By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2008-03-30
So, you’re a presenter and your time slot is the last one of the conference, and your room is the farthest from the lobby. Will anyone come? In the case of Sami Kahn’s presentation on Wikis in the elementary classroom, she didn’t have to worry! Those of us who attended (and there were quite a few) were treated to some excellent modeling (or should I say Moodle-ing) of how these tools can be used by actual 4th-graders. A lot of teachers are not keen on their students using Wikipedia as their main source of information. But Sami described a project in which her students at the Collegiate School in New York City create their own Wiki related to their annual “invention convention” showcase. The Wiki is limited to her students, and she is notified whenever any changes are made. She showed us some entries that were created while she was here at the conference. Her younger students are creating their own wiki on ocean animals, using a forum in Moodle to discuss what animals to include.