"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.

http://youtu.be/-dnL00TdmLY

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

 http://youtu.be/-dnL00TdmLY