Download Annotated Bibliography American Association of School Libraries

1
Annotated Bibliography
American Association of School Libraries: Best Websites for Teaching and Learning
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm
This website was very helpful because it provided ideas regarding a framework for my first
attempt at creating my ICT wikispaces. The categories they used were: Media Sharing; Digital
Storytelling; Manage & Organize; Social Networking & Collaboration; and Content Resources. I
abandoned my first wikispaces and created a new one after realizing that these categories were
too broad. However, I still would like to revise my wikispaces to include broad topics similar to
these.
Avon District School Board: Getting Teachers Connected.
https://gettingteachersconnected.pbworks.com/w/page/14603030/FrontPage
This wiki was very helpful because it had lots of great examples of Web 2.0 tools that I included
on my wikispaces. It also had a great video about wikis. This is a site that I will continue to visit
as I continue to improve my wikispaces.
Best Educational Wikispaces of 2010. Wikispaces Blog
http://blog.wikispaces.com/2011/01/best-educational-wikis-of-2010.html
This Wikispaces Blog showcases award-winning educational wikis on Wikispaces. Each of the
winners is an example of how wikis can be used by teachers. They can serve as "exemplars" for
me as I create and improve my own wikispaces.
Botterbusch, H., & Parker, P. (2008). Copyright and Collaborative Spaces: Open Licensing and
Wikis. TechTrends, 52(1), 7-10. PROQUEST. www.proquest.com.
This article is useful for my inquiry because it provides a general overview of collaborative
spaces. The authors note that as recently as ten years ago, it would have been considered
“science fiction to imagine collaborative spaces” on the Internet. The article notes that “today,
collaborative websites have proliferated: blogs (Blogger), social networking (Facebook or
MySpace), image sharing (Flickr and PhotoBucket), video sharing (YouTube and TeacherTube),
open educational resources (OpenCourseWare), and popularity websites (Digg and del.icio.us).”
Another type is called a wiki, a short form of the Hawaiian word "wild wiki," for "fast" or
"quick." It is online computer programming that allows users to easily create, edit, link, and track
changes to web pages. Wikis are increasingly used by… “educators to promote student
collaborative learning (Richardson, 2006), through such sites as Wikispaces
(http://www.wikispaces.com), Peanut Butter Matrix (http://pbwiki.com), and SeedWiki
(http://www.seedwiki.com). At last count, Wikimatrix (http://www.wikimatrix.org) listed ninetyseven wikis for comparison.” This article has improved my understanding of the different
categories associated with collaborative spaces and will be useful in deciding how I structure the
wikispaces.
2
This article explains the controversy surrounding the copyright issues involving the online
environment. I will use information from this article to pose an answer to the following question:
In online collaborative spaces who owns the copyright and who is liable for the content? The
authors note that Black, Delaney and Fitzgerald (2007) “believe that in collaborative spaces such
as a wikis, it can be difficult to determine authorship because content can be contributed by
many authors. Therefore, frequently, it must be joint authorship related to wikis. Fortunately, to
aid in identifying ownership, most wikis provide a method of tracing individual contributions
and open licensing (permission granted in advance by a content producer, allowing certain uses
of the content).” Botterbusch and Parker also note that Brian Lamb (2004) posits that copyright
ownership in collaborative spaces is complex, since contributors may be anonymous or text
origins uncertain. Lamb says the open-editing function of a wiki implies that a work may
perpetually be in process, inviting participation from anyone.”
Charman and Holloway (2006) believe that, “in theory, comprehensive edit history tracing of a
wiki would allow users to assert copyright over their contributions, but that, in practice, it is not
possible to delineate clearly among people's contributions to a wiki and, even if it was possible,
it would create a thicket of rights which could never be untangled.” They further state that while
“most wiki users do not wish to assert copyright and are not interested in financial compensation,
reuse of information in wikis may be a copyright licensing issue.”
This article also explains the difference between open or general public licenses that govern
online collaborative spaces like wikis. The main ones include three categories: CopyLeft,
Creative Commons, and Public Domain. The author also provides information on how to choose
the right license. They note that according to MeatballWiki (Wiki Copyright, n.d.), “the open
copyright license for a wiki depends on what you care about most - improving content or
protecting the rights of the community. If you want the content to be freely distributed, copied,
and altered, the CopyLeft or Creative Commons' Share Alike licenses would be good choices. If
you care about the community of people who contribute to your wiki, then the Creative
Commons' Non-Commercial license (Creative Commons, n.d.b) is a good option.” This article
helps me know how I should address copyright issues regarding with students. The authors note
that “while wikis pose a host of licensing and copyright issues, experts in the use of wikis believe
that by using the variety of available open licenses within the current understanding of copyright
laws, authors can protect their rights while at the same time content can be shared, modified,
adapted, or otherwise used freely in web-based, open source, collaborative space - such as the
wiki.”
Bergmann Science
http://bergmannscience.wikispaces.com/
This is a great sample of a teacher-created wikispaces. It provides lots of ideas on how I can
improve my wikispaces. It also shows how the teacher uses the Discussion link.
Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies
http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/2011.html
This was an extremely helpful site for my inquiry because it listed the top 100 tools. I researched
and included about 90% of them in my wikispaces. One of the links was also very helpful in
terms of creating categories for the tools.
3
Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies
http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/articles/schoolnet-pick.html
This site was very useful for my inquiry because it lists the top 10 digital tools. I researched them
and included them in my wikispaces. I will continue to explore this site to improve my
knowledge and skills.
Digital Literacy
http://www.ictliteracy.info/
This Digital Literacy Portal represents an “international movement focused on
promoting Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Literacy and Digital Literacy.”
This website is helpful to my inquiry because it provides lots of resources and information. This
is a site that will be useful as I develop my own ITC skills.
Eduglogster
http://jeffcotechsharefair.wikispaces.com/Eduglogster
This is an example of an eduglogster which I discovered after I created my wikispaces. I’ll
definitely refer to is as I experiment with creating one of my own.
Ferriter, Bill. (2009). “Learning with Blogs and Wikis.” Educational Leadership. v. 66 n.5
p34- 38.
Ferriter notes that in many schools it is not uncommon for more than one teacher to be teaching
the same subject or unit of study. However, collaboration often does not occur due to time
restrictions. He notes that a wiki that becomes a “portal” for lessons can solve that issue. He
notes that all “lessons can be posted right on the wiki and, using the discussion tab, teachers can
connect and collaborate.” This is relevant to my inquiry because it reminds me of the Family
Studies Wikispaces I created in which teachers in the AQ course created different lesson plans
and units and were encouraged to share them with one another. Instead of saving them on a USB
stick or word document, I saved them on the Family Studies wikispaces I created. I followed the
same procedure with the Cooperative Education AQ I took. By inviting other teachers in these
two AQ courses to join the wikispace, I created what Ferriter calls a “warehouse of materials
among teachers working in the same content area.” Ferriter provides the following site as an
example of this: (http://cesa5mathscience.wikispaces.com). Ferriter notes that some groups of
teachers, such as the team that created Digitally Speaking (http://digitallyspeaking.pbwiki.com),
use wikis to “reflect on the characteristics of effective instruction”
(http://cesa5mathscience.wikispaces.com). Other teacher teams work collaboratively to create
entire classroom textbooks (http://anatowiki.wetpaint.com/?t=anon).
Ferriter has improved my understanding of blogs which is important to my inquiry. I will have a
blog “page” that will explain how to establish and maintain a blog. He states that feed readers,
“also known as aggregators,” are useful because they can “automatically check nearly any Web
site for new content dozens of times each day, limiting the amount of time spent browsing and
4
customizing learning experiences.” He advises inexperienced teachers to use a “feed reader as a
learning tool” for a few weeks and encourage colleagues to join them. He suggests that as their
skills and confidence improve, they should start their own blog using such services as Typepad
and Edublogs. Ferriter notes that teachers who want to transition to writing blogs “can start by
writing wikis using such services as Wikispaces and Wet Paint.” This is interesting in that I
created a personal Edublog but abandoned it in favour of a wikispace because I found it easier to
create and navigate. However, I do intend to continue with my Edublog in the future. In the
meantime I will encourage my students to use blogs.
Ferriter has convinced me to add feed readers to my wikispaces. He notes that RSS (Really
Simple Syndication) feed readers “are probably the most important digital tool for today's learner
because they make it easy to sift through the amazing amount of content that is being continually
added to the Internet.” Also known as aggregators, feed readers are free tools that can
automatically check nearly any Web site for new content dozens of times each day, limiting the
amount of time spent browsing and customizing learning experiences. Ferriter states that “with a
feed reader, learning from edubloggers goes from a frustrating search through thousands of links
to quickly browsing the thoughts and ideas of trusted writers.” He notes that although there are
dozens of different feed reading services to choose from, Pageflakes (www.pageflakes.com) is
his favorite “primarily because it has a visual layout” that he finds easy to read. Pageflakes has
also developed a teacher version of its tool (http://teacher.pageflakes.com) that includes an
online grade tracker, a task list, and a built-in writing tutor. What Ferriter likes best is that
“interested Pageflakes users can actually write a blog and create a discussion forum directly in
their feed reader, creating an all-in-one digital home for the reading, writing, and speaking
opportunities of both teachers and students.”
Ferriter’s article includes a section on “Writing Wikis.” This is a page I will add on my
wikispaces. This page will give instructions on how students will be able to work with their peers
to create a collaborative writing wiki. Students will learn that Wikis are editable Web sites and
have Wiki toolbars that similar to common word-processing programs. They will learn that when
they have finished saving contributions to a wiki page, their work is automatically posted online.
Students will also learn that wikis are designed for collaboration among groups of users.
Students who share a wiki password can edit the content on a particular wiki at any time.
Another feature that wikis have is the discussion boards associated with every page. This allows
students to engage in ongoing discussions regarding the project in which they are engaged.
In my wikispaces I will include generic instructions for different types of group work. For
example, given a specific topic, students will be asked to divide their topic of interest into
subtitles or sections. Each group of students will be responsible for creating content for their area
of expertise. After generating key ideas, they will add links to external resources, upload relevant
documents and embed interesting videos. Students will also be required to collaboratively create
and edit their final text. At other time this assignment will be more teacher-directed. Since
Ferriter notes that PB Wiki (http://pbwiki.com) is rapidly becoming one of the most popular wiki
services for teachers because it is very easy to use I will use it for students when creating a
specific writing wiki. It will be modelled on the following example that Ferriter provides, which
is: Stay Current at http://staycurrent.pbwiki.com.
Ferriter notes that Wikispaces (www.wikispaces.com) was one of the first wiki services that
5
educators used. As a result, there are literally thousands of Wikispaces that I can examine as
samples. Ferriter suggests Digiteen at http://digiteen.wikispaces.com as a good example.
Ferriter notes that “digital tools have also changed who I am as an instructor because I've
introduced these tools to my students. Together, we use feed readers to explore collections of
student blogs (www.pageflakes.com/wferriter/20982438) and organize resources on topics
connected to our curriculum, such as biofuels and global warming
(www.pageflakes.com/wferriter/22534539). We write a classroom blog reflecting on current
events (http://guysread.typepad.com/theblurb) and use wikis to collaborate around content
(http://carbonfighters.pbwiki.com).”
Ferriter also notes that Wet Paint (www.wetpaint.com) is one of the newest wiki services
available. The article also noted that it is one of the "most intriguing.” He notes that "with an
emphasis on tools for collaboration and professional templates, Wet Paint wikis will make you
look good.” An "exemplar" that is suggested is the Anatowiki at http://anatowiki.wetpaint.com.
These are sites that I will explore for further information and add to my wikispaces.
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/
http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikitool-wetpaint.cfm
Ferriter’s article is one of the best that I encountered. I will definitely be incorporating much of
his information on my wikispaces.
High School Ideas and Successes
http://teachersfirst.wikispaces.com/High+School+Ideas+and+Successes
This wiki invites high school teachers to describe how they used wikis as effective learning tools.
Examples are also provided on the wiki itself. This wiki was helpful for my inquiry because it
had a few links to sample wikis.
Literacy with ICT: A Developmental Continuum. http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/
This handbook from the Ministry of Education in Manitoba provides a practical view of Literacy with
ICT in the classroom. It provides practical ideas for teachers as well as parents.
Literacy with ICT
http://www.literacywithict.ca/
This is a great website devoted to “literacy with ICT” that explains how teachers can integrate
literacy skills across the curriculum.
Nielsen, Lisa. (2009). 21st Century Educators Don’t Say, “Hand It In.” They say, “Publish It!”
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/
This article argues that educators who ask students to “hand it in” rather than “publish it” are
stuck in the past and not preparing 21st century students." This article motivated me to research
the OSAPAC site for all the software related to publishing student work, as well as websites that
suggest where students can submit work for display and/or publication. I will add these to a page
on my wikispaces called PUBLISH IT! Her answer to teachers who suggest that it is not
realistic to expect all student work to be published is “the authentic publication of student work
6
should be a part of EVERY SINGLE UNIT OF STUDY. If an educator can't figure out a way to
help students publish anything in a unit of study they need to either 1) Rethink the unit or 2)
Rethink the assessment.” Nielsen gives several suggestions on how teachers can change practice
and move from a "Hand it in" to a "Publish it" culture.
Lisa Nielsen. (2009). Eight Ways To Use School Wikis. Tech & Learning. Vol. 30, Iss. 1; pg. 32
Nielsen notes that “wikis are a great tool to help a school enrich instruction and increase
communication and collaboration among staff.” Other benefits include the fact that they are free
and provide “unlimited storage for digital materials including video, screencasts, presentations,
PDFs, etc.” Nielson suggests the following reasons why school staffs should use wikis:
they decrease disruptions of instructional time, they make meetings more efficient, they help
teachers collaborate on important documents, they enhance professional development, they help
teachers share and collaborate on curriculum maps, they save trees and they can serve as a portal
for teachers’ lessons which can then be shared with others. This article is useful for my inquiry
because it shows that wikis are not just helpful in establishing on-line learning communities, but
also serve many practical functions. This motivates me to think “outside the box” in terms of all
the ways I can use wikis in my classroom.
Seifert, Kelvin. (2010). “Community and Communication among Instructors of Educational
Psychology.” Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Educational Research Association (Denver, CO, Apr 30-May 4, 2010)
http://www.eric.ed.gov.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/PDFS/ED510033.pdf
In his paper “Community and Communication among Instructors of Educational Psychology,”
which Kelvin Seifert from the University of Manitoba submitted to the Annual Meeting of the
American Educational Research Association in 2010, he observes that introductory educational
psychology is part of most preservice teacher education programs. However, he notes that
instructors of this course generally are isolated from each other, which negatively impacts the
course. Seifert notes that “the traditional strategies of professional development are conducting
research about the teaching of educational psychology, attending conferences, and sharing
resources online.” He notes that the first two strategies are effective in breaking down isolation
patterns among instructors. However, he insists that sharing resources online has advantages, but
this strategy “has not yet been explored or utilized by instructors of educational psychology
fully.” As evidence, he points to an online wiki, http://teachingedpsych.wikispaces.com, which
was created to build communication among instructors. Informal assessment of the wiki suggests
that it succeeds in its goal of facilitating communication and sharing…” This article is useful for
my inquiry because it shows that on-line collaboration is a valid and meaningful form of
professional development.
Teachers First: Wiki Ideas for the Classroom
http://www2.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm
In this wiki, high school teachers who use wikis are invited to share ideas on ways to use a wiki
and why they believe they would be an effective learning tool. This TeachersFirst's Wiki WalkThrough has great ideas that I will consider. One suggestion is creating a local history wiki
7
which documents historical buildings, events, and people within a particular community.
Students can include interviews with veterans or those who lived during World War II. The
teacher could allow adult community members to add their input by signing up for
“membership” in the wiki. This project could continue on for years and would be a service to the
community. It would be a good idea to enlist the support of the local historical society as well.
Another idea was “a document-the-veterans wiki” for people who served in the military. They
could be interviewed, photograph etc. Travel brochure wikis to “advertise” for “different literary,
historical, or cultural locations and time periods” was another example.
Teach Web 2.0
http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/bubbl.us
This is a wikispaces that I discovered after I complete mine. This is a very professional site that
clearly outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each program. I will definitely refer to this site
as I improve my own.
Teachers First: Wiki Step by Step
http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikitool-wetpaint.cfm
This wiki lists the features of a wetpaint wiki and lists the pros and cons. This will be a site I will
definitely explore in the future.
Tech2Learn: OSAPAC
http://tech2learn.wikispaces.com/OSAPAC+Software
This is a great wiki that will help inform my inquiry. I will continue to become more familiar
with OSAPAC software as I review this site, as well as the Ministry of Education’s OSAPAC
site.
The Internet Public Library: Learning Community
http://ipl2.cci.fsu.edu/community/wiki/index.php/IPL_15_Things
This site provides a historical overview of the creation of wikis. It also answers several basic
questions about wikis including how wikis work, and how they can be used to create
collaborative and community websites. This website is useful to my inquiry because it has given
me the idea to add a HISTORY of WIKIS page, so that students will become aware of
background information associated with wikis. This site also noted that there are many free,
highly customizable platforms, including the most popular:
Wetpaint http://www.wetpaint.com/
PBWorks http://pbworks.com/
Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com/. I will add these to my Wiki Tools page. This site also
described the IPL’s Learning Community public wiki which showcases student work. The Teen
Poetry Wiki is one example. I will add this to my Digital Reading page so that students can
contribute to this wiki. This will give them a way to express themselves through poetry in a
“unique format.” In order for them to contribute to the Poetry Wiki, they simply have to fill out a
form to join. This site also introduced me to the Sandbox Wiki, which explains how to provide a
8
place where students can experiment with creating and modifying their own wiki pages.
Students experiment with editing in the Sandbox Wiki, by copying, pasting, and modifying
existing pages and thus creating their own experimental page.
Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
http://www.web2teachingtools.com/bubbl_us.html
This is a very professional site discussing Web 2.0 tools that I discovered after I completed my
wikispaces. It is a site I will refer to frequently as I continually improve my wikispaces.
Wiki Answers
http://ipl2.cci.fsu.edu/community/wiki/index.php/WikiAnswers_by_Alex_Cruz
WikiAnswers is a “wiki-based user-generated question and answer site” that covers numerous
topics. With over 3,500 categories and approximately 11 million visitors each month it became
the fastest growing site in 2007. Anyone can ask or answer a question. In 2006, it became part of
Answers.com. The site recently answered its 4 millionth question. This site is useful to my
inquiry because I will use this concept in a future content-based subject. Our Class
“WikiAnswers” page will be modelled after WikiAnswers. However, we will call it
WikispacesQ&A so we don’t infringe on the copyright name “WikiAnswers.” Thus the
guidelines for our class WikispacesQ&A will be “You don't have to be an expert on a topic to
answer a question. Anybody can answer or ask a question on WikiQ&A.”There are different
levels of community members. This includes contributors, premier editors, category supervisors,
and vandal patrols.” Students can contribute to WikiQ&A in many ways. This includes “asking
questions, answering questions, editing questions, and flagging questions for improvement.” The
goal when answering a question on WikispacesQ&A “is to have one great answer for each
question that is created collaboratively. Each answer must also be neutral and free of personal
comments and signatures.” These will be our WikispacesQ&A “community guidelines.”
Wikispaces in Plain English. YouTube.
http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
This YouTube video describes what a wikispaces is, as well as what it offers useful. I will post
this in my WIKI INFO page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY