Focus on Learning Published 2006-06-23

Tim Stahmer (AssortedStuff) wrote today (link) about a principal who was told of how a district improved student test scores using a wiki. The principal responded with a how-do-I-get-me-one-of-those? I agree with Tim's conclusion :

I have no doubt that this principal has no idea what a wiki is or how one might be used for instruction ... However, this little event could be a positive sign ... we have a few more people in the schools becoming aware of and discussing the use of these new tools

I would extend the discussion to state that we need to remind our principals, superintendents and even teachers that the focus should be on the learning enabled by the tool, rather than the tool itself. Wikis are a fantastic tool for enabling collaboration. So the focus should be on the art of collaboration and how it can be used to foster learning. Making wikis available to your school is fantastic but only after the discussion on how they can be used in your curriculum to improve learning.

Tagged:

• edtech
• wiki
• collaboration