Aloha!....have a wiki look

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Would anyone have ever thought the word ‘wiki’ is a Hawaiian word for quick? Certainly not me, although I am not fluent in Hawaiian (except for the odd word – Aloha, Lai, Luau and of course Mai Tai and Pina Colada), this was an interesting fact to start off my reading of Richardson's article – The Educator’s guide to the read/write web.

Due to the development of the web 2 in 2004(ish), the internet is no longer used just as a source of information. It is now a forum for prospective publishers and broadcasters with such forums as blogs, social networking and wikipedia. The ability to edit, restore or delete information in such online forums has enhanced the learning environment for the contemporary student significantly.

Students can create online, reflective, interactive portfolios of their work to be shared on an international scale. Students can comment on and interact with academics, authors and other like-minded professionals to further their knowledge and gain a more thorough basket of knowledge-  straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. This, as Richardson notes “gives students opportunities for important metacognition reflection on their own learning”.

The read/write web has become a place where students of disparate backgrounds can build connections and learn collaboratively with both mentors and experts.

Richardson poses the question “how should we rethink the concept of literacy now that students can instantly become not only readers and writers, but also editors and collaborators?” Great question I say! To adapt to this new method of assimilation of knowledge, and rely less on traditional curriculum delivery methods, it is imperative that we as prospective teachers continue to ‘upgrade’ and ‘download’ our skills in technology. If we cannot be one step ahead of these children, at least we can aim to be on the same level of cognition to them when it comes to the rapidly changing world of technology.

Wish me luck!