Thursday, July 1, 2010

Wallwisher

This web 2.0 tool has an interesting name. It is an online application that is easy to use and set up. It is an online board that uses the "sticky note" format for posting messages. I know many times in the classroom, something as little as allowing students to use sticky notes motivates them. Here is a link to the Wallwisher site. You don't have to open an account to get started. However, having an account gives you advantages such as managing multiple walls. You can view a demo wall here. A question is posted and multiple users respond with their thoughts on sticky notes. If an account is set up by the teacher, privacy levels can be set for each wall and posts can be moderated. You can also set up preferences on who can view and write on the wall.

However, like Twitter, you are limited to how much you can write on the wall, which could be a downfall. You can only use 160 characters, but you can add images, video, music, and links to webpages. Therefore, this makes it practical to use with students in the classroom. Some of the ways that walls can be shared is by embedding them into a wiki, blog, or webpage. I would say this tool can be used by upper elementary, middle, and high school students. It might be too difficult to use with first grade students.

Here are some potential ways that Wallwisher can be used in the classroom:

1. collaborative brainstorming of a topic or an idea
2. creating a visual or video collaboratively about a topic
3. asking questions and having students or teachers respond with their opinions
using video, images, and messages
4. having debates

I found some great websites that you can view to learn more about Wallwisher. Here is a link to a teacher's resources page that was made using wikispaces. It has a great tutorial on how to start and create a wall. It has sample walls that were made by teachers on various topics related to grammar, science, and the internet. Additionally, here is another great resource that provides a very detailed tutorial on how to use Wallwisher and how to get started. Step by step directions are given with screenshots.

On my next post, I will provide a sample of a wall that I have created.

2 comments:

  1. As I was looking at some of the links you posted, I thought this might be a great way for students to post vocabulary they have learned.
    For example, as an end of the year activity my classes played hangman where the students came up with the vocabulary words, then I gave them a problem dealing with that vocabulary word. With this site the students could be responsible for coming up with as well as defining the vocabulary word they posted. But the catch to get them to do it quickly would be to have them not repeat any word, if the vocabulary word they wanted to use was up there already they would have to come up with a new word.
    Great link Julie, I will definitely use wallwisher in the future.

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  2. That's a great idea to use Wallwisher to post vocabulary words that the students have learned in class! Thanks for the idea. It would be a great visual! In primary classrooms, we do word walls. So, I was even thinking that I could possibly make a word family wall. The ideas are endless...

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