Wiki's are amazing!

Wow! I enjoyed this weeks lecture (Week 4 - What are the Roles of ICT in Education) immensely! I learnt so much! I had heard of blogs, wiki's and rss aggrigator but didn't really know what they were or how to access them (you know, just smiled and nodded if they were ever brought up in conversation). But now! I will have an opinion in such situations! But more importantly, I'm already starting to think of how I can use these things in my classroom. I was thinking that a wiki could be used in a creative writing class by having everyone start a story, have someone else fill in the body (or several people), and have someone else fill in the conclusion. They could also be used in a similar manner for research in a science or SOSE class. Of course, it would be brilliant for group work both in and out of the classroom as well. Blogs could also be used for creative or reflective writing, and I loved the suggestion from our lecturer (Aldred, 2010) that they could be used to keep in touch with parents/carers - what a fabulous way for families to be involved in their child's learning!
I can see clearly how ICT's will make learning more engaging in a classroom - look at my very own response! I positively flew through this weeks lecture because I found it so exciting, unique and relevant. I really understand Kearsley & Shneiderman's (1998) theory of Relate-Create-Donate now. Today, I understood all of the jargon that has been thrown about around me (relate); I signed up for rss aggrigators, and created a blog and a wiki (create); and they are things that I have already put to use 'in the real world' (donate). If I can get this excited about my study and learning new things, I'm sure that my students will too!
I would love to hear all of your thoughts and experiences resulting from this weeks lecture too. Drop me a line :)
- Leesha!

Aldred, S. (2010). Week 4 - What are the roles of ICT in education. Lecture notes distributed in the course EDED 20491 - ICT's for Learning Design, at Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, on March 22, 2010.

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1998). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Education Technology, 38(5), 20.