6.+Community+Building

=Community Building and Collaborating with Technologies =
 * Chapter 6 **

- Computers sends a message to another computer and it can go all over the World. - Technology is transforming our concept of community - One does not need expertise to use the computer.

- The second generation of the web. - Instead of social networking call it educational networking. - Global Awareness is essential in 21st century living. - Technology has opened the way for more collaboration and teamwork. - Schools do not offer knowledge building
 * Web 2.0 **

- The debate of what is the best way to teach students-Work on student’s knowledge or knowledge building. - Knowledge building is active learning and having ones goal as learning - By teaching students to develop their own knowledge database they learn how to evaluate and fix their own work. - Knowledge Forum-Is a database where students can creates a deeper level of learning - Students engages with others more through this data base and has improved test scores. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students learning and understanding is scaffold through this data base. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students need to use their critical thinking to work with Knowledge forum <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Knowledge forum can be used on many subjects. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students become owners of their own knowledge
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Knowledge Building with Knowledge Forum **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Co-Constructing Knowledge with** [|Wikisource]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Using wikis to build knowledge building and community <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Anyone can add to a Wiki <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Purpose is to have ongoing dialogue <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- The Talk Page allows for online discussion if a page is right or wrong. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Other Wiki sites are: Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, and Wikisource. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Wiki’s promote knowledge-building community <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Wikis are also used to upload media to the web pages <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Wikis used for any age <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Wikis helps to prepare for exams

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- [|iEARN],[|Global SchoolNet Foundation],[|Kidlink], and [|ThinkQuest] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- These helps to build communities with other cultures <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Helps to broaden students learning
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Building International Schools **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|iEARN] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- iEARN Learning Circles-Used to foster small group learning over the internet <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- iEARN has an end task in mind and works to bring teachers and students from around the World together <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Works on social and cultural understanding <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Team participation is critical <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Learning circles work on a problem to solve, whereas forums work on a task <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- A teachers job in a learning circle to just support the students and help when problems arise


 * [|Global SchoolNet Foundation]**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Global schoolhouse is a place where students can reveal information, talk with one another and add to one another’s learning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Global Schoolhouse has 194 countries who are members and they also have “The Friendship Through Education”. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- The Friendship through Education is made for on-and off-line interactions between students of different countries to promote understanding of each other’s cultures and bring about human rights. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students become youth ambassadors and makes web sites of what they have learnt. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- A whole school can become involved in a global concern; such as waste that goes into a recycling project. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- The Students can then take what they have learnt from recycling and go to other schools near and far away. (Through technology, skype) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- give students a change to learn valuable life skills”.


 * [|Kidlink]**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Global dialogue for secondary school <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students can post in a safe environment issues and ideas that other students’ might find useful and interesting. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students learn also how to work through math challenges and uses critical thinking <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students can make a recipe book, cards and make new friends.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- iEARN, Global Schoolhouse and Kidlink all work on getting students from all around the World into communities with one another. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Examples would be One Day in the Life through iEARN.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Participating in International Communities **


 * [|ThinkQuest]**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Web site that has students solving problems to real life problems. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Students use critical thinking and need to justify this thinking and how they solved the problem. (Example: Rainforest)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Discussing Interests with Social (Educational) Networking Groups <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- People discusses and talks to one another. Networking groups help with the physical distance. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Social networking groups help people to share their thoughts, feelings and photos. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- There are Google Groups for people with common interests. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- It’s “Schools and Education” has 20 subgroups. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- These help the communities to stay in contact with their interests.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Moodle and [|Ning]Communities **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.Social networking sites help students learn when they are not in the classroom. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.These sites can help students stay connected to the classroom and it is a safe site. (Ning and Moodle) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.These can be organic groups that are focused around the needs of the students in that class. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.It is a great place for students to post their reflections of the class. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.On-line lessons offer students a more meaningful learning experience. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.Ning offers videos, links to websites, and live chats with experts.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Classrooms need to be more focused on community building and less on competing with one another. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Classrooms should foster a community of common interest. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Schools need to bring in this type of curriculum so that learning communities will develop <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Web 2.0 can promote learning if teachers plan for this type of on-line learning and community building. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.Through the use of on-line communities students are learning about the World and those who live in the World. Students are also having a more meaningful learning experience.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Conclusion **


 * Discussion Questions**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the groups: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Can you think of other examples of effective community building using technology that you have seen in the classroom? Have you ever seen any that failed? Why did they fail? If you haven’t seen any, can you think of any other forums that can be used other than those suggested in the chapter? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Do you think that [|Facebook] and [|MySpace] can be effective educational tools? Can you think of ways in which these sites would be problematic? Do you feel that these sites can help knowledge building, or should they be blocked in schools? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Do you agree with the statement that schools inhibit knowledge building? Do you think this is something you see changing as schools and boards evolve? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Can you see any way that these programs suggested could be harmful to knowledge building? Can you think of ways that they can be improved?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">