"Wikis for Critical Thinking and
Contextual Application"
This week,
those of us in EDACE 765, are expanding our horizons and those of our
“students”, to include both critical thinking and contextual applications to
the wonderful world of the Wiki environment.
Based upon
last week’s lesson plan entitled:
Happy, Healthy, Hunger Haunting Snacks Kids Will
Love,
the design
of creating healthy snacks for children will fit appropriately into the area of
contextual application:
As stated in
West & West (2009) “contextual learning is based on the premise that
learning and meaning emerge from the relationship between content and context”
(p. 101). It is important to understand
that it is the “context (environment/problem)
that gives meaning to the content”
(p. 101)
The above
lesson plan will fit the application needed for:
Event Plan
(Adapted
from West & West, 2009)
The fact
that details needed to plan the/any event (i.e. presentation of healthy snack
ideas) can change frequently, building and maintaining a set of [menu/snack]
ideas regarding shared documents can aid the entire team in developing the
specific details needed to be productive and organized.
The Wiki
designed for this project will have a Home Page, Agenda, Planning Page and
Management Tips.
Home Page will need
to include:
·
Title
·
Date
·
Description of event (presentation of snack ideas)
Agenda will need
to include:
·
Titles: Happy, Healthy, Hunger Haunting Snacks Kids Will Love
·
Who will present snack ideas
·
Times of presentation
·
Where presentation of information will be presented
Planning Pages will need
to include:
·
Tasks (exploring and designing snack recipes)
·
Budget and expense tracking (cost of food items:
venue is free)
·
Marketing and promotion (what audience will be
targeted)
·
Evaluation (for both students and audience)
A spread sheet, such as Excel or Google Spreadsheets (part of
Google Docs) could be utilized to aid in the of tracking expenses.
Students can use other forms of technology such as Skype,
conference calls, virtual classroom sites (i.e. Wimba) email, group message
boards or other Wikis to share ideas and track the developmental process of the
event and healthy snack designs.
Good communication among the event planners
(students/caregivers) will optimize the productivity and ultimately the success
of the project outcome.
The link below provides a great tutorial regarding the impact a
Wiki can have on planning an event and the ease of using a Wiki. The video discusses the importance of
communicating in the “virtual commons” and provides an easy format for getting
started.
The above example can aid your team in producing your event and
tracking the progress each team member is making. The Wiki, as part of the learning process,
can help reduce the chance of individuals completing the same task, overlooking
critical details related to the project and add clarity and dimension to the
finished product.
Why, you might be asking, as a learner, is this assignment
necessary? The following quote from West & West (2009), gives a wonderful explanation
of contextual learning…“As students mature and advance in their learning, it
becomes necessary to give them opportunities to apply and transfer their
developing skills to a variety of new problems and situations” (p. 101).
Good luck and have fun!
As always, feel free to contact your instructor with thoughts,
comments or concerns.
Grading
Rubric
"Wiki for Critical Thinking
and Contextual Application"
Child
Nutrition 101
On-Line
Course Fall 2012
(40
points possible)
The Wiki for Critical Thinking and Contextual Application
Lesson Plan will be graded on four criteria; active use of appropriate resources, relevant nutrition information, reflective/new experiences for parent/caregiver for children 2-3 years
of age and promotion of group
learning. The following rubric
describes the performance standards for the criteria listed in the left
column. This rubric will be used to
grade any future lesson planning/Wiki activities for Child Nutrition 101: Fall
2012.
_________Collaborative
Effort: 20 points. (This score will be applied to individuals, not the
overall group) All assigned students have contributed to the content and design
of the Happy, Healthy, Hunger Haunting Snacks Kids Will Love Wiki for
Contextual Application Lesson Plan Assignment.
Each individual learner brings a variety of strengths and contributes in
areas specific to their strengths/interests regarding the project needs. All learners share in the work, creation,
proofreading and fact checking of the overall activity.
__________Wiki/Lesson
Plan Content: 10 points. Students
will include a variety of resources, including resources gained inside and
outside of class (relevant and reputable) used to complete information needed to
meet lesson plan objectives. Cultural
diverseness is evident and sensitive to individual needs. Content is organized
in a clear and logical manner. All
information is accurate and appropriate grammar is employed and display during event
presentation.
__________Visual
Appeal and Interactivity: 10 points. Graphics
(and audio/videos, if possible/desired) are used to enhance the message of
healthy snack ideas for age group targeted (children 2-5 years of age) and
target audience (parent/caregivers).
Final project should not be cluttered or hard to read/visualize/understand
and able to be used by a variety of individuals within the target audience
group and audience. The end-product will
demonstrate the learners have gained new information and insight regarding
healthy snack ideas for target audience and able to present appropriately in a
diverse group setting. The snack ideas
are “user friendly” and have a broad appeal to a variety of cultural people
groups.
References:
Kansas State University College of Education. Department of Educational Leadership. Syllabus:
EDACE 765: Adult Learners and Integrating Technology into the Curriculum. Fall
2012
West, J., & West, M. (2009). Using
Wikis for online collaboration. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Wikis in plain English. Retrieved from
