Upload
e-fukushima
View
161
Download
4
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Book Report 2.0:
Using Wikis for Book Reviews in a Middle School Classroom
A Field Project Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Education
TOURO UNIVERSITY - CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of
MASTERS OF ARTS
in
EDUCATION
With Emphasis in
Technology
By
Erlyn D. Fukushima
December 2010
Book Report 2.0
Using Wikis for Book Reviews in a Middle School Classroom
In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE
In
EDUCATION
BY
Erlyn D. Fukushima
TOURO UNIVERSITY – CALIFORNIA
December 2010
Under the guidance and approval of the committee and approval by all the members, this field project has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree.
Approved:
___________________________ ___________________Pamela A. Redmond, Ed.D. Date
__________________________ ___________________Jim O’Connor, Ph.D, Dean Date
TOURO UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIACollege of Education
Author Release
Name: Erlyn D. Fukushima
The Touro University California Graduate School of Education has permission to use my MA thesis or field project as an example of acceptable work. This permission includes the right to duplicate the manuscript as well as permits the document to be checked out from the College Library or School website.
In addition, I give Dr. Pamela Redmond permission to share my handbook with others via the Internet.
Signature: __________________________________
Date: ______________________________________
Abstract
There are many obstacles teachers face, including having to meet the needs of the 21st
century learner. This generation of digital natives relies heavily on the use of technology.
Using Web 2.0 sites, such as wikis, is one way to engage these students. This project
seeks to utilize wikis to publish and discuss book reviews by students, instead of the
traditional pen and paper reports. By effectively using these sites, students actively learn,
develop their writing skills, hone digital literacy, and work collaboratively.
i
Table of Contents
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................. III
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................III
CHAPTER I...........................................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem..............................................................................................................................2
Background and Need....................................................................................................................................3
Purpose of the Project....................................................................................................................................3
Project Objective............................................................................................................................................4
Definition of Terms.........................................................................................................................................4
Summary.........................................................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER II..........................................................................................................6
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................6
Necessary Skills...............................................................................................................................................7
Enter the Digital Natives..............................................................................................................................10
Literacy..........................................................................................................................................................12
What Good Are You, Web 2.0?...................................................................................................................15
Summary.......................................................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER III.......................................................................................................19
Components of the Project..........................................................................................................................20
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants..........................................................................................................21
Wiki Handbook.............................................................................................................................................22
Summary.......................................................................................................................................................24
CHAPTER IV.......................................................................................................25
Project Outcomes..........................................................................................................................................26
Proposed Audience, Procedures, and Implementation Timeline:............................................................27
ii
Evaluation of the Project:............................................................................................................................28
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................30
REFERENCES....................................................................................................32
Appendix: Using Wikis for Publishing Book Reviews..................................35
iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS Report (1991) ....................8Table 2: Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS Report (1991) with strikethrough items....................................................................................................17Table 3: Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS Report (1991) as Evidenced in this Project .............................................................................................30
List of Figures
Figure 1: Graphic of Student Outcomes and Support System, Source: The Partnership for 21st Century Learning website: http://p21.org (2001)..................................................14
Chapter I
The emergence and accessibility of computer technology has impacted the lives
of students. Marc Prensky (2001) wrote, “Our students have changed radically. Today’s
students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (p. 1).
He described students as digital natives, or “native speakers of the digital language of
computers, video games and the Internet” (p.1). Prensky contended that these students
were used to receiving information really fast. They liked to parallel process and multi-
task. They thrived on instant gratification and frequent rewards and preferred games to
“serious” work (p.2). This change in students affects how teachers teach. The old,
traditional pedagogy no longer engages digital natives. Their minds think and process
information differently than students of the past because of their daily interactions with
technology. Teachers must instruct these students differently than students before.
Since 1994, the amount of technology in the classroom has changed. In 1994,
when the researcher received her licensure, the percentage of schools nationally with at
least one internet connection was only 35%, while the percentage of classrooms wired
was only 3% (Atkinson & Gottlieb, 2001, p. 28). In 2010, those numbers grew
exponentially - even some of the most rural schools were wired for the internet.
As a middle school English teacher, this author believed that teachers and book
reports go together like peanut butter and jelly. She required her students to read novels,
truly believing “the more you read, the more you know”. Students read a book every five
weeks or so, and then did a project based on their understanding of the book. Wanting to
avoid the kind of book reports her middle school teachers assigned; five paragraph essays
summarizing the story elements found in the book, this author created projects instead of
reports. These projects required students to not only summarize what was read, but
creatively show their understanding of the book by combining artistic ways that were also
appealing to the eyes (postcards written from the main character or author telling about
their book, time capsules filled with important items from the main character, etc.). The
question for 21st century learners is, where is the engaging technology in that?
Statement of the Problem
Students cannot imagine life without their cell phones, the use of a computer, or
the ability to play video games. So, how can teachers effectively harness this interest in
technology and relate it to that of their education? In the report, published through the
Henry K Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8 -18 Year
Olds, it stated,
8 – 18 year olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using
entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And
because they spend so much of that time ‘media tasking’ (using more than one
medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45
minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7 ½ hours (Rideout, Foehr,
& Roberts, 2010, p. 11).
Children raised on technology see it as their friend and grasp its ideals quickly. These
“students are ahead of many of their teachers when it comes to using technology to
support learning” (Engstrom & Jewett, 2005, p.12). Teachers need to keep students
motivated by using what keeps them interested the most – technology and the internet.
2
Background and Need
The report, Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8 -18 Year Olds (Rideout,
Foehr, & Roberts, 2010), reported:
Children who are heavy media users are more likely to report getting
fair or poor grades (mostly C’s or lower) than other children. Indeed,
nearly half (47%) of all heavy media users say they usually get fair or
poor grades, compared to 23% of light media users (Rideout, Foehr, &
Roberts, 2010, p. 13).
These students were disengaged in class because they were used to multi-tasking or
“media-tasking”. Students that were asked to learn one concept at a time, found that
pace slow and boring. Digital natives needed to multi-task to stay engaged.
Most teachers are digital immigrants - not born into the digital world but have
many or most aspects of the new technology (Prensky, 2001, p.1). They are not at the
same level of digital literacy as our students. Teachers need to make their curriculum
relevant and teach effective and meaningful to our digital native students. Teachers need
to stay abreast of what is current and meet the needs of our students.
Purpose of the Project
Web 2.0 sites, like wikis, allow users the freedom to organize, create and modify
content that can be published on the internet. In addition, these sites are used as
platforms for discussion and allow the creators immediate feedback on their created
content. By allowing students the ability to create on such a huge canvas as the internet,
this project helped augment their technology skills, and gave them the freedom to
produce a project that is as unique as they are. Using wikis allowed students to engage in
3
inquiry-based learning. In addition, students worked collaboratively and provided
immediate feedback to their classmates. Students commented on wikis and developed
their writing and language skills, and provided (as well as accepted) positive criticism.
All the work students did for this project helped strengthen the skills they needed in their
future educational endeavors.
Project Objective
After learning about Web 2.0 sites, specifically wikis, students created and posted
their summaries and book reviews on the internet. Students posted their reviews to the
website PBworks. Students were required to comment and provide some sort of feedback
on other students’ wikis.
The success of the project was assessed from student self-reflection, student
feedback, as well as daily checks to the website for additional changes to the wikis. This
researcher made comments on each student’s wiki about their progress.
Definition of Terms
Blog or Web Log A blog (short for "web log") is essentially an online journal or
diary where one can post messages, photos, music and video on
their own.(Blog, n.d.).
Blogger A contributor to a blog or online journal. (Blogger, n.d.)
Blogosphere Blogosphere is a collective term encompassing all blogs and their
interconnections. (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Digital Immigrant A person who was not born into the digital world but has adopted
many or most aspects of the new technology. (Prensky, 2001)
Web 2.0 The term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide
Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and
share information online. (Web 2.0, n.d.)
4
Wiki a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number
of interlinked web pages. (Wikipedia, n.d.)
Summary
Education is impacted by the exponential changes available to students and
teachers. Unfortunately, teachers haven’t kept up with the resources available outside of
school, yet this has not stopped our students from making use of such technology tools in
their daily lives to communicate and find information. Teachers need change their
pedagogy in order to engage these students. Infusing Web 2.0 sites into this researcher’s
curriculum helped her already technologically experienced students stay motivated to
learn. The creativity it provided for them, on a medium that kept them engaged, was a
logical choice most teachers should welcome and embrace.
5
Chapter II
Introduction
Educators are mandated by the state (or government) to teach concepts that are
deemed appropriate for each grade level, with the hope that students understand and can
apply these concepts in their future educational careers, and hopefully into their adult
endeavors. As mentioned in Chapter 1, most teachers find themselves surrounded by
digital natives, whose educational needs differed from those of students in the past. With
this new breed of students, educators are still left with the basic goals to teach concepts,
but were also left to provide some insight as to what skills they need to be successful
adults in the work field.
To prepare students for the future and allow them opportunities to hone their
proficiency with literacies necessary to be successful in the work force makes a study of
this nature important for teachers. The following literature review gave insight into the
necessary competencies students need for the future workplace as outlined by the
government and public opinion. Characteristics of this new breed of students, or digital
natives, were pointed out, as well as the affects technology and the internet had on their
learning. This literature examined the use of wikis in the classrooms and the benefits to
students including the necessary literacies needed to prepare them for adulthood.
Because of the popularity and vast amount of up-to-the-minute information found on the
Internet, teachers and educators needed to harness this tool effectively into their
classrooms.
6
Necessary Skills
In 1991, the US Department of Labor published What Work Requires of Schools;
A SCANS Report for America 2000. The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving
Necessary Skills (SCANS) report outlined what the Department of Labor felt are the
skills necessary for students to acquire in order to succeed as adults. Their conclusions
were obtained from “discussions and meetings with business owners, public employers,
unions, and workers and supervisors in shops, plants and stores” (p. viii). These
published findings were not only targeted toward educators but to parents and employers
as well.
The report pointed out that “effective job performance” requires that a person has
“workplace know-how”. This know-how consisted of two elements: competencies and
foundation. Table 1 outlines the five competencies and three categories of foundation
one must have in order to successfully make it in the workplace. SCANS (1991) found
that most students were not acquiring the necessary academic skills or “foundation”
competencies once they left high school. “Less than half of all young adults have
achieved these reading and writing minimums; even fewer can handle the mathematics;
and, schools today only indirectly address listening and speaking skills” (p. xi). The
reports demanded that a change in our schools is needed.
7
Table 1Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS ReportCOMPETENCIES - effective workers can productively use:Resources Allocating time, money, materials, space,
and staff;Interpersonal Skills Working on teams, teaching others, serving
customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds
Information Acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information
Systems Understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving system
Technology Selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies
THE FOUNDATION - competence requires:Basic Skills Reading, writing, arithmetic and
mathematics, speaking and listeningThinking Skills Thinking creatively, making decisions,
solving problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye, knowing how to learn and reasoning
Personal Qualities Individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity
Along with the SCANS (1991) report, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
(2009), or P21, conducted a poll among 800 registered voters from September 10th to the
12th, 2007 and found that most Americans were concerned that our educational system
was not preparing young people with the necessary skills they would need to compete in
8
the global economy. Both SCANS and P21 concluded that schools lacked the guidance
to prepare students with the right skills. SCANS stated that schools “continue with the
system and methodologies they inherited from a system designed nearly 100 years ago
for the needs of business organizations that are now quite different” (p. 5). P21 found
that “Americans believe schools have not kept pace with changing times” (p. 3).
With the creation of the personal computer and its overall effectiveness in the
workplace, most employers expected some sort of technology experience in their
applicants, as well. From the 1990’s to the date of this study, computers had altered the
typical work place. “It has created not only a new industry; it has redefined the way
thousands of different kinds of work are now carried out” (SCANS, 1991, p.2). Because
of the computer’s efficiency, certain jobs became extinct. On the other hand, the
computer’s capabilities created new jobs. What was once considered the basic skills
needed for a job; a high school diploma and a willingness to work, no longer guarantees
one in our world. “A well-developed mind, a passion to learn and the ability to put
knowledge to work,” (p.2) were only some of the qualities employers looked for in their
applicants.
“Workplace know-how is not something you can just pick up” (SCANS, 1991,
p.5). These skills needed to somehow be infused in our educational curriculum,
alongside the academic skills or foundation. P21 (2009) stated, “Twenty-first century
skills must be an integral part of teaching and learning of all academic subjects, not add-
ons to the curriculum” (p. 6) Our digital natives were ready for the challenge.
9
Enter the Digital Natives
There are so many names for this generation, those born into a world where
technology was always prevalent. Leading the pack is the Millenials, or Generation Y.
Some speculated that they were those “born in or after 1982” (Howe & Strauss, 2000,
pg.4), during the beginnings of the use of the internet. More recently, the term
Generation Z was formed (Posnick-Goodwin, 2010, pg.8). These kids were the start of
the next generation of digital natives, students born as early as 1991. This generation has
never known a world without technology. They are often masters at multi-tasking and
are at ease with the use of technology and are able to grasp it much more quickly than
previous generations.
Sherry Posnick-Goodwin (2010), in her article for the California Educator, Meet
Generation Z, wrote that these students “are intimately familiar with the Internet, cell
phones, MP3 players and all manner of digital media. They use technology for work, for
play and to form relationships with people they have never met” (p.10). Digital natives
know how and where to acquire information for answers, thanks to technology. With the
immediate results that technology brings them, digital natives expect constant feedback
for all that they do.
In his article, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Mark Prensky (2001) wrote
that because of technology, “students think and process information fundamentally
different from their predecessors” (p.1). He claimed that with the advent of technology,
our usage of it has altered how our brains now function. He quoted Dr. Bruce D. Berry
of Baylor College of Medicine, “Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain
structures,” (pg.1) and with the amount of technology used by students, this has affected
10
their brain. Generation Z processes information differently than those generations where
technology was not prevalent. Prensky, in part II of his article, Do They Really Think
Differently? (2001), defined this process as neuroplasticity, where brain cells, when
stimulated, reorganize themselves differently and change. Prensky did not want to call it
“rewiring” of the brain, but he says the idea of it is correct. He continued this thought by
stating research done by social psychologists showed “that people who grow up in
different cultures do not just think about different things, they actually think differently.
The environment and cultures in which people are raised affects and even determines
many of their processes” (p.3).
These differences in processing were ever so evident in our digital natives. John
Palfrey and Urs Gasser (2008), authors of Born Digital, stated that teachers saw the
difference. “Teachers worry that they are out of step with the Digital natives they are
teaching, that the skills they have imparted over time are becoming lost or obsolete, and
that the pedagogy of our educational system cannot keep up with the changes in the
digital landscape” (p. 8). Teachers feared that the digital natives weren’t learning. But
Palfrey and Gasser argued that just because students weren’t processing in the same ways
previous generations have, doesn’t mean they weren’t learning.
Digital natives learned by gathering information in a multistep process that
Palfrey and Gasser called grazing. (p.241) Students mastered the art of grazing due to
the vast amount of information found on the Internet. To students, the idea of
researching a topic didn’t require thinking about a trip to the library but instead they
pondered a Google or Wikipedia search, or an instant message to an on-line friend. For
example, a student asked to find out about Barack Obama will begin by finding a web
11
site on our president. As the student grazes over the article, he may notice that our
president grew up in Hawaii. This may spark the student’s interest in Hawaii, so he then
searches for information on the islands and notes that it is one of the few states that has a
live volcano. From there, he might search for “live volcanoes in America.” This process
of gathering more information on different topics can go on and on. Visiting a new web
page can spark interest in related subjects, be it in the material that is read or the
advertisements placed on the web page. The answers they are looking for are only a click
away. Educators need to adapt to the habits of digital natives, and use this interest in
technology to give them the skills to keep them literate in the 21st century. “Parents and
teachers are on the front lines. They have the biggest responsibility and the most
important role to play in reaching out to our digital native learners” (p. 10).
Literacy
What defines a literate person? “At one time, a literate person was one who could
sign his or her name” (Wikipedia, n.d.). On-line, the American Heritage Dictionary
defined literacy as, “the condition or quality of being literate, especially the ability to read
and write,” and it defined literate as a “well-informed, educated person.” With that in
mind, graduating high school seniors should embody this ideal: learned and with the
ability to take their knowledge and apply it in other situations. But is that enough? Based
on the SCANS (1991) and P21 (2009), the answer is no; students lack the 21st century
literacy skills to successfully make it in the world of 2010 and beyond. Furthermore,
these reports found that not all schools are preparing graduates for the 21st century jobs.
The pedagogy by which students were taught information in our schools was not
valid for the digital natives in our technology-filled world. To be literate required more
12
than what the dictionary defines. In the article The New Literacy, Sara Armstrong and
David Warlick (2004) stated, “the very nature of information has changed in appearance,
location, accessibility, application and communication. Thus it is crucial that when
teaching literacy to our students, we emphasize skills that reflect the information
environment of the present, not the past” (p.1).
With the popularity of technology and the internet, and an awareness of how our
digital natives process information, teachers must reach students and engage them in
different ways. At the same time, teachers must also teach them to be literate. The task
is teaching them to be literate in more than one form. In Twenty-first Century Literacy
and Technology in K-8 Classrooms, by Brown, Bryan and Brown (2008), the authors
found that “new literacies have emerged in association with technology” (p.1). Besides
the basics of the three R’s (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic), students must now acquire
digital literacy, global literacy, technology literacy, visual literacy, media and information
literacy, each one with it’s own distinction in technology. Brown et al. quoted Leu
(2001), who said “that literacy is ‘no longer an end point to be achieved but rather a
process of continuously learning how to be literate” (p.1). Leu continued that “literacy is
constantly changing, not static and that teachers also must change in order to prepare
children for increased technology demands” (p.1).
P21 (2009) proposed a framework that concentrated on six elements for 21st
century learning: “Emphasize core subjects, emphasize learning skills, use 21st century
tools to develop learning skills, teach and learn 21st century context, teach and learn 21st
century content, use 21st century assessments that measure 21st century skills” (M.
13
Spivey, D.Young, & A. Cottle, 2009). Picture 1 shows all the interconnected
components needed for the 21st century learner as proposed by P21.
Figure 1. Graphic of Student Outcomes and Support System. Source: The Partnership for 21st Century Learning website: http://p21.org
P21 believes that the teaching of the core subjects (or three R’s) must be infused
with the four C’s: Critical thinking and problem solving, Collaboration, Communication
and Creativity and innovation, in order to help prepare our students for the 21st century.
Teachers have the task of encompassing all of P21’s expectations and the skills found in
SCANS’ Work Place Know How into their curriculum. Infusing Web 2.0 technology into
their lessons can help.
14
What Good Are You, Web 2.0?
In the 1990’s, the Internet began with sites where the only purpose was to allow
the user to receive information. In the 2000’s, improvements to the Internet have
included the creation of what has been called Web 2.0 sites; socially-based tools and
systems, or social software, where the user can be the receiver and contributor of
information. Web 2.0 sites, like MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube, or E-blogger allow the
user to upload or publish information onto the internet. In return, the user can allow
others to provide feedback on their creations.
Digital natives are quite aware of Web 2.0 sites, and many use them (although
most do not know the technical term for it). What they are most interested in is the
ability to engage with technology, all the while creating and interacting with others via
the World Wide Web. By harnessing the digital natives’ interest in Web 2.0 sites,
educators can help bridge the gap between our digital natives and the skills they will need
for their future.
Wiki, a Hawaiian term meaning “quick”, is a Web 2.0 technology that allows the
user to collaboratively create, publish and add or edit content at anytime. The wiki
concept was developed in 1995 by Howard G. “Ward” Cunningham and popularized by
Jimmy D. Wales, who created the most famous wiki, the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
(Borja, 2006 pg.2)
Wikis tend to be “do it yourself” web sites, where the “learn as you go” ideal is
expected. This is a plus, according to Colleen Sheehy (2008), author of Wikis in the High
School Classroom: A “Cool,” Living Book. She wrote that “technology is central to the
lives of our students. For many students, doing is more important than knowing, and
15
learning is accomplished through trial and error rather than a rule-based approach” (p.1).
Using wikis provides inquiry-based learning, which can engage and motivate students.
B. Morgan and R. Smith (2008), in the article A Wiki for Classroom Writing
(2008), wrote that “for classroom purposes, wikis are designed to be created by more than
one student. Together, the students can “compose a single, collaboratively authored
document, or they help each other with their own individual documents” (p.80). C.
Sheehy, K. Clemmons, & A. Sedivy (2010), stated in their article btw, this s a kewl way
to learn: Engaging Diverse Students in Collaborative Conversation Through Wiki
Technology, that by using wikis “students can engage in real collaboration online, with
little to no power struggles that sometimes occur in face-to-face group dynamics” (p.1).
After publishing on a wiki, one of its great uses is its editing abilities. Users can
often go back and change the content. Wikis provide a sort of edit trail, where one can go
back and see prior changes and even revert back to previous publishings. Creators can
also receive feedback from visitors to their page, thus allowing for peer editing, or
critiquing, in order to make the product even better.
By using wikis in the classroom, it allows the students inquiry-based learning, and
the ability to construct knowledge collaboratively, while practicing the skills and
literacies students will need for the future. Wiki usage by itself will not magically
provide all that our digital natives will need for the future. There is no quick fix. But by
adding this Web 2.0 technology to help enhance our school’s curriculum, educators can
effectively help harness the skills the SCANS report and P21 said our students will need.
See Table 2.
16
Table 2Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS Report compared to skills practiced by using wikis.COMPETENCIES - effective workers can productively use:
Skills practiced by using WIKIS
Resources Allocating time, money, materials, space, and staff;
Interpersonal Skills Working on teams, teaching others, serving customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds
Information Acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information
Systems Understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving system
Technology Selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies
THE FOUNDATION - competence requires:Basic Skills Reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics,
speaking and listeningThinking Skills Thinking creatively, making decisions, solving
problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye, knowing how to learn and reasoning
Personal Qualities Individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity
Note: Strikethrough items are not covered.
Summary
In order to prepare our students for the future, and be ready for the demands of the
21st century, educators must first understand what it is that society expects students to
learn. The SCANS (1991) report and P21 (2009) have researched and pointed out what
skills and literacies students must acquire, in order to make it in the future workplace.
Educators must understand who these students are, these digital natives, and how they
process information, in order to teach them these skills and literacies. With this
17
understanding, incorporating wikis in the classroom allows students the chance to
actively learn by using technology, all the while, allowing them to work collaboratively,
and practice the skills they will need.
However, evidence of successful wiki use in the elementary and middle schools
were few. If we are to truly prepare our students for the future, we must start 21st century
education at a younger age. This study proposes to use the recommendations of P21 and
SCANS information to help create and design the project of this study, which will use
wiki technology to support middle school students to engage in inquiry-based learning
and write collaborative book reports.
18
Chapter III
In 2010, most students were quite familiar with technology; from computers to
cell phones, to texting and video chatting, and even on-line gaming - technology media
was common place in their lives. Most of these items did not exist some ten years ago,
when most current teachers went through a credential program. Much of the pedagogy in
which these teachers were taught to educate students remains valid – yet, to stay in-tune
with the learning needs of digital learners (Prensky, 2009), teachers needed to change the
way in which they reach and engage students. As mentioned in Chapters I and II, Marc
Prensky (2009) found that today’s students, which he called Digital Natives, think and
learn differently than those of the past, thanks in part to their daily interactions with
technology.
In addition to these changes in students, the US Department of Labor’s What
Work Requires of Schools; A SCANS Report for America 2000 (1991), the Secretary’s
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills or SCANS found that graduating students,
Millenials, “those born in or after 1982” (Howe & Strauss, pg.4), lack “workplace
know-how” and graduate with the bare minimum of math and English skills. The
Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009), or P21, agreed with the SCANS report and
found that most Americans felt that our educational systems are not preparing our
students with enough technology and literacy skills necessary to keep up with today’s
global work force. A change in the way we educate our students is necessary. Using
technology and infusing it into our regulated curriculum can help engage our students and
prepare them with the skills necessary for the work place. This action research project
focused on the technology of a Web 2.0 site; socially based web tools that allowed the
19
users a way to create, edit and discuss published work on the internet, and incorporated
this technology with lessons in the classroom. This project entailed using a wiki to
publish and discuss book reviews.
Components of the Project
The proposal for this project was developed during the spring of 2010. Because
of the author’s background in teaching Language Arts, the idea of infusing technology
into an English class was the main interest. After a thorough examination of technology
trends for the classroom, the idea to publish book reports using technology became
apparent. Initially, the author found that the majority of the literature was written for
library journals. These articles focused on trends or popular formats of literature and
technology, however little research focused on using technology with book reports at the
middle school level. The search topic was found to be too general, so narrowing the topic
to using Web 2.0 sites, like wikis, to publish book reports, brought more success than the
original search. The articles showcased effective and successful wiki use with students.
Students actively and cooperatively learned, developed their writing skills, and honed
digital literacy. However, many of these articles were written about wiki use at the
college level, and some at the high school level. Few articles focused on using wikis at
the elementary or middle school level. With this lack of wiki use in the middle grades,
the author felt strongly that computer skills and technology literacies should start earlier
in the educational years. She decided to create an outline of a handbook for middle
school language arts teachers, showcasing how to implement the use of wikis to publish
and discuss book reviews.
20
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
The rationale for creating this handbook was taken mainly from the findings in
the SCANS report (1991) and from those found by P21 (2009). The SCANS report
found that graduating students lacked in the areas of competencies and foundations
necessary for a successful career. Table 1 on page 8, outlines the five competencies and
three categories of foundation one must have in order to successfully make it in the
workplace.
P21 (2009) supports SCANS’ (1991) findings that students were not graduating
with the right skills with evidence that our educational system also has gaps in teaching
twenty-first century skills. They proposed “a learning framework that presents a holistic
view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century
student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and
literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional
abilities required of them in the 21st century.” Figure 1 on page 14, shows both “21st
century skills student outcomes (as represented by the arches of the rainbow) intertwined
with that of 21st century skills support systems (as represented by the pools at the
bottom)” (Partnership for 21st century skills, 2007).
This lack in teaching work-place-know-how, coupled with the lack of teaching
twenty-first century skills using technology, sets our students up for struggle or even
failure after graduating. Developing and honing these skills, as pointed out by the
SCANS (1991) report and P21 (2001), should be introduced early in a student’s
education, and not just in high school. The Pew Research Center (2010) published
Millenials: A Portrait of Generation Next – Confident. Connected. Open to Change.,
21
which described the Millenial generation as the always connected generation (p.1), and
found that younger Millenials, those presently in elementary school up through high
school, “are more likely than older Millenials to use the internet and social networking
sites” (p. 25), similar to that of wikis. The focus of this project, creating a handbook to
show teachers how to use wikis in the classroom, guides middle school teachers on how
to build a wiki for student publication, and class discussions, all the while building
“work-place-know-how” and twenty-first century skills and literacies.
Wiki Handbook
The handbook was designed to include sections that address issues brought up
when creating a lesson involving the use of wikis, therefore the handbook began with a
rationale statement and purpose behind its creation, and explained the need to infuse
technology into our curriculum. The handbook provides advice on how to get started by
having the reader familiarize themselves by actively looking at wiki websites. The author
was most familiar with PBworks (http://pbworks.com), so for the purpose of this
handbook, directions referred to this website.
After the introduction, the handbook provides a check off list of things teachers
should do before using a wiki in class. The handbook advises teachers to inquire about
their district’s policy on computer/technology use in the classroom due to the fact that
some districts have strict technology guidelines and may limit internet use in the
classroom or to students. The author suggests that teachers inform administration of
their plans to use wikis in their lessons and should seek approval before starting.
Other considerations the handbook point teachers to safety issues. Because
students will access and use an online-line internet program, teachers are asked to
22
consider safety practices for his/her students, which include keeping students safe on the
internet, expected proper behavior on the internet, and proper wiki etiquette. The
handbook heavily emphasizes notifying parents about the lessons. PBworks created a
wiki just for educators (http://educator.pbwiki.com) which provides information on safe
practices, as well as examples of actual wikis created by teachers and students.
The handbook explains and defines a wiki, the basic functions of using a wiki,
and what wikis can do. Though the handbook was specifically written to support the use
of PBworks, it does provide some names of other wiki sites and encourages the reader to
decide which one they felt most comfortable with and one that best suits their needs.
The handbook provides teachers with a rationale for using wikis with students:
wikis helps develop digital literacy, engage students in inquiry-based learning, support
students to work collaboratively, create their wiki project, as well as hones student
writing and communication skills. Wiki based project culminate with the publication of
the project on the internet. The ability to show off their project to family and friends is
another plus for using wikis.
Finally, the handbook provides examples of ways to incorporate wiki building
into teachers’ lessons, and practical advice on managing and grading wiki projects.
Besides publishing book reviews, the handbook provides lessons, examples and links to
sites of how other teachers have used wikis. The examples show that wikis are not
limited to being used as a canvas for student projects but that wikis can be used as a hub
for teacher information that parents and students can easily access.
23
Summary
Through construction of a handbook, the author sought to provide middle school
teachers one way to infuse technology into their regulated curriculum. Research revealed
little use of wikis in the middle school grades, yet incorporation of wikis strongly
supports the development of computer skills and technology literacies that should start
early in the educational years. By using wikis at the middle school level, teachers can
engage their students to actively learn, work collaboratively, develop their writing skills,
hone digital literacy, all the while building the work place know-how and necessary
twenty-first century technology skills they will need, preparing them for their future
careers.
24
Chapter IV
This project began with a focus on infusing technology into a middle school
English class. With technology and media’s popularity in 2010, it seemed logical for
teachers to motivate students by using what keeps them interested the most outside of
school - technology and the internet. After learning about the Web 2.0 technology of
wikis, websites that allow users the freedom to organize create and modify content that
can be published on the internet, this action research project was conceived.
A review of the literature showed that students were graduating high schools
lacking the necessary skills needed to make it in the work force. In 1991, the US
Department of Labor published, “What Work Requires of Schools; A SCANS Report for
America 2000”. The report outlined what the Department of Labor felt were the
necessary skills that students should acquire in order to succeed as adults. The report
pointed out that “effective job performance” required that a person has “workplace know-
how”. SCANS found that most students were not acquiring the necessary academic skills
or “foundation” competencies once they left high school.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009), or P21, conducted a poll among
800 registered voters from September 10th to the 12th, 2007 and found that most
Americans were concerned that our educational system was not preparing young people
with the necessary skills they would need to compete in the global economy. P21
believed that the teaching of the core subjects (or three R’s) must be infused with the four
C’s: Critical thinking and problem solving, Collaboration, Communication and Creativity
and innovation, in order to help prepare our students for the 21st century.
25
Teachers have the task of encompassing all of P21’s expectations and the skills
found in SCANS’ Work Place Know-How into their curriculum. Infusing technology in
our classrooms helps build these necessary skills. However, much of the research
showed successful use of Web 2.0 technology in high school and higher education
courses, but not much research was found using this technology in the elementary or
middle level schools. This action research project was created based on the findings of
these two articles.
Project Outcomes
The goal of this project was to create a handbook to show teachers how to use
wikis to publish book reviews. The handbook has four chapters:
I. Introduction
a. Purpose of this handbook
b. How to use this handbook
c. What is a wiki?
d. Getting Started
Familiarize Yourself
District Policy on Tech Use
Checking in with administration
Safety Policies
II. Wiki basics
a. Basic functions
What it can do
Different sites, different abilities
b. Why use it?
ISTE
Cooperative learning
Publishing
Discussions
26
Building Digital Literacy
III. English/Language Arts Wiki Projects for Your Class
IV. Resources
The purpose of this handbook was to give teachers another way to publish student
book projects or other assignments by posting them on a wiki. By effectively using wikis
in a lesson, students have the ability to actively learn; develop their writing skills, and
hone digital literacy, all the while working collaboratively.
Proposed Audience, Procedures, and Implementation Timeline:
This handbook was created specifically for teachers who have no experience
building or using a wiki. The procedures related to the project were developed as an
expansion of book project tested in a 6th grade classroom. The project began with the
researcher creating her own class wiki that showcased information about her class. This
allowed the researcher time to learn and familiarize herself with using a wiki. For the
purposes of this report, the researcher used PBworks to publish her wiki. The wiki had
multiple pages that her students could navigate through to gather class information, like
daily agendas, listings of assignments, and specific folders holding work for a particular
unit covered in class. Students also had opportunities to download assignments. By
doing this, the researcher was able to showcase what a wiki can do, without assigning it
as a formal assignment.
Three months later, students were assigned a book project where they were to
read a classic novel and post their review of the book on a wiki. Parents were asked to
sign a form, acknowledging they were aware of this assignment, and that their child will
be using the internet to post this review. A list of classic novels was uploaded onto the
27
researcher’s wiki. Students were given four weeks to finish the novel and to write a pithy
review of the book. Websites that post book reviews were also posted on the teacher
wiki to give examples of what a pithy review would look like. Explicit directions were
given that they may not include the ending, unless they prefaced it with a “Spoiler Alert”.
Student had to rate the book between one and four stars (four stars being the best), and
finally comment on four other student book reviews. A printed copy of this review had
to be turned in before any work on the wiki could take place.
The researcher was able to create a class wiki with accounts for each of her
students using logins and passwords created by the wiki website, PBworks. Students
were given a week (one period a day) to publish their book review on the wiki, and
embed pictures and links to websites related to their book or author. Work had to be
completed within this time frame. Students were given an extra week to read and
comment or critique on four other book reviews published on their class wiki. Most of
these critiques were done on their own time, at home. Anonymity was important, and
only first names were used when publishing or commenting on reviews.
Evaluation of the Project:
The author was successful in implementing the actual lesson of publishing book
reviews on wikis with her class and was very happy with the learning she observed with
her students. Students were engaged with the assignment and were excited to showcase
their work with their peers. Students had a limited amount of basic instruction on how to
publish to the wiki. They previewed the editing page, which looked similar to that of a
word processing page and were given instruction on how to embed links and pictures.
For the most part, students figured out how to do things on their own. When stuck, they
28
reached out to each other. Evidence that they enjoyed this assignment and practiced the
“Work Place Know-How” skills that SCANS (1991) states graduating student lack (see
table below), were found in their comments to each other, under their book reviews:
Julia- to get the stars, you google search stars or picture of stars. Then highlight it and right click on it. go to save picture as... and save it as what you want to call it under my pictures. Now on the wiki, when you go to your page and edit, on the right side it says up[l]oad pictures. Click on it, click on your star pic and then open. Click and drag and you will have your stars!!! – Julie
Maybe you should make it two paragraphs? Or a smaller font? Other than that it looks fabulous! :) -Julia
You guys did a fantastic job with your wiki page. I can tell you both worked together well and shared the work evenly, as it seems. Your critiques caught my eye because I enjoyed the way you described the part in the story that you liked and why or why not you enjoyed the book. Your bigraphy is relatable because most people have at least read 1 of his stories or books, or have been read to, or maybe even saw a play or movie based on it. You probably should add actuall stars in your critique though, that way it's a little more lively and exciting. You could also add a little color. But, those are just adjustments that might make your marvelous report a little better! I am now interested in reading this original version to see what it's like!!!!!
Very well summarized but i side with michael use of more pronouns would've been good. great biography and good picture of the cover. is there a movie about this book. if so i would like to see it.
So when are we going to do another project like this?
The use of wikis to publish book reviews was much more successful than this
researcher predicted. The project generated inquiry-based learning among her students,
and created opportunities for collaborative learning. Most of all, students practiced
twenty-first century skills and literacies they need for their future.
Table 3
29
Workplace Know-How as Identified by the SCANS Report as Evidenced in this Project.COMPETENCIES - effective workers can productively use:Resources Allocating time, money, materials, space,
and staff;Interpersonal Skills Working on teams, teaching others, serving
customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds
Information Acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information
Systems Understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving system
Technology Selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies
THE FOUNDATION - competence requires:Basic Skills Reading, writing, arithmetic and
mathematics, speaking and listeningThinking Skills Thinking creatively, making decisions,
solving problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye, knowing how to learn and reasoning
Personal Qualities Individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity
Note: Strike-through items were not evident with this particular lesson.
Conclusion
By infusing wiki technology into lesson plans, students were highly motivated
about writing book reviews. Students worked collaboratively, engaged in inquiry-based
learning, and practiced the skills and literacies necessary for their future careers.
Students were enthusiastic about being in class, and looked forward to showing their
project off to family, friends, and teachers who happened to come by the computer lab
30
when they were there working. An unexpected result was that students built their own
online community on the wiki and supported each other to improve the look of each
others’ wikis and solve problems.
When the assignment was completed, students were eager to be assigned another
project that entailed using Web 2.0 technology. That was all this researcher (and teacher)
could ever hope for in her students, that they learned the 21st century workforce skills
that they need for their future. Students were left wanting to learn more!
31
References
Atkinson, R. D., & Gottlieb, P. D. (2001, April). The metropolitan new economy
index: Benchmarking economic transformation in the nation’s metropolitan
areas. Retrieved from Progressive Policy Institute, Case Western
Reserve University website: http://www.research.fsu.edu/techtransfer/
documents/mnei.pdf
Armstrong, S., & Warlick, D. (2004, September 15). The new literacy. Tech Learning.
Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/ story/ showArticle.jhtml?
articleID=47102021
Biglan, B. & Lombard, R. (2009). Wiki: An Answer for Facilitating Small Group
Collaboration. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information
Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 2442-
2446). Chesapeake, VA: AACE, Retrieved March 2010.
Brown, J., Bryan, J., & Brown, T. (2005). Twenty-first century literacy and technology in
k-8 classrooms. Innovate; Journal of Online Education, 1(3), article 2. Retrieved
from http://www.innovateonline.info/
Borja, R. R. (2006). Educators experiment with student-written 'wikis';
Malleable, open-minded web sites as aids to collaborative learning.
Education Week, 25(30), 10.
Engstrom, Mary E. & Jewett, Dusty (2005) Collaborative learning the wiki way. Springer
Boston, Tech Trends,1559-7075, 49(6), November 2005, Retrieved March 2010
from ERIC Database
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Part 1. In Millenials Rising (p. 4). New York: Vintage
Books.
Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the
classroom. [Electronic version]. Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education Journal, 13(2), 91-98, Retrieved March 2010 from EditLib
32
Jamaludin, R., Annamalai, S. & Abdulwahed, M. (2009). Web 1.0, Web 2.0: Implications
to move from education 1.0 to education 2.0 to enhance collaborative intelligence
towards the future of web 3.0. In T. Bastiaens et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of World
Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher
Education 2009 (pp. 2710-2718). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://0-www.editlib.org.library.touro.edu/p/32869.
Lee, M.J. & McLoughlin, C. (2008). Harnessing the affordances of web 2.0 and social
software tools: Can we finally make "student-centered" learning a reality?. In
Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and
Telecommunications 2008 (pp. 3825-3834). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://0-www.editlib.org.library.touro.edu/p/28915.
Literacy. (n.d.). Wikipedia [Definition of Literacy]. Retrieved June/July 6,
2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy
McKay, S. & Headley, S. (2007). Best practices for the use of wikis in teacher education
programs. In R. Carlsen et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information
Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2007 (pp. 2409-
2412). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://0-www.editlib.org.library.touro.edu/p/24954.
Morgan, B., & Smith, R. D. (2008, September). A wiki for the classroom. The
Reading Teacher, 62(1), 80-83.
Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2008). Introduction. In Born digital: Understanding the first
generation of digital natives (p. 8). New York: Basic Books.
Partnership for 21st century skills. (2007). Beyond the three r’s: Voter attitudes toward
21st century skills. In Partnership for 21st century skills. Retrieved June 11, 2010,
from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org
Posnick-Goodwin, Sherry (2010, February). Meet generation Z. California Educator,
14(5), 8-18
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. Retrieved March
12, 2010, from http://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital
%20Natives, %20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.
33
Prensky, M. (2009, February-March). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they
really think differently? Innovate: Journal of Online Educations, 5(3), Retrieved
from ERIC Database.
Prensky, M. (2008b, November-December). The role of technology in teaching and the
classroom. Educational Technology. Retrieved April 2010, from
http://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-The_Role_of_Technology-ET-11-12-
08.pdf.
Rideout, V. J., M.A., Foehr, U. G., Ph.D., & Roberts, D. F., Ph.D. (2010,
January). Generation m2: Media in the lives of 8 - to 18- year-olds.
Retrieved from A Kaiser Family Foundation Study website:
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf
Sheehy, C. (2009). Wikis in the high school classroom: A "cool," living book report. In I.
Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology &
Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 2678-2680). Chesapeake,
VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/31041.
Sheehy, C., Clemmons, K. & Sedivy, A. (2010). btw, this is a kewl way to learn:
Engaging diverse students in collaborative conversation through wiki technology.
In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology
& Teacher Education International Conference 2010 (pp. 2875-2881).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE, Retrieved April 2010 from EdItLibrary online.
Taylor, P., & Keeter, S. (Eds.). (2010, February). Millenials: Confident.
connected. open to change. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website:
http://www.pewresearch.org/millenials
The Secretary’s Commission of Achieving Necessary Skills; US Department of Labor.
(1991, June). What work requires of schools; A scans report for america 2000.
Spivy, M., Young, D. & Cottle, A. (2008). Bridging the digital divide: Successes and
challenges in the implementation of 21st century skills. In K. McFerrin et al.
(Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education
International Conference 2008 (pp. 1534-1539). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://0-www.editlib.org.library.touro.edu/p/27411.
34
Appendix: Using Wikis for Publishing Book Reviews
35