Tutorial for Wikispaces!

Check this tutorial out, dear colleague! I hope you find this of use! Have fun exploring, experimenting, innovating and creating with your students engaged and at play!


If you want to, students can create their own wikispaces, which is even more fun and meaningful for them. When using this tool you can think of lots of advantages and just a few disadvantages. The advantages on one hand are these:

• Wikispaces provide a chance for students to write to each other, so eventually, they can become active feedback providers for their peers!
• Wikispaces help you incorporate a learning tool for students which is respectful of their learning speed. It moves along with the student's level of skill, and helps the teacher achieve higher results with students in terms of reading and writing outcomes.
• Wikispaces has the power to engage students strongly. Children love computers in a most unexpected way!
• Wikispaces is a powerful ally when talking about discipline! It is amazing how challenging and concentration demanding this web-based, teaching-learning tool is! Discipline improves dramatically as students are authentically focused and quiet.
• Wikispaces help students develop mental skills of a wide range. Cognitive skills can be seen fully at play. Students using wikispaces will be analizing, discriminating, spelling, making choices of register, design, use of color effects, use of spatial reasoning.
• Students are more aware of mistakes and will avoid them permanently. ( They are going to be seen by their peers and they don't like this to happen, they want to look sharp and cool!)
• Students tend to express ideas in a more synthetic manner. Writing is clear in general ( The teacher provides support and feedback for those students who still struggle with spelling...Children will require that you do so for sure!) They want to look neat!
• Wikispaces provide teachers the chance to provide children real, individualized and differentiated instruction. Assessment is permanent and formative. Evidence of teaching and learning is created on a safe and regular basis.
• Wikispaces provide children the opportunity to express their mind.
• Wikispaces will bring into class technology skills because students will be learning typing skills, cyber protocols and the ability to determine or judge the relevance of information and content!

Tell me folks, is it not great!?

The disadvantages I forsee is the ocassional  "out of server" situation. Always keep a plan "B" in case computers collapse! Another disadvantage is that students don't interact much face to face with either the teacher or their peers as much as they would do in a traditional classroom.