Best Practices – 9/1/2010
Edmodo.com
Edmodo is a private way for students to interact with each other outside of the classroom. This can promote discussions, debate, and collaboration with a very user-friendly tool.
Strengths:
- Free
- Easy to set up – students can set up their own accounts using a password that Edmodo sends the teacher. No e-mail address is required.
- Easy to use – students can send messages to the entire class or just to the teacher using Edmodo’s messaging tools
- Secure – no one can sign up for your group without the password. Also, you can remove students if they post inappropriate content.
- Promotes discussion and collaboration – since it is completely secure, you do not have to worry about “anyone” on the internet seeing what is being discussed
- You can post daily assignments for the students to check in one location. (If you forget, students can remind each other of assignments through the messaging tool.)
Webquest
Webquests are inquiry-based learning activities (similar to scavenger hunts) that take place online. Students do research about a particular and have a certain role on their team in order to complete the assigned task.
Links to Webquests I have created:
http://grade6online.com/web-quest/hatchet/Task.html
http://pi-webquest.ericaajohnson.com/
If you are interested in creating one or using a webquest in your classroom, I have many resources to help you. Just ask.
Here is a link that has a lot of information about webquests and it also has pre-made webquests for you to use in the classroom. http://webquest.org/index.php
Strengths:
- Puts responsibility on the students to complete research about a topic
- High interest – students LOVE them
- Interactive – students work in teams to complete the task
- Thousands of pre-made webquests are available online. You don’t need to create anything. (They are available for MANY grade levels and ALL subject areas.)
Wiki
A website in which the students can edit any of the content on the site (similar to Wikipedia). It can be public, private, or a little of both.
Link to my wiki using the book Where the Red Fern Grows: http://grade6online0910.pbworks.com/
Strengths:
- Can be completely private – students can post information without security risks
- Using pbworks.com to create the wiki allows students to get usernames and passwords without an e-mail address.
- Highly collaborative
- Can be completely assigned as homework – students can access the wiki from anywhere and can communicate with their classmates from home through the wiki
- High-interest and engaging
- Free
A portion of a group’s project on the class wiki:
If you are interested in creating a class wiki, I can help you. Just ask!
