Classroom wikis & podcasts

Just what is a wiki? you might ask. Same basic concept as a blog, only better when you're talking about a whole class of students, collaborating on research, posting and needing to find information – usually, for student and school security, behind a password. Of course, the most famous example is Wikipedia.org, which – despite some pitfalls – gets some 60 million visitors a day. But in the school environment, "educators at all levels are finding ways to incorporate wikis into their teaching," TechLearning.com reports. "Take, for example, a collaborative writing project. With a simple wiki, students from one class, multiple classes, or even multiple schools can post their writing samples for comment. The wiki structure makes it possible for several students to work on an assignment concurrently. Most wiki software packages track changes to a page so students and their teachers can see when and by whom the writing was edited." Then there are class podcasts, produced by students. The New York Times reports that iTunes lists more than 400 podcasts from classes K-12, and Yahoo nearly 900. "Some are produced by teachers wanting to reach other educators with teaching tips, while many are created by students," such as seventh-graders at Longfellow Middle School in La Crosse, Wis., who have podcast about "a mealworm's metamorphosis" and "improving memory and making studying easier." Those 7th-graders have even podcast "a story about a classroom candy thief" (the Times links to their podcast page).