It’s surprising to me that in 2010, there are still big districts that are blocking all Web 2.0 apps — wikis, blogs, etc.  These are some of the most powerful tools we have for differentiating instruction.

I have to think these decisions are being made by people who aren’t in charge of instruction and who are mainly motivated by wanting “no problems.” (And as I always say, if you want no problems, just pack the computers away or don’t even by them.) I restate my offer here to talk to leadership teams at these districts about the benefits of these tools and the ways they can be implemented safely. Please let our teaches and students have the tools they need for 21st century learning!

Are whole categories of tools blocked in your district? Do you know who is driving policy on this? Have efforts been made to revisit these policies? What are the barriers?

So I’ve been thinking a lot and talking to people about the formative assessment idea I wrote about earlier this week. (The working name is now the “comprehension plug-in”…thanks to Chris Campbell for this great name.)

As a part of the Mozilla Open Ed course I’m participating in, we’ve been talking about assessment-related browser plug-ins, and this seems a perfect fit. In a one-to-one situation, in which most students will have a browser open all the time anyway, this is a natural. Imagine a series of LED-type buttons like this:

I like this approach to formative assessment because it moves learners toward metacognition, leading to taking control of one’s own learning.

I think this approach can be just as effective with adult learners in professional development workshops. Next week, I’m going to try this. (In addition to using this formatively, it will model the technique so that participants can think about using it in their own classrooms.)

To do this, I’ve set up a wiki for the workshop. (I use wikis for almost all my workshops now.) After each major instructional block, participants will do a quick online “how is your learning going?” survey. I will (hopefully) use this data in real-time to see how things are going and then to differentiate instruction as needed. It looks something like this:

I’ll let you know how it goes!

There are so many great technology tools…wikis, blogs, Google docs, podcasts, Moodle sites, VoiceThread, and on and on. Sometimes it’s difficult to know which tool to use for a given project or activity.

The best way to approach this problem is to always start with the question “What are the instructional goals?” and then to think about how to accomplish those goals. Sometimes the answer will be technology; other times it may be paper-and-pencil, f2f group discussion, or something else.

Here is a grid that outlines the main differences between things like wikis, blogs, document sharing, etc. with some thoughts on which are best suited to different classroom activities.

If you have your own tips to share about how you choose which tool to use for different activities, post your thoughts here to share with others.

Wikispaces is now offering complimentary upgrades to ad-free spaces for K-12 educators!

If you’re starting a new space, use this link to start as an ad free K-12 space. If you want to upgrade an existing site, go to Manage Spaces and and click Subscription. Then scroll to the bottom and request a complimentary upgrade.

I love Wikispaces, and this forward-thinking policy is one more plus. Their wikis are very easy for beginners to use. I’m using them as a basis for many of my workshops so that people have the information to access later and so that those who can’t attend can participate virtually.

Thank you, Wikispaces!

(Thanks to Becky Hart for this info.)