking the students to choose which Civil Rights
leader was most influential in Georgia or even in the country. I
want my students to explain why they feel this way, and what
characteristics they see in this person that they may also
share or that they felt was beneficial to achieving all that they
had/have achieved for this movement and during this
particular era.

I learned something new by creating this assignment in

that I can link an Office Form directly to an assignment
created in iTunes U. This made it very convenient for me to
get a head start on setting up the future unit as well as making
sure that I remember that I have created this assignment for it
is already loaded in to my iTunes U course. I love how I will be
able to get the information in an easy to read format, in one
place, and from all of my students. I may choose, and before
this unit starts, to create separate Office Form surveys of this assignment so that the data collected will be formatted in
as separate classes, therefore, making it much easier to review.

The third artifact I created was one I want to store and use with the parents of
my future students. I was very excited at this idea and loved the ease in having
the information at my fingertips and at any time through my google drive
account. I am just now beginning to understand all that a google drive can do
as well as all the apps that are offered through this platform. The product I
created is a new parent survey for my future parents to complete on their
child. I am hoping to gain a greater insight in to who my new students are, how
best to communicate with them, what their parents or guardians perceive their
strengths and weknesses to be, and an additional information they feel
comfortable in sharing with me. It took me no time at all to create this form
and it is so easy to update and modify and I never have to worry about saving
as it does so automatically. With this form, I can email the link directly to all of
my new parents and/or provide a QR code for them to access during Open
House or at their convenience. I am excited to be able to use this tool and for
this purpose and especially as the information gathered will be very easy to
access at any time and through any device I have.
The final product I created with this module was based on an idea I have to use with my unit mentioned above on
SS8H9: Georgia in WWII. I used Bubbl.us, and the link to the product example is https://bubbl.us/8779192. I found this
mapping tool very simple to use but I did not think it will be as useful to my students as possibly utilizing a tool like
Popplet. I only had the free version, so not sure how the paid versions differed in use and options. What made this a tool
I would not use as much in my class is that it was
not available for students to also use
collaboratively. It was very limited in the space and
number of products you could create in the free
version, and the visuals were not as appealing to
me as Popplet. Popplet allows the user to organize
their data and information more through color
coding and it was visually more appealing and
easier to use. Furthermore, Popplet allows for
multi-users working on one Popplet at a time, and
that is more of what I am looking for in a tool or
platform to add in as one of my go-to resources.

I felt the Pedagogy Wheel by Allen Carrington to be a wonderful graphic as I plan on keeping it beside me when
creating lesson plans for my students in the future. When trying to analyze where the products I created for this module
fit in this wheel, I noticed that they covered all the regions and
several even overlapped in to two or more regions. In regard to
the first product I created on Google Slides, I would place this in
both the apply and evaluate sections. I would put this product in
these two areas because it is teaching students the meaning of a
term for the purpose of collecting, reporting, and sharing opinions
on specific artifacts they feel best represent specific points during
WWII. The Bubbl.us product would fit in both the create and apply
regions through just the use of this tool and with this one activity.
I find that many of the tools I am mostly interested in and chose
to investigate further were ones that would allow more two-way
communication and allow my students to evaluate and create
products based on the new knowledge they were learning.

Reich, J., Murnane, R., Willet, J. (2012). The state of wiki usage in U.S. K–12 schools: Leveraging web 2.0 data
warehouses to assess quality and equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher, 41(1), 7-15. DOI:
10.3102/0013189X11427083