Splitting the Wikis

Hi! I think the presentation to the ILT went really well yesterday. One thing became clear to me -- the WASC Accreditation project and the Schoolwide Research Curriculum project needed to be split into two wikis, which I did today. The Research one is a public wiki. I made the WASC one private so we could conduct our business without publishing as we go. The separation was a little painful, and there is some recovery and repair to be done on both, but I think they will both grow to be more robust separately than they could have sharing the same space.

Update on the Research Process

Hi! I'm doing a brief presentation about the Research Process at 3:15 today, for the Instructional Leadership Team.

I'll show them the four elements I'm trying to weave together, spend a little time on the WASC Evidence Room, and then mainly focus on the Research Process, since this is the Instructional Leadership Team.

Marshall McLuhan used to make a distinction between Hot and Cool media. Hot media fill in all the dots and come at you strong, not leaving much space for user participation. Cool media leave a lot of space for the "audience's" imagination. I offer this project as a Cool Medium, leaving space for your imagination to fill in what's missing.

I'll let you know how it goes.

A Plunge into Web 2.0

It’s about seven weeks since the first post, below, and it’s about time to try the second. During the three week Winter Break (formerly known as Christmas vacation) that just ended I plunged into Web 2.0 with a vengeance. Some initial evidence can be seen in the margin of this Blog, under the heading “Ed’s Other Current Web Presence”. In addition to what's shown I also developed an iGoogle custom home page, as suggested in In Command by Williams and Loertscher.

But why? Beside the fact that it's fun to play, I try to keep it within a bigger picture.

As a reminder, the first posting was divided into four sections:
1. The Original Project
2. The Technology Dimension
3. Student Empowerment
4. Deep Learning

My plunge into Web 2.0 is within the domain of Section 2: The Technology Dimension. In playing with the technology I'm trying to make it work toward integration with the other three items: The Original Project, Student Empowerment, and Deep Learning.

The Original Project was to develop a school-wide research curriculum for DMHS. As I took this detour into Web 2.0, it quickly became apparent that the Wiki has great potential as a medium for collaborative effort. And with the help of Chris Hammer (see his comment to the previous post, below), I saw that there are really TWO major projects that could benefit from a tool for collaborative work. One is my original library project, and the other is the (much larger) project we face as a school: preparing for the WASC visiting team to return this year.

As the treasure to bring back from my three week "vacation", I offer this Wiki (click the DMHS Wiki link in the left margin, above). It's in a pretty early stage of development, but I consider it a prototype that embodies a vision that has huge practical potential for both projects. I'll be discussing it with colleagues over the next few days for input on how to maximize its usefulness. And the structure of the Wiki is the bridge to begin connecting all this to Student Empowerment and Deep Learning. Stay tuned.