Wikis for Technical Education

Wikis for Technical Education

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Duke LongmanEDTC 625

Introduction

Many emerging technologies are being incorporated in classrooms providing learners with multiple opportunities, not only to create and share information, but technology skills required for success in meeting learning standards across the Curriculum, and for future real-life applications. The wiki is one example of an emerging technology that holds great potential for collaborative learning in technical education classes. This is essential in the preparation of learners for the world of work or future learning.

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Technical Education

Technical education provides an opportunity for students to: Learn about the processes and

knowledge related to technology. Develop, shape and change the physical

world to meet needs. manipulating materials and tools with

precision techniques Develop technological literacy. Expand technological competency

(Anderson, 2009).

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CompetenciesWagner, (2008) identified seven major competencies that students must have to compete globally:

Critical thinking and problem solving; Collaboration across networks and leading by

influence; Agility and adaptability; Initiative and entrepreneurialism; Effective oral and written communication; Accessing and analyzing information; and Curiosity and imagination.

These competencies are essential for learners in technical Education.

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Wiki Uses

Wikis can be used to:

Develop and foster a professional learning community where teachers share best practices.

Collaborate with community partners to determine skills required to fill vacancies.

Supply learners with additional tools to facilitate collaboration in knowledge and skill creation;

Facilitate the creation of online portfolios with proposals, designs, material lists, procedures and other evidence of their education;

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Wiki uses cont.d

Publish finished products to demonstrate the evidence of learning by students.

Create resources to share with others

Create, conduct and post interview with individuals about their careers and the possibilities of career options.

Share project ideas, plans, drawings,

pictures, materials and processes.

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School-School Collaboration

Develop and foster a professional learning community where teachers share best practices.

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School-Business Collaboration

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Collaborate with community partners to determine skills required to fill vacancies.

Technical Education Bookmarking

Technical educators could use the wiki technology as an opportunity to research and post new material on a site accessible to students and other educators. The co-authors of this wiki could collaborate to create the largest technical education encyclopedia the world has ever seen.

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Technical Education Websites

Creating a wiki to organize content has advantages over a traditional Web page since one does not need to know how to program in html or css to make a wiki page as in the case of WebPages Schweder et al,(2009).

http://www.johnpaulacademy.glasgow.sch.uk/Websites/SchSecJohnPaulAcademy/UserFiles/image/tech.bmp

http://pages.minot.k12.nd.us/votech/voced/image/graphics/infohighway.gif

Portfolios

The majority of the projects in technical education classes contain a graphics which may include images, drawings, pictures, charts, diagrams, maps or designs. When a student post images on a wiki page the potential of getting authentic feedback from a variety of sources and not just a teachers can result in clarification of knowledge that can inspire students to pay more attention to detail (Vogel, 2009). http://www.downes.ca/images/portfolio_diag1.jpg

Career Opportunities

A Wiki can be successfully incorporated to maximize students’ collaboration. Students pursuing different careers options such as culinary can help each other improve recipes; IT students can collaborate on developing source code, CT students can use it to work on building designs, and students can use it to collaborate on career opportunities which may exist for their future employment (Imperatore, 2009).

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Interviews

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Wiki Tools

Several free and easy to use wiki tools are available for use in K-12 education. Some of the more popular sites include:

http://www.wikispaces.com/ http://www.wetpaint.com/ http://pbworks.com/, http://tinyurl.com/4w8eo

Wikispaces

Wikispaces are boasting of hosting over 4,430,000 members and 1,660,000 wikis! And, they have given away over 297,000 wikis for K-12 education. Information on their site at (http://www.wikispaces.com/) provides an invitation for educators Learn more and create your own classroom wiki today.

https://dougjohnson.wikispaces.com/file/view/wikispaces1.jpg/62649548/wikispaces1.jpg

Wetpaint offers free websiteand wikis at:http://www.wetpaint.com/

Wetpaint

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PBWORKS

PBworks hosts over 300,000 educational workspaces, and has helped transform teaching and learning for millions of students, parents and teachers. According to information on the site (http://pbworks.com/),many educators and individual teachers trust PBworks as their collaborative learning environment.

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Conclusion

Many modern amenities that we take for granted resulted from a collaborative effort between individuals who acknowledged the necessity for improvements and resolved to accomplish them. I believe that the collaborative opportunities offered by wiki tools can be exploited to enhance knowledge and skill development. However, the technology must be used in a practical way to achieve these objectives. Educators need to employ real-life activities to engage students and prepare them to take their place in society, contributing to its advancement. Wiki tools are great for the social learning environment required.

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References

Vogel, C., (2009). A call for collaboration: District Administration.

45(5), p22-25. Retrieved April 6, 2010 from Education Research Complete Database

Schweder, W., & Wissick, C., (2009). The power of wikis: Full Journal of Special Education Technology, 24(1), p57-60. Retrieved

April 6, 2010 from Education Research complete Database

Imperatore, C., (2009). Wikis and Blogs: Your keys to student collaboration & engagement: Connecting Education &Careers, 84(3), p30-31. Retrieved April 7, 2010 from Education Research Complete Database

Anderson, D., (2009). Career & technical education: Kentucky Department of education. Retrieved April 12, 2010 from http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Career+and+Technical+Education/

References

Wikispaces, (2010) Retrieved April 12, 2010 from http://www.wikispaces.com

Wetpaint, (2010).Retrieved April 12, 2010 from http://www.wetpaint.com/

PBworks (2010).Retrieved April 12, 2010 from http://pbworks.com/

Webnote (2010).Retrieved April 12, 2010 from http://tinyurl.com/4w8eo

The End