Christchurch New Zealand October 2009 Integrating new technologies to empower learning and transform leadership

Beyond the virtual classroom – Developing literacy through the use of online communities in English e-Learning Teacher Fellowship 2009 Claire Amos Auckland Girls’ Grammar School

Workshop Structure Part A: Presentation of project and findings Part B: Online workshop – Looking at class wikis and blogs in action Part C: Online workshop - Creating your own class wiki

Learning Outcomes On completion of this workshop you will be able to: Recognise the benefits and potential uses for wikis and blogs to support literacy Access a range of wikis to develop ideas Create your own class wiki using

Project outline The project looked at how student blogs and class wikis can be utilized to raise literacy levels in the context of formal writing (AS 90053) preparation and practice. The Project

Year 11 students were given the opportunity to complete their practice of formal writing as individual blogs that were linked to their online classroom community (the class wiki) I followed the same process with a top stream and a standard English class The Process

Those students who completed the formal writing practice online, received their feedback as online comments Topics were posted on the class wiki with hyperlinks to other resources such as newspaper articles and video clips about their topic

The Process Students who chose to complete their writing on refill continued to hand it in as normal and received written feedback on their essays These students still had access to online resources if they wished to use them

Outcomes Students who chose to write their essays as blogs were: More likely to meet deadlines More likely to act upon feedback/next steps More likely to read each other’s work

Student Voice Other positive feedback from the students: Liked that they often got quick feedback Liked that they built up an “online portfolio” of writing Liked that they could use spell check and easily fix errors Liked the sense of a public presence and that they had an audience

Potential challenges The lack of easy access to computers at school Blog sites are often blocked in school Not all students have internet access or computers at home Students not practising writing quickly by hand???

Advice Have the wiki and framework set up in advance If possible unblock useful sites Teach students how to give each other feedback (this was something I thought would happen naturally but didn’t) Use blogging sites that allow you to “follow” students so you are alerted when new blogs are posted Don’t assume students are young and therefore internet savvy

Benefits for the teacher Lightens your paper load – can’t misplace student work Quicker to assess and feedback – comment format discourages too many comments and encourages you to focus on next steps Easily accessed at all times Resources and framework can be used again and again Encourages students to be more independent Easy to track student progress (or lack of…)

The main links are: encourage reflective thought and action facilitate shared learning provide sufficient opportunities to learn E-learning Links to the NZC Effective Pedagogy

Links to the NZC Key Competencies thinking using language, symbols, and texts managing self relating to others participating and contributing

Student Portfolios

and other ideas… Other uses for wikis and blogs could include: Extension and Support activities 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 Practice Essays US8808 Reading Logs Creating online Study Guides Reflective blogs on the learning process

Online Workshop