Chapter 6

This chapter was really interesting. When I think of a community, the first thing that comes to mind is a group of interacting people that share common interest. I never thought that the idea of a community could be found through technology. This chapter has introduced me to many ways that I, as a future teacher, can expand a sense of community in my classroom through technology. Web 2.0 is a new term for me. The book explains it as “the capacity to bring people together and support sharing online communities through the use of technology.” This idea is the focus of this chapter.

In schools around the country, students’ knowledge is sometimes undervalued. Many times, teachers evaluate student knowledge merely on their understanding of the curriculum. As a student myself, I have noticed this in my past. Chapter tests are the main source of evaluation. But this doesn’t necessarily capture the true fundamentals of meaningful learning. The book talks about Knowledge Forum, an electronic group intended to support the development of knowledge-building. Through forums, students are able to share their opinions and beliefs about a certain subject through online writing assignments and live discussions. As a teacher, one of my goals will be to foster knowledge-building communities. I feel that forums are a good way to get a deeper look into students’ knowledge while forming a community with other students.

Wikis are a method of constructing knowledge that this chapter discusses. When I began to use the internet for school related work, I was always warned against wikis. Since anyone can generate and revise wiki pages, the content may not be correct. The book, however, brings some interesting points that I had never thought about prior. Most web pages are not necessarily subject to review before being posted so it is important that students know how evaluate all online media. This is something that I plan on helping my students with.

The book mentioned that wikis are always being checked which allows for constant peer review of content. Wikis can not only help students with writing skills but it is used as a collaborative setting to engage in design work. The book gave an example of a Holocaust Wiki project that a history teacher assigned to his students. I thought this project was such an appealing way of teaching students about this important moment in history while creating a collaborative environment through wikis. The book suggested many other ways in which teachers have used wikis in the classroom as a useful learning tool. This section in the chapter has changed my views about wikis and I plan on incorporating it in my future classroom.

The next section was finding colleagues with interactive blogs. I had never really been exposed to educational blogging until this specific course. I think it is a very useful and creates a space for dynamic connections of ideas and critiques. The book introduced me to Technorati. This company offers a search bar for blog content which can help students connect to each other. Chapter 6 mentions many different kinds of blogging. One that I thought was interesting is teacher-created blogs. This is a way to allow students to explore further on information that wasn’t covered in class. It also encourages students who don’t normally participate in class discussions. Blogging is definitely a possibility in my classes. But in order to ensure that students are engaging in meaningful learning through blogs, I will provide guidelines and always preview student blogs before posting.

Personally, one of the most interesting parts of this chapter was building international communities through technology. I had never heard of online learning circles until this book. Online Learning Circles usually supports an explicit project or online activity that is integrated into the curriculum. The book talked about iEARN. The goal of this program is to bring students and teachers around the world together by creating an understanding of each other through projects. KidLink is another program that can be used for international connection. I was amazed that it is available in over 30 languages. Students are able to interact with each other by posting comments on the pages of this site. All of these programs are really fascinating to me because you can learn so much about people from all over the world. I feel that one of the most meaningful ways to learn about other cultures and languages is by being exposed to them. These online international communities make it easy to expose students to so many cultures.

Another very intriguing section of this chapter is the programs available to build professional teacher communities. The book introduced me to Tapped In. This is an online workplace for K-12 educators where you can have informal collaborative activities with colleagues. Tapped In offers online discussions about important topics for all teachers. It even has private online spaces where you can talk to a teacher about a specific idea or problem. This is a very useful source for me as a future teacher. I plan on participating in these kinds of workshops.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter and learning about all the useful resources available through technology. Like I mentioned before, building a learning community is very important for me as a teacher. These resources will all be extremely helpful in helping me achieve my goals.