Using a Wiki in School Part 1

Getting ready to invest courage in a 7th grade math project with my classes was, well, scary. First, I haven't taught math in years, since I began being the tech guy at our school, and, second, because as I stated in one of my other postings, I was caught sleeping during the Web 2.0 invasion. It was an etech conference in Columbus this year and listening to keynote speakers Will Richardson and Susan Patrick that finally slapped me awake. Just as Susan Patrick was telling her education analogy about steamships and planes, I found myself on an old, steamship bound for 1961 (The year Roger Maris broke the Babe's 60 homerun barrier.) I guess, since 1961, better conditioning techniques, equipment (livelier balls), and training entered the game and "possibly" brought about the advancement of new homerun hitters like, McGwire and Sosa. But whether it was bouncier baseballs or not, the new techniques of developing our athletes certainly has had an impact on the game.

Now, just like baseball, education has new techniques, equipment, and training and I need to take advantage of what's available or I won't be an effective hitter in the game. Occasionally, I might be able to hit the homerun ball but I really want to hit over 60 of them in a school year (about 1 every 3 school days).

I guess, to carry the analogy a little further, the web 2.0; wikis, blogs, youtubes, flickr, vods and pods are the steroids that enter the game. They can be dangerous but they certainly enhance performance, and it's that danger that scares me. I know what kind of garbage is out there; the bad sites and the bad people. Most of our parents know what's out there and as a teacher and parent, I want to engage students so that they really want to learn, but I want to make sure that they want to learn the "right" things. I want to help them learn the things that will develop them to become a major league hitter in whatever profession they choose.

The Partnership for 21st century skills, Edutopia, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation certainly have identified those skills that students need to have and the approach that educators need to take to get our students to learn how to learn, and no matter what us old-timers say and do, we can't avoid the impact of that hi-tech trans-atlantic airplane/rocket/space shuttle/space elevator that is rapidly flying over our heads while our young ones fly in it every day without a well-defined, positive destination.

I certainly can't solve all the problems in the world or in education and I've already proven by my great sleeping ability that I'm not a leader in this field of technology integration. But, when I see something that makes sense and stimulates my desire to learn, like the potential value in education of a wiki or a secondlife.com, I've got to jump in regardless of my fears.

Luckily, I'm not in it alone, because I've got a real math teacher who also will invest her courage and time into the project. Collaboration; a 21st century skill, I guess it really is important.