12.+Wikis

= 12. Wikis =

Name of Technology Tool:
[|wikispaces]

===Rationale for Using this Technology Tool:=== Wikis are an excellent way for teachers and librarians to collaborate on lesson planning and resource sharing with one another. Wikis enable teachers and librarians to add and share content from school or at home, allowing for ease in communication. This flexibility in access fosters a convenient collaborative approach to teaching and planning, allowing for rapid sharing of ideas amongst educators. The cohesive nature of this resource tool results in enhancement of student learning when teachers and librarians work together to efficiently communicate with one another clear learning goals and objectives.

===Description of Scenario:=== A school librarian or teacher can create a wiki using a free service like [|wikispaces], and invite other teachers to join in creating a safe space to co-author and share ideas. Teachers and librarians can collaborate on unit and lesson planning by brainstorming ideas for lessons, sharing links to contemporary scholarly articles specific to the content area of focus, and suggesting various strategies for teaching said content. The benefits of this collaborative approach to planning and teaching are three-fold in enhancing student achievement. Knowledge sharing amongst educators promotes an environment conducive to learning as colleagues improve instruction through sharing teaching strategies that reach out to a wider audience of learners. Knowledge sharing also maintains interest in current theory within the academic discipline of focus amongst a group of educators. The sharing of collaborative knowledge communicates high standards, expectations, and learning goals to students with confidence and enthusiasm.

===Wikis in School Libraries - When to Use it and Why it's Effective:=== Wikis can be a powerful tool for school librarians to share pathfinders they create for teachers and students. A department of teachers may seek out the school librarian for resources related to specific topics assigned to their students for research projects. Creating a pathfinder of resources via a wiki is an ideal way for the librarian to collaborate amongst a group of teachers for its flexible knowledge sharing capabilities.

For example, the high school social studies department is teaching about the Interwar Period and wants individual students to conduct research and write essays about how changes in the Industrial Revolution impacted an area of post-war cultural development. In preparation for the assignment, the social studies department seeks out the school librarian to collaborate on teaching students research strategies and proper source citation, and plans a day where the librarian will co-teach with each class. The librarian first assesses the collection and pools together resources that will be most effective in helping students achieve their learning objectives before giving the lesson, and creates a pathfinder that serves to assist research in the context of the lesson. An such example is a pathfinder created by three collaborating librarians at [|Brookline High School] for this specific research assignment. This pathfinder was shared with students and teachers in library lessons regarding search strategies, web site evaluation, and proper source citation interwoven with the students' research assignment of the Interwar Period. The pathfinder provides select web resources and databases where students can find print resources such as books and scholarly articles on specific topics in the areas of art, pop culture, science, and literature, during this period of time.

The benefits of creating this pathfinder via a wiki is that it is linked to the school library home page. Not only can students access it on any computer in any classroom in the school and in the library, but they can also refer to it from home in the event they are 'stumped' on where to go for additional research on their topic. Rather than only creating a print version of a pathfinder that can easily be lost, hosting the pathfinder via a wiki allows for flexible access and demonstrates to students that librarians and teachers are readily available with resources that will help them accomplish their learning goals. Modeling acceptable online resources and print resources within this pathfinder communicates high standards and expectations of students. The wiki further extends itself as a resource beyond the confines of a singular lesson to both the social studies department and the library, since it can also used as an assessment tool to reflect upon areas of the collection in need of development for the purpose of helping new students better achieve their learning goals next year.

Submitted By: Jen Goldberg