Wikipedia: Friend or Foe or Something In-between?

Larry Ferlazzo shared this link to an Ed Week commentary on Wikipedia.  There's a lot of good stuff here, including ways to help students get the most out of Wikipedia as they do research.

I used to be rabidly anti-Wikipedia. I remember frothing at the mouth while telling my students of the evils to be found at the site (peppered with tales of high-profile news stories about contributors with false identities). My students would quiver in fear and shrink from my wild gesticulations.

I'm over all that. Now when I talk about using Wikipedia, I talk about it in much the same way that Matthew Shapiro, the author of the commentary, suggests. Wikipedia is a place to start, but there are many additional and valuable resources out there.

Here's a thought for schools....Wikipedia might be BETTER than a traditional print encyclopedia for students. Why? It's more up to date. The Brittanicas in my site's library are nearly 10 years old.

Part 1: Searching for Social Bookmarking

While I've personally used Diigo for nearly a year, I have yet to use social bookmarking services with my students. Earlier in the school year, as my geography students were researching climate change, I wanted a place where we could collect useful links as a group. That was when I discovered that Diigo was blocked by district filters (interestingly, as shareware/download because of the toolbar). Not to be deterred, I quick went to Delicious, but, alas, that was blocked too.

I thought about Google Notebook, but since Google has stopped development, I'm not sure how long it will be around (though they promise that current users will continue to have access and I can create new notebooks with collaborators). The other downside to Google Notebook is that I can't recommend it to other teachers as new sign-ups aren't being allowed.

So, I'm looking for something that is: 1) not blocked at school, 2) easy to use, 3) I can recommend to other teachers.

I put out a request to my Twitter PLN and was inundated with possibilities. I had no idea there were so many social bookmarking possibilities out there! Now my task is to begin sorting through the possibilities and choose a few to test at school.

My first task is to go through Larry Ferlazzo's "Best Social Bookmarking Applications for English Language Learners & Other Students." After that, I'll start mowing through Wikipedia's list of Social Software.

Stay tuned for updates....

Swine Flu and You...

Actually, I read Wednesday afternoon it's now "the virus formerly known as swine flu" and we should call it by it's proper name "2009 H1N1 flu." Regardless of what we're going to call it, teachers and students alike are nervous about what will happen in the next few weeks and months. I've noticed that government agencies and teachers alike are gathering resources to teach students about the swine flu and generally prevent illnesses.

Larry Ferlazzo has already collected dozens of resources for the classroom with a particular eye to those links that meet the needs of ELL students. Be sure to check out the multi-lingual posters made by his students. General resources and some student-created posters can be found here and here.

The Guardian has a great interactive timeline for the event (listed by day) as does the Washington Post. You have to check out the "Center of the Cell" simulation where you are the public health official making decisions in the face of an epidemic.

The CDC will send updates on swine flu to your RSS reader. You can even follow the CDC on Twitter at twitter.com/cdcemergency. Yes, I am following them.

Of course the World Health Organization has excellent information about swine flu.

Finally if you're looking for some graphic commentary on the situation, check out Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonist's Index Swine Flu page.