Wiki-Wikity-Wikity Whack

I love the collaborative spirit of wikis...as a teacher of writing, I love to put students together to create ideas using words developed from thoughts pulled, prodded, and blended from within. In some ways, it appears nearly spiritual at its essence. Watching ideas percolate and then expand into cognitive, rational expression is a powerful learning experience that I get to witness at times. Prior to discovering wikis, this was a cumbersome process, but wikis provide a platform that enables the creativity and promotes the sense of oneness in collaboration. I have used on several occasions a wiki from wikispaces.com to promote this learning. I have found that the platform does not guarantee this happens...the dynamic of the group, coupled with appropriate pressuring activities are essential aspects of the process that cannot be skipped. I have made this mistake before...need to remember their importance to the process that wikis promote.

YouTube and OnlineVideo

The current generation of students loves video...they have never not had it around, so using video in the classroom is a great way to enhance instruction and engage students. I find Youtube to be incredibly useful in the classroom. That being said, I will readily admit there is much that is not classroom appropriate on the site. The educational usefulness of the site lies in the ability to access thousands of clips related to film and literature easily. Also, I find much of tutorial type video, such as Common Craft, etc, to be very helpful. Nearly every technological advance has a multitude of videos associated with it. I use those videos often. However, I fully understand education's reticence about allowing open access to Youtube. Luckily, a number of other mediated sites offer great video resources to use in the classroom. I find the TED Talks to be phenomenal...current and past great thinkers discuss a wide range of topics related to our culture and the world, which we can access and watch to help push discussion and promote higher level thinking. Of course, this is just one of many sites worth exploring, but we, as educators, certainly need to embrace the use of video and media in our classrooms.