Eighth-graders' comments in a classroom discussion about the future of books is captured on their wiki page at Catonsville Middle School. John Parrish watches in the background. (Baltimore Sun photo by Lloyd Fox / September 18, 2009) |
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The eighth-graders in Tina Kidd's English class at Catonsville Middle School were discussing the role of the traditional paper book - and its future in the age of Kindle.
But instead of the usual raised hands, their conversation was taking place online, amid keyboard strokes and mouse clicks in a school computer lab.
"I think that books will become obsolete within a few years," Natalie Bockmiller wrote.
"I think the Kindle is better than a regular book because of the trees," her classmate Robert Sanders said, adding, "The books kill trees."
But fellow eighth-grader Emily Meyer still saw a place for the printed word: "I think the elderly will end up using the Kindle more than anyone," she wrote. "It's easy to use, and you can enlarge the print. The younger generations will end up still using printed books."
Emily and her peers were expressing their opinions on a wiki, an online space where people can edit and contribute to content. Catonsville is one of several schools throughout Baltimore County, and the region, where teachers and staff have begun experimenting with the Web tool, using it for class exercises, homework and projects - as well as professional collaboration.
"We're trying to keep up technologically with these kids who have had technology since they were born," said Alyssa Smith, a library-media specialist at Catonsville, who started a wiki over the summer for staff in a book study group. "This is where it's going. This is where we need to be."
Several school systems have recently developed policies and guidelines for using such technology, recognizing a growing need and interest. They aim to ensure Internet safety and to supply more of a framework for teachers.
A wiki - Hawaiian for quick - is "basically a group writing space," said David Peloff, program director for emerging technologies at the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education.
Peloff said he's seen wikis used at professional conferences, where people can chime in with thoughts during a presentation, creating a kind of "ongoing record."
"I could see the same thing happening in a K-12 classroom," he said. "I could see where they would have a lot of direct application if teachers use them in the right way."
At Catonsville, Smith, Kidd and reading teacher Michele Krupka said they've already witnessed the excitement during wiki lessons as students type responses to questions. The school wikis are only accessible to people with passwords.
"They love using technology," said Krupka, who helped craft the Kindle lesson and next plans to use a wiki in a gifted-and-talented reading class. "Not just using the technology, but using the technology to talk about technology."
And being able to see each other's comments seems to encourage some students to write more themselves, Kidd said.
Joseph Anderson's wiki for advanced placement U.S. history has become an extension of his classroom, a place where he can point his students to additional resources tied to what they are learning - such as a podcast lecture on the Salem witch trials, he said.
The Carver Center teacher gives "wiki work" for outside of class, asking students to read and comment on a posted article, as well as each other's observations, he said.
"I actually hear a kid say, 'I'm on the wiki more than I'm on Facebook,' " Anderson said. "The enthusiasm is much bigger than I've ever seen it before."
In Carroll County, social studies students at Northwest Middle participated in a wiki pilot last school year, said Paula Sandridge, a technology integration specialist. The project involved interviewing former students of the county's black high school. The district's Web site links to the project, which is open for anyone to view but is password-protected for contributors.
The kids "are putting their content up … for the world to look at, so it raises the bar for them," Sandridge said, adding that the wiki has garnered hits from India and Australia - and an e-mail from South Africa. "They take it seriously and do the best job they can."
Robert, one of the Catonsville students, summed up at least part of the wiki appeal: "It's basically a MySpace for us," the 13-year-old said, smiling. And, he added, having it in school "doesn't make it uncool."
The wikis inspire teacher engagement, too, said Cecily Anderson, a teacher mentor at the school. The summer study wiki has given rise to "wiki fever" and become a collaborative space with links to professional development tools, Anderson and Smith said.
Anderson also sees great potential for "vertical teaming," particularly if teachers open their class wikis to colleagues in similar content areas, allowing them to glimpse what is expected of students in other grade levels, she said. This could help instructors better prepare students for success as they move through the system, she said.
Her counterparts at Lutherville Laboratory say they similarly are considering the "endless" possibilities for students and staff to work together. This year, the elementary magnet is exploring wikis and blogs, among other things, to further enhance its communication component, said Deidre Austen and Shelia Voelker, a resource teacher and a technology liaison. Lutherville's Rebecca Moran is one of about 20 county media specialists piloting a new curriculum for grades one to five, which includes blogs and wikis as part of technology literacy, she and school officials said.
Other school systems have started using the technology as well.
In Anne Arundel County, an online course that began last month is required for staff members who want to create a wiki, said Val Emrich, the instructional technology manager. It includes an Internet safety component, along with how-to lessons on setting up the sites and using them for instruction, she said, as does another for blogging. For students, a mandatory digital citizenship curriculum was launched in social studies and health classes this year, Emrich said.
Arundel requires a parental permission slip for kids to participate on the wikis, which are only accessible to designated staff and students, she said.
Carroll schools have guidelines that were designed starting last year for wikis and blogs, Sandridge said. Instructors are expected to identify how the Web sites will support learning goals and objectives and detail how they will protect student privacy, she said. "It's something that we're seeing a lot more of this year."
Even as educators work to meet their students on the same technological plane, they are transferring teaching staples into the digital age.
On the first day of school at Lutherville, Moran taught fifth-graders about Web etiquette, extending a "genuine conversations" lesson, which focuses on active but polite participation, to the online realm.
Smith immediately addressed the issue of proper discourse during the Catonsville wiki lesson, as she spotted the occasional message solely consisting of a smiley face or other emoticon.
"What you post needs to be appropriate for school," she said, pulling up a document describing how student responses would be evaluated. "You're not text-messaging me, so I don't want 'u' instead of 'y-o-u.' "
"Aw, that's the best part about the future," Natalie, 13, said. But the teen followed Smith's recommendation and opened Microsoft Word to type her response before pasting it into the wiki.
"It's really fun to be able to see what your other classmates are saying," she said. "It's just a new generation of learning. That's what I like most about it. ... It's just different from what our parents did."
But instead of the usual raised hands, their conversation was taking place online, amid keyboard strokes and mouse clicks in a school computer lab.
"I think that books will become obsolete within a few years," Natalie Bockmiller wrote.
"I think the Kindle is better than a regular book because of the trees," her classmate Robert Sanders said, adding, "The books kill trees."
But fellow eighth-grader Emily Meyer still saw a place for the printed word: "I think the elderly will end up using the Kindle more than anyone," she wrote. "It's easy to use, and you can enlarge the print. The younger generations will end up still using printed books."
Emily and her peers were expressing their opinions on a wiki, an online space where people can edit and contribute to content. Catonsville is one of several schools throughout Baltimore County, and the region, where teachers and staff have begun experimenting with the Web tool, using it for class exercises, homework and projects - as well as professional collaboration.
"We're trying to keep up technologically with these kids who have had technology since they were born," said Alyssa Smith, a library-media specialist at Catonsville, who started a wiki over the summer for staff in a book study group. "This is where it's going. This is where we need to be."
Several school systems have recently developed policies and guidelines for using such technology, recognizing a growing need and interest. They aim to ensure Internet safety and to supply more of a framework for teachers.
A wiki - Hawaiian for quick - is "basically a group writing space," said David Peloff, program director for emerging technologies at the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education.
Peloff said he's seen wikis used at professional conferences, where people can chime in with thoughts during a presentation, creating a kind of "ongoing record."
"I could see the same thing happening in a K-12 classroom," he said. "I could see where they would have a lot of direct application if teachers use them in the right way."
At Catonsville, Smith, Kidd and reading teacher Michele Krupka said they've already witnessed the excitement during wiki lessons as students type responses to questions. The school wikis are only accessible to people with passwords.
"They love using technology," said Krupka, who helped craft the Kindle lesson and next plans to use a wiki in a gifted-and-talented reading class. "Not just using the technology, but using the technology to talk about technology."
And being able to see each other's comments seems to encourage some students to write more themselves, Kidd said.
Joseph Anderson's wiki for advanced placement U.S. history has become an extension of his classroom, a place where he can point his students to additional resources tied to what they are learning - such as a podcast lecture on the Salem witch trials, he said.
The Carver Center teacher gives "wiki work" for outside of class, asking students to read and comment on a posted article, as well as each other's observations, he said.
"I actually hear a kid say, 'I'm on the wiki more than I'm on Facebook,' " Anderson said. "The enthusiasm is much bigger than I've ever seen it before."
In Carroll County, social studies students at Northwest Middle participated in a wiki pilot last school year, said Paula Sandridge, a technology integration specialist. The project involved interviewing former students of the county's black high school. The district's Web site links to the project, which is open for anyone to view but is password-protected for contributors.
The kids "are putting their content up … for the world to look at, so it raises the bar for them," Sandridge said, adding that the wiki has garnered hits from India and Australia - and an e-mail from South Africa. "They take it seriously and do the best job they can."
Robert, one of the Catonsville students, summed up at least part of the wiki appeal: "It's basically a MySpace for us," the 13-year-old said, smiling. And, he added, having it in school "doesn't make it uncool."
The wikis inspire teacher engagement, too, said Cecily Anderson, a teacher mentor at the school. The summer study wiki has given rise to "wiki fever" and become a collaborative space with links to professional development tools, Anderson and Smith said.
Anderson also sees great potential for "vertical teaming," particularly if teachers open their class wikis to colleagues in similar content areas, allowing them to glimpse what is expected of students in other grade levels, she said. This could help instructors better prepare students for success as they move through the system, she said.
Her counterparts at Lutherville Laboratory say they similarly are considering the "endless" possibilities for students and staff to work together. This year, the elementary magnet is exploring wikis and blogs, among other things, to further enhance its communication component, said Deidre Austen and Shelia Voelker, a resource teacher and a technology liaison. Lutherville's Rebecca Moran is one of about 20 county media specialists piloting a new curriculum for grades one to five, which includes blogs and wikis as part of technology literacy, she and school officials said.
Other school systems have started using the technology as well.
In Anne Arundel County, an online course that began last month is required for staff members who want to create a wiki, said Val Emrich, the instructional technology manager. It includes an Internet safety component, along with how-to lessons on setting up the sites and using them for instruction, she said, as does another for blogging. For students, a mandatory digital citizenship curriculum was launched in social studies and health classes this year, Emrich said.
Arundel requires a parental permission slip for kids to participate on the wikis, which are only accessible to designated staff and students, she said.
Carroll schools have guidelines that were designed starting last year for wikis and blogs, Sandridge said. Instructors are expected to identify how the Web sites will support learning goals and objectives and detail how they will protect student privacy, she said. "It's something that we're seeing a lot more of this year."
Even as educators work to meet their students on the same technological plane, they are transferring teaching staples into the digital age.
On the first day of school at Lutherville, Moran taught fifth-graders about Web etiquette, extending a "genuine conversations" lesson, which focuses on active but polite participation, to the online realm.
Smith immediately addressed the issue of proper discourse during the Catonsville wiki lesson, as she spotted the occasional message solely consisting of a smiley face or other emoticon.
"What you post needs to be appropriate for school," she said, pulling up a document describing how student responses would be evaluated. "You're not text-messaging me, so I don't want 'u' instead of 'y-o-u.' "
"Aw, that's the best part about the future," Natalie, 13, said. But the teen followed Smith's recommendation and opened Microsoft Word to type her response before pasting it into the wiki.
"It's really fun to be able to see what your other classmates are saying," she said. "It's just a new generation of learning. That's what I like most about it. ... It's just different from what our parents did."
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Baltimoresun.com's 
As a student who uses a WIKI site for two different classes, I find them incredibly helpful. I love that teacher are using more technology in and out of class. A WIKI site is an extension of the classroom, they allow what we learn and talk about in class to be brought home with us. Some teachers even post examples of what we're learning in class on their WIKIs. As a student I find this helpful because it allows me to go home and get a more in depth explanation of what we learned in class.
Smith6789 (10/20/2009, 9:21 PM )