The Best Way to Build an Online Classroom

Sharon Grimes of the Baltimore County Public School systems tells us how to roll out PBwiki to 103,643 students and 8,850 classroom teachers.

We wanted our students to be able to use 21st Century tools in able to collaborate effectively not only with their classmates, but also with peers throughout the district and indeed, the world.

We needed to enhance opportunities for research, writing, and editing for a real life audience and in authentic situations. Our students do not have email accounts.
Safety and security of our K-12 students.

We've created a collaborative environment that allows teachers and students to see multiple models of outstanding writing.

Prior to using the wiki, teachers who wanted to highlight a well-written student response, needed to first copy it and then, make a transparency. Frequently, the text was illegible in places and because of the amount of work involved and time constraints only one or two student models were displayed.

We know from research that the more student models writers see, the more rich and well-written responses we receive. The wiki provides the means for students to view multiple models 24/7 and as a result, to independently assess and improve their written responses. In addition, the collaborative environment facilitates the development of peer review and editing skills.

The content in the wiki is based on current research on comprehension strategy instruction. Each section of the wiki scaffolds use of and responses to one of the comprehension strategies that decades of research show proficient readers use: connecting, questioning, visualizing, predicting and its forward-looking twin: inferring, determining main ideas, analyzing and synthesizing, and employing fix-up strategies.

The collaborative environment allows students to not only learn from one another, but also to have "grand conversations," rich discussions about literature that extend beyond the confines of the classroom.

Training Wikis:
http://bcps23things.pbwiki.com/
and
http://teachingthoughtfullearners.pbwiki.com/