Knott,+Joanna

Joanna Knott Library Media Specialist Pennsylvania Deliverable #3

To: Conewago Valley School District Administrative Office From: Joanna Knott, Library Media Services Department Chair


 * Proposal: **To have all students in the school voluntarily participating in a wiki supporting their favorite reads. I would like to begin a Media Center Wiki that students may use to post their favorite books, which will include both a summary and personal reaction.


 * Background Information: **According to Wikipedia, the most widely recognized wiki, a wiki is “ software that allows users to collaboratively create, edit, link, and organize the content of a website, usually for reference material. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.” The wiki that I propose will allow students to collaborate on a school-wide booklist, recommending their favorite library books to the rest of the school community.

Konieczny, Piotr. “Wikis and Wikipedia as A Teaching Tool.” //International Journal of Technology & Distance Learning.// January 2007. http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_07/Jan_07.pdf#page=19 This article not only focuses on wikis in the schools, but also the dominance of Wikipedia as one of the most prominent wikis available. Illustrations include background knowledge on how to edit a wiki, particularly Wikipedia.
 * Evidence & Examples: **

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page This wiki is a beautiful example of successful wiki collaboration. The community that supports this wiki is skilled, knowledgeable, and active.

//Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms// by Will Richardson. Ebook available at Google Books. Will Richardson has written this, the Everyman’s guide to promoting Web 2.0 tools (including wikis) into educational settings.

St. Philips Wiki http://stphilips.wikispaces.com/Book+Club%21 This is very close to what I imagine CVIS’s book club to be. Students are sharing ideas and reactions to the books they are currently reading. They post the title and image of the book and add their personal reactions and thoughts. What ownership!

PHMS Book Buzz Book Club http://phmsbookbuzzbookclub.wikispaces.com/message/list/home At this middle school wiki, students not only collaborate on choosing new books, but they also reply to other students’ ideas and suggestions.

STS Library Book Club http://stslibrary.wikispaces.com/message/list/Book+Club Another successful book club wiki on which students collaborate.
 * Rational:** According to our most recent Pennsylvania Standardized State Assessment feedback, students in our building are struggling readers. Our scores have remained consistent over the past three years, even though the state’s expectations are increasing. There is no better way to improve reading scores than to have students reading more books, more often. Unfortunately, I believe that many students still do not know how to select a book they will enjoy. By creating a favorite books (or book club) wiki, students will not only be able to share the wonderful books they have read, but they will also be able to find their next read. Additionally, students who read a book that has been posted by another student can add their reaction and opinion to the wiki.

Moreover, Writing Across the Curriculum, our movement towards the writing process, states that all Type 3 Writing assignments must be published for an audience. I believe teachers will be more than welcome to ask students to post book reactions, responses, and opinions to the wiki rather than writing a book report. What better audience to publish for than the world?


 * Tools Recommended: **I recommend using the free 2.0 tool Wikispaces. I have experience in this forum and feel that it is appropriate for our students. Registering, editing, previewing, and saving are as simple as using a word processing software. Wikispaces sends no spam to email addresses, either. Wikispaces also provides a number of tutorials and help tools to ease with student use.


 * Needs: **A wiki can be edited by any student who has an email address and has registered (for free) with Wikispaces. Since I want to begin this wiki as a voluntary project, the library computers will suffice. Once students are comfortable with the wiki, they may edit from any computer they wish.

//Students are too young. //Students in CVIS not only have the basic keyboarding skills, but they also have the internet navigation and word processing skills necessary to collaborate on a wiki. Since they have all of the physical capabilities, we will simply be moving towards a wiki rather than basic internet and word processing skills.
 * Roadblocks/Concerns:**

//How will acceptable use policies be impacted? //Whether we pursue a Book Club wiki or not, changing technology demands that we update our AUP’s. The technology department has recently attended a workshop to evaluate our AUP; they have concluded that is it current and covers the necessary concerns. A wiki falls within the realm of acceptable use.

//Teachers don’t have enough time.// As the school’s Media Specialist, I would be happy to train not only the teachers, but also the students in posting to wikis. Once the students understand how the technology works, they can post to the wikis at any time, not just in class. I would imagine that a wiki would take less class time than a typical book report, as the teacher does not have to schedule a computer lab to word process, edit, revise, and then grade the papers. With a wiki, a teacher can conduct live responses and reactions to student posts.
 * A View of the Future: **I believe with the appropriate grooming, participation, and excitement, this Favorites Book wiki can grow into a living database. Students will have a wealth of books and reviews at their fingertips. These books can be organized into genres, grade levels, or even by homeroom. Students will no longer be asking, //“What should I read now?”//


 * //Final Project!//

I have selected to create a wiki for my final project. You may view it at http://thefiftystates.wikispaces.com/**