If you want students to learn by working together on a collaborative class project, consider using a Wiki. A Wiki is a website where students can create, read, link, and edit each others webpages.  A great video overview on Wikis is from Common Craft.  If you want the business perspective on the importance of collaboration, then you should follow the work of Don Tapscott and read his book, Wikinomics.

As a teacher,  you just have to set up an initial class Wiki project page and then let the students create their own team page and then individual student, or team member, pages. The students design their own pages and can read, edit, and comment on each others pages.  As a teacher, you can also read, edit, and comment on student pages.  However, you can also view changes to all pages and even "revert" to an earlier version if necessary.  

Some of the advantages of using a Wiki are as follows:

1. Motivation. Students can see what their peers are doing, which provides some peer motivation and competition. 
2. Communication. Students and teachers can provide 7-24 feedback, updates, and questions. 
3. Collaboration. Students can share ideas, create a plan to manage their project, reply to comments, and see each others progress. 

To get a better idea on how I use Wikis in class, watch Wiki Work With Gill.  Although I use the PBWorks Wiki application, any hosted Wiki system should be fine.  Enjoy!

“Stir It Up” – Learning with Gill

Why Blog? I have been procrastinating about Blogging ever since I asked my students to start their own Blogs in 2010. My interest in Blogging started while preparing to teach a Marketing class and a good neighbor, Patrick Thoburn from Matchstick, suggested I read Mitch Joel’s “Six Pixels of Separation”. The following semester, my Business and Learning Strategies class students followed the book’s recipe to enter the Blogosphere.  They started following blogs in a field of interest they were passionate about similar to Sir Ken Robinson’s idea and book, “The Element”. Next, they wrote a summary about one of their favorite Posts including writing an interesting comment. Finally, the students wrote a Blog proposal and then started Blogging. Meanwhile, I procrastinated.

Why 21st Century Learning? Fast forward a few years and I continued to explore various 21st Century technological tools to improve student learning and motivation. Now, all of my courses include class Wikis to allow students to collaborate in experiential team projects, and students are creating Digital Portfolios. Last semester, I embedded Twitter on my class Blog / Website and created some Flipped Classroom videos, such as Wiki Work with Gill. Yet, still no Learning with Gill, although I did save the domain name!

Why “Stir It Up”? This year, I had the opportunity to attend some professional (#ecoo13) and student (#PowerUpPeel) conferences on “21st Century Learning. I met many educators who have been stirring it up in their classes by trying new teaching strategies to motivate students. They are also sharing their experiences on, you guessed it, Blogs.  However, still no Learning with Gill. I finally had my epiphany while reading the “Principal Of Change” Blog by the Principal, George Couros and loved the title. That was it, the final stumbling block solved! I, too needed a creative Blog title and Stir It Up came to mind. It combines my love of music, fighting for social justice and what is right, and my desire for disruptive innovation, a concept coined by author Clayton Christensen.

Why “Learning with Gill”? It is what we do in education. Continuous challenges, strategizing, experimentation, failures, successes, reflection, iteration (@jcasap), collaboration and finally, learning. No more procrastination – Stir It Up!