Parent+Letter+about+WIkis

Dear Parents,

Monday, February 14, 2011, we embarked upon a new journey in our Language Arts 8 classroom.

After returning from a workshop on implementing technology in the reading and language arts curriculum, I created this wiki for my classroom use. Some of the neat things that I learned at the workshop were how to link Google calendars to the wiki and how to use Google Forms to allow students to electronically submit assignments.

Upon my return to the classroom Monday, I unveiled this site to the students. We practiced using cell phones and classroom laptops to test out the idea of electronic submission of assignments. The experiment went much better than expected and the students greeted the assignment with quite a bit of enthusiasm.

After discussing the possibility of extending this idea throughout the rest of the year, Mrs. Wood agreed that it would be a good project to implement. With this agreement, she gave the students in my room permission to use their cell phones in the classroom. This, of course, comes with a set of understandings and guidelines.

I am anxious to offer these new applications of existing technology to your student in an effort to make the subject more relevant to their lives.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding this new venture, I would be happy to hear them.

I never would have imagined twenty-five years ago that anything like this would be possible ... pocket-sized cell phones, textbooks on CDs and the Internet! This is a new frontier of learning for both the students and myself … all that is left now is “to boldy go!”

Sincerely,

David W. Lawrence