Posted by David Wetzel
Wikis are the most popular Web 2.0 tool being used in science and math classrooms. Based on a survey of readers – 45 percent use them to support their teaching and student learning.
A Wiki is appealing, encourages participation, supports collaboration, and promotes interaction by students who love to use technology.
By the way – this includes most students today!
The following are a collection of ideas and strategies for using Wikis in your classroom!
Both Science and Math Classrooms
Specific pages within a Wiki may include:
Study Guides – these are created by you or assigned to groups of students. Examples include study guides for chapters, units, or semester exams.
Podcasts – like everything dealing with education technology in the classroom there are always tips and tricks to ensure success – this includes Podcasting!
WebQuests – an inquiry-oriented online lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web.
Projects – both a collection of resources for students and an online tool for facilitating completion of project based learning activities. This includes teacher created and online project resources such as the National Math Trail and Global Water Sampling Project.
Tips for Students – this includes are variety of ways for helping students, such as tips for:
- creating and uploading a podcast.
- using and uploading Google Docs.
- using WallWisher.
- uploading images.
- creating links to pages within the Wiki or external resources on the web.
- frequently asked questions regarding classroom and homework procedures.
Careers – a selection of teacher or student interviews of people currently employed in careers related to science or math. This may include written statements from professionals who are given the same set of questions to answer, along with online links to career resources.
Math Classrooms
Specific pages within a Math Wiki may include:
Calculus – a collection of problem solving exercises for students to collaboration in solving.
Algebra – a collection of problems for students practice such as inequalities, linear equations, quadratic formula, or graphing.
Graphing Calculator – tips and tricks for using graphing calculators. Also may include a links to an online graphing calculator.
Real World Math – a page for students to write about and/or provide examples of places where they actually used math outside the classroom.
Class Notes – a collection of step-by-step procedures used in class to solve math problems such as multiplying fractions, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, or calculus.
Science Classrooms
Specific pages within a Science Wiki may include:
Glossary – a collection of scientific terms with illustrations and definitions added by students using Flickr and other non-copyright resources. This may also include online links to detailed information.
Taxonomy – classification of a variety of organisms by kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
Experimental Design – procedures and steps for following the experimental design process such as defining independent variable, dependent variable, control variables, or developing experimental questions.
Discrepant Events – sample videos or procedures for students to follow when completing discrepant events, which allow students to witness scientific events with unexpected outcomes.
Field Observations – sample procedures for collecting water data at local streams, weather observation data, wildlife observation data, or collecting plant data.
Concept Descriptions – a written or pictorial description of scientific processes such as earthquakes, water cycle, friction, pollination, ozone depletion, light, rock cycle, physical and chemical properties, force, and photosynthesis.
Chemistry Equations – procedures and practice for learning how to balance chemical equations. This may also provide links to web resources for student help.
Physics – a list of formulas and equations, along with step by step-by-step procedures for solving. This may also provide links to web resources for student help.
The time is right as you close out this school year and have the summer to build a dynamic Wiki in preparation for next year or make changes to your current class Wiki to include these and other ideas. Your students will benefit from the integration of this Web 2.0 tool in your classroom, as they develop a greater understanding of math or science.
Additional Resources
Using Wikis in Math Class
Using Wikis in Science Class
Posted by David Wetzel
Wiki pages are always a work in progress. The wiki is like a dynamic online science classroom which continually grows and changes.
Applications for the use of Wikis in science classrooms is only limited by the creativeness of the teacher in support science teaching and student earning.
Teaching Strategies with Wikis
The following are examples of how teachers can use wikis in science classes:
- Simulations and Animations - these can be used by students during investigations or review. One example: pH Scale
- Interactive White Board - screen shots from class discussions on topic for students to review later.
- Podcasts - both audio and video podcasts for students to use for review or use during investigations. One example: Physical Science
- Wordles - post a teacher or student created Wordle of a specific chapter, unit, or investigation. One example: Nature of Science
- Resources - providing links to Delicious or Digg resources for students to read or use in science projects.
- Images - a set of Flickr images for use when teaching specific concepts, a picture is always worth a thousand words. One example: Marine Biology
- Projects - a copy of current science projects for students (and parents) to read and review, along with the project rubric. One example: Investigating Earthquakes
- Class Notes - post an overview of daily lessons for students who missed class and review. One example: Density Power Point (works well with Google Docs and VoiceThread)
- Lab Report - a copy of your standard lab investigation report.
- Science Fair - guidelines are provided for the school’s science fair. One example: Science Fair
- Science Safety Rules - include a copy of student safety contract, lab safety rules, and internet use contract (if required by school).
Learning Strategies with Wikis
Wikis promote learning network by creating a community of experts. The following are examples of students can use wikis in science class:
- Glossary of Scientific Terms - Example: students develop an interactive glossary for defining physical science terms throughout the entire school year.
- Taxonomy – a student developed identification, naming, and classification of living things during their life science or biology course. Example: students develop the taxonomy of specific plants using definitions and images.
- Investigations – student groups report on experimental designs and submit investigation reports to their teacher. Example: students collaborate in the investigation of the mystery, why honey bees are are disappearing.
- Visual Arts – students groups can collaborate in research to find web-based resources which describe scientific processes using works of art. Example: students upload images or animals, plants, or nature of science.
- Science Newsletter - students can create a class science newsletter for sharing with other science classes and parents.
Advantages of a Wiki
These are some of the advantages of a wiki:
- Wikis allow for open editing, whereas web pages are limited editing (specific program on specific computer).
- Multiple users can edit a wiki.
- Privacy levels allow control of users.
- Notifications and display of all changes allow monitoring of all edits.
- Uses simple text language instead of html as in web pages.
Many science teachers who used web pages to support their classes have switched to wikis, because of all these advantages.
Posted by David Wetzel
Using Technology in the Classroom
As many of you may have discovered, I also found that many of my previous colleagues have little use for technology for teaching.
They are mired in excuses such as using technology is cheating, students learn best through lecture, the stresses of NCLB makes it too difficult to do anything but have students memorize facts to pass the tests, etc.
So what are the advantages of technology?
Technology has tremendous power to help students obtain, organize, manipulate, and display information. Students can use technology tools (such as word processing, database, design, and graphing software) in the same ways as do professional scientists and mathematicians.
Using technology for meaningful activities also helps integrate a variety of disciplines, more closely resembling activities that people undertake in the world beyond the classroom. For example, word processing is a real-world technology that can help students develop better writing and thinking skills.
Using the computer, students write longer, more complex sentences and are more willing to revise and edit their work; they are able to concentrate on the thoughts they want to express rather than the mechanical skills of penmanship, spelling, and grammar.
Using technology in science and math class promotes learning activities in which students work in small groups rather than in isolation or as a whole class demonstrations. The technologies used in the classroom are not those designed explicitly to teach basic skills, but rather are real-world applications that support research, design, analysis, composition, and communication.
For example using Google Docs to collaborate on science laboratory reports, data analysis, and presentation of findings.
Another example is using classroom Wikis in Science and Math for collaborating on projects and sharing their findings.
A third example is use Twitter or Skype to communicate with students in other locations to collaborate on projects and assignments.
An Example of Teacher Resistance
Three years ago I was hired by a school district to teach middle school science teachers how to integrate Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL) Probeware in their curriculum.
After four weeks of providing staff development and in-class support regarding how to use these data loggers, with the eight science teachers in the school. The science teachers began to come up with strategies and techniques on their own for integrating CBL Probeware data loggers in their lessons.
At the same time all the teachers confided in me that they had all agreed in advance that using this technology was a waste of time and that they would resist every step of the way.
I was taking back by this statement, I thought that the integration difficulties in their lessons were due to not understanding the technology.
Their minds were changed as they discovered their students were more interested in science experiments, grasped the technology quickly, better understood concepts, and were able to make connections with other concepts. The teachers also found out that they were not behind in their curriculum and students scored better, on average, on chapter tests.
Fast forward to today, CBL Probeware has expanded to all areas of the science curriculum and has also moved into the math curriculum in selected areas as real-time data loggers.
So What Does This All Mean?
Students today are more technologically literate than many of their teachers. Today’s students have grown up in the digital age; they use Facebook, they Tweet, and they use the Internet for almost everything.
Instead of resisting technology, the goal should be to harness the technological energy in students and become a guide for the best ways to use technology to learn.
Any suggestions?
David R. Wetzel, Ph.D.
