Using Apps for Learning Across the Curriculum


Book Description

How can apps be used to foster learning with literacy across the curriculum? This book offers both a theoretical framework for considering app affordances and practical ways to use apps to build students’ disciplinary literacies and to foster a wide range of literacy practices. Using Apps for Learning Across the Curriculum presents a wide range of different apps and also assesses their value features methods for and apps related to planning instruction and assessing student learning identifies favorite apps whose affordances are most likely to foster certain disciplinary literacies includes resources and apps for professional development provides examples of student learning in the classroom A website (www.usingipads.pbworks.com) with resources for teaching and further reading for each chapter, a link to a blog for continuing conversations about topics in the book (appsforlearningliteracies.com), and more enhance the usefulness of the book.




Wiki Writing


Book Description

When most people think of wikis, the first---and usually the only---thing that comes to mind is Wikipedia. The editors of Wiki Writing: Collaborative Learning in the College Classroom, Robert E. Cummings and Matt Barton, have assembled a collection of essays that challenges this common misconception, providing an engaging and helpful array of perspectives on the many pressing theoretical and practical issues that wikis raise. Written in an engaging and accessible manner that will appeal to specialists and novices alike, Wiki Writing draws on a wealth of practical classroom experiences with wikis to offer a series of richly detailed and concrete suggestions to help educators realize the potential of these new writing environments. Robert E. Cummings began work at Columbus State University in August 2006 as Assistant Professor of English and Director of First-Year Composition. Currently he also serves as the Writing Specialist for CSU's Quality Enhancement Plan, assisting teachers across campus in their efforts to maximize student writing in their curriculum. He recently concluded a three-year research study with the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research and continues to research in the fields of computers and writing, writing across the curriculum, writing in the disciplines, and curricular reform in higher education. Matt Barton is Assistant Professor, St. Cloud State University, Department of English-Rhetoric and Applied Writing Program. His research interests are rhetoric, new media, and computers and writing. He is the author of Dungeons and Desktops: A History of Computer Role-Playing Games and has published in the journals Text and Technology, Computers and Composition, Game Studies, and Kairos. He is currently serving as Associate Editor of Kairosnews and Managing Editor of Armchair Arcade. "Wiki Writing will quickly become the standard resource for using wikis in the classroom." ---Jim Kalmbach, Illinois State University digitalculturebooks is an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library dedicated to publishing innovative and accessible work exploring new media and their impact on society, culture, and scholarly communication. Visit the website at www.digitalculture.org.




Wikis


Book Description

This text provides different varieties of tried-and-true wikis that will help any educator accomplish the multitude of teaching tasks imperative to their students' success. Wikis can be one of the most effective learning tools for today's teachers—if they're used correctly and appropriately. In many cases, educators have not been using this powerful Web 2.0-based tool to its complete potential. In today's demanding, fast-paced education environment, educators need to take full advantage of the technology resources at their disposal to keep pace with tech-savvy students and meet assessment standards. In Wikis: The Educator's Power Tool, the author shares her vast knowledge to unlock the capabilities of wikis for every educator. Educational wiki use can be categorized into three major types: the library wiki, the reciprocal wiki, and student-produced wiki. This book gives real examples of all three uses, as well as straightforward instructions on how to set up, dress up, and lock down a wiki for optimal practicality, attractiveness, ease of use, and security. Student and content-specific examples are included.




The Challenge of Using Wikis in School


Book Description

This study augments an expanding body of research literature examining the complex process of integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and introducing ICT-related literacy skills into English Language Arts classrooms. Widespread social changes related to ICT are impacting the literacy practices of people in everyday society. These changes in literacy practices represent challenges to teachers who have never used these literacy skills and have never seen them taught. Through two case studies, this hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry examines the experiences of two teachers who learn and lead learning using wikis. Data collection was conducted in two Grade 6 classrooms: one in an Ontario public school and one in a private international school in Mexico and consisted of observations, informal and formal interviews with the teachers as well as observations and focus group interviews with their students. The complex phenomenon of learning ICT and almost simultaneously having to teach it is documented and analyzed. The research involved teaching the teachers how to use a wiki and then co-planning and observing them teach a creative writing unit on the wiki. Data was analyzed and discussed with reference to Lankshear and Knobel's (2011) Paradigms. Findings indicated that the two teachers held largely Paradigm 1(linear, individualistic and bounded) conceptions of literacy while the multimodal writing students were producing on the wiki represented Paradigm 2 practices (non-linear, collaborative and unbounded.) Also, the context of school was an insurmountable hurdle in the teachers' efforts to integrate ICT into their English Language Arts classrooms in both cases. This study sheds light on the specific moments when this contrast between Paradigm 1 and Paradigm 2 perspectives impeded deep student engagement in digital literacy skills related to the wiki.




Wikis in the Teaching of Writing: Purposes for Implementation


Book Description

Throughout the documented history of the teaching of writing, educators have engaged in various methods through which to guide student learning in the textual medium. In recent years, the digital age has provided a plethora of educational opportunities from long-distance learning and virtual courses, to course management systems, blogs, and wikis. The wiki has emerged as a growing technology with the potential to transform the rhetoric of the writing classroom. The present project seeks to further the research available on wikis in the teaching of writing. This study is both definitional and explorational. The questions it seeks to address include: how are wikis being used in educator's classrooms; to what purposes are the wikis being used; in what ways are wikis being used? To answer some of these questions, various instructor survey responses were evaluated and incorporated into this thesis. The six main purposes for which wikis are being used in education that are identified in this study are 1) collaboration, 2) facilitation of work, 3) audience extension, 4) knowledge building/reflecting, 5) effective writing, and 6) multimodal literacy. After gathering data on the above purposes, this research discusses the results of the data and considers future research for integrating wiki technology into the teaching of writing.




Wiki Supporting Formal and Informal Learning


Book Description

Already in common use outside the educational arena, wikis are rapidly moving into education as a form of learner communication and expression, and as a means to facilitate collaboration and working in groups. Many uses of wikis in formal education have been outlined by scholars and practitioners mainly focused on the students' perspective. However, further investigations are needed on how teachers are actually using this tool to support the design and development of educational materials, as well as the evaluation of both individual contribution and active participation to collaborative learning projects. This book provides a valuable tool and a source of knowledge for all those involved in enhancement of formal and informal learning both in higher and adult education.




History Spacebook


Book Description

This study examines student engagement and short-term and long-term achievement when a wiki was used constructively in place of traditional lecture to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. The study was conducted with students enrolled in two rural high school contemporary issues classes in the southeastern United States. The results indicated that participants in the experimental and control groups were engaged and enjoyed the topic that was studied. The participants in the experimental group showed significant increases in engagement while synthesizing information from numerous resources to develop wiki pages and while working collaboratively with other participants. There was no significant increase in short-term or long-term student achievement. Students in both groups enjoyed learning about the Civil Rights Movement, but several became emotional, voicing concerns. Comments included, "I hate the thought [of] that happening to people, and I couldn't imagine going through that or watching others go through it. It was cruel and wrong and I don't understand how people can hate someone on the basis of their skin." Another added, "it [Civil Rights Movement] is still a touchy subject," and yet another said, "the Civil Rights Movement was a beautiful display of courage, support, and righteousness."




Wikis for School Leaders


Book Description

Maximize the effectiveness of your professional activities through the use of wikis, and raise student achievement in turn! With strategies from online educator and technology expert Stephanie Sandifer, this book provides how-to advice on the way in which wikis result in a more efficient use of time, better communication, and increased adult learning for the members of your school community. Inside, you'll find out how to promote collaboration and productivity in your school, all while contributing to improved student learning. Topics include: The Dos and Don'ts of Wikis Social Networking Tools and Wikis Wikis for Leadership and Administration Wikis in the Classroom Wikis for Home-to-School Communications Implement each of these practical, innovative ideas and "wikify" your school today!




A Framework for K-12 Science Education


Book Description

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.




Wikis for School Leaders


Book Description

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.