Peter, See how the discussion goes with your local school -- it will be good to get some initial inputs from the teachers as to how this might work. Perhaps, for instance, one of the upcoming or scheduled assignments in one of the grades. It may also be productive to connect this with the IT class. So for example the kids could work on a social studies assignment and utilise time in the IT class to acquire some social software skills?
Then I guess we should set up a page in WE with a few bullets. I will do my best to connect the school with a partner school offshore. Cheers On Apr 30, 7:53 am, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ok, > > I will begin making contact with our local school district. I believe > we will get better traction at the high school level so I will start > there. I guess I now need connections in other commonwealth countries > school districts that are interested in this idea. Any volunteers or > connections who also believe in the idea of having K12 students > collaboratively develop K12 OER? > > If I start to get positive results/feedback I will create an > initiative (project) in WikiEd to support our collective efforts. > > Peter > > On Apr 29, 4:07 pm, mackiwg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > My view is to go for it ... > > > Perhaps we can start a local project here in Vancouver and pair the > > kids with another school somewhere else as an official class project. > > > Do you have any contacts with a school here? > > > Cheers > > Wayne > > > On Apr 29, 10:29 am, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Declan & Wayne, > > > > Yes, I agree. I believe K12 is a very very important part of WE. It > > > ties too so many of the internationally supported initiatives in > > > regards to education (education for all, MDG, others). > > > > I really believe in constructivist approaches and believe K12 students > > > could learn very much by participating and collaborating within WE in > > > the development of K12 curriculum themselves. When I speak with k12 > > > teachers and administrators I often float the idea of having the > > > students of their schools and different grades being partnered with > > > other schools and grades from other parts of the world to collaborate > > > and building, modifying, re-issuing OER. All of this would give > > > students from different parts of the world an opportunity to learn > > > "standardized" curriculum within a different context (part of the > > > world). Which in the end, I (and others) believe is a better way to > > > learn. Learn something in your own context, then try and understand it > > > again in a different context... > > > > I recently taught into my daughters grade 7 class and talked about > > > wikis and wiki educator. They were pretty blown away. Particularly, > > > when I showed them the history of their schools Wikipedia page and how > > > we could see the edit history. I really framed the whole discussion in > > > collaboration among peers. They really got it! Why shouldn't we do > > > this internationally. Act as the hub (portal) that connects different > > > schools with each other through-out the commonwealth. And have the > > > students develop the K12 WE content... > > > > Peter > > > > On Apr 28, 1:56 pm, mackiwg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Hi Declan, > > > > > Appreciate the feedback --- You're absolutely right, WE needs to > > > > improve how we communicate with the public and media. WE needs better > > > > ways to communicate are growth and successes and we need to find more > > > > interesting and effective ways to communicate this information > > > > visually. I'm 100% in agreement here! > > > > > So far our front page news and communications are pretty much a one- > > > > person show by someone who has no training in communications or the > > > > media <smile>. WE has reached the point where we should have a > > > > dedicated media/communications team looking after this aspect of our > > > > community. If there is anyone on the list who can offer help and > > > > guidance --- WE would welcome your inputs. We need to think about: > > > > > * Processes for news and communications > > > > * For want of a better word "Policy guidelines" for deciding what > > > > constitutes front page news etc. > > > > * Development of pages for the media and general public where we > > > > present the information in visually appealing ways > > > > > Are there any media/communications experts on the list who can help > > > > out? > > > > > Yeah -- I agree, we need to work on creating appropriate spaces for > > > > the K12 sector. There is currently a project looking into > > > > restructuring and refining our content page according to sector (eg > > > > primary, secondary, tertiary). Recent growth in the number of content > > > > projects has necessitated that we improve our structure. We will also > > > > need a tutorial or some help pages in providing guidance on how to > > > > list content developments in WE. > > > > > Your Biology in Elementary Schools (http://wikieducator.org/ > > > > Biology_in_elementary_schools ) is a brilliant project! In the long > > > > term this will become an excellent vehicle for building community -- > > > > especially when the student teachers start teaching in the "real > > > > world". I thinking of creative ways in which we might encourage > > > > Teacher Educators around the world to replicate your model. > > > > > During our Learning4Content workshops -- I point all new teachers to > > > > the project. > > > > > Cheers > > > > Wayne > > > > > On Apr 27, 8:00 pm, Declan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Hi Wayne, > > > > > > I have a few suggestions in response to the survey results. > > > > > 1. Publicize data: When you chatted with my students last week you > > > > > mentioned some valuable statistics (numbers of web views etc.). The > > > > > numbers made an impression on our group and I think would have a > > > > > similar impact more broadly. I think that in addition to survey data, > > > > > making web activity data available would be valuable. How many unique > > > > > visits do we attract? How many PDFs are downloaded? How many sites > > > > > link to WE (746 according to my google link search). I think > > > > > longitudinal data on numbers of pages and new users could also be > > > > > interesting. Having such data available would make writing about the > > > > > WE community a little easier, and may generate some press coverage > > > > > (free advertising) and in turn expand the WE community. > > > > > > 2. Attracting more K-12 participants: Perhaps we need a place for > > > > > K-12 students to work. There are many schools using wikis publicly > > > > > and some are listed > > > > > here:http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikis_in_elementary_schools; > > > > > many other schools use wiki platforms behind private firewalls. Some > > > > > schools are lucky enough to have technology instructors in addition to > > > > > their classroom teachers. If the students use wikis, their teachers > > > > > may come along for the ride, and perhaps share some of their content. > > > > > > 3. Finally, by working with trainee teachers we can gain content > > > > > directly. Perhaps more important is the long-term gain; there is the > > > > > possibility that these future teachers will come back to WE when they > > > > > have their own classrooms. Attracting trainee teachers means > > > > > attracting their professors. At least in the tenure-track world, that > > > > > means explaining the scholarship value of working in this platform. > > > > > Some researchers of wikis seem to already be following that path. One > > > > > assumes that the publications resulting from such scholarship will > > > > > more broadly advertise what WE is accomplishing. > > > > > > Some thoughts for the night! > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > Declan- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To post to this group, send email to wikieducator@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
