Teachers in Action
Using “Wikispace” for teaching Sound in Science
Created by Tracy Templeman and Marsha Pittman
Grade 4 Teachers
June 2013
Students working through activity via Wikispace,
independently.
Note three manipulatives; text, logbook and Wikispace.
Will using a “Wikispace” page encourage questioning
and understanding?
• As Grade 4 teachers, we decided to explore the use of a
Wikispace page to enhance our Science Unit on Sound. We
felt our Sound unit needed a little “boost” of interest that
would enhance the experience for the students, thus
improving comprehension.
• Our aim was to develop a deeper sense of inquiry-based
learning, through questioning. It was our goal that students
would develop questions that they themselves would wish to
answer. The Wikispace page was developed as their safe
place of research, to find the answers to these questions.
“Bird’s Eye View” of Unit
o Introduction: We read aloud Title of text as well as passed each
student a log book. (Teacher created pages, mostly blank for webs,
charts and general jot-noting)
Task…to create a poster displaying their student knowledge of
sound.
o Day 2: Read Table of Contents from text. Modelled using Side bar in
logbooks for writing things they “wondered” and suggested
students discuss and note questions they may have been thinking.
o Day 3: Students were shown Wikispace Page, how to log in and
move through appropriately. Given day’s particular task and then
time in our computer lab to work through page independently.
Encouraged to note in log book.
o Throughout unit, we continued in the above manor with a variety of
discussion and response activities.
o Final Task was a poster displaying knowledge after using Wikispace.
Student’s questions…
Teacher’s Point of View
Positives
 Student’s were excited about
Science
 Interest in technology high
 High achievers were constantly
engaged
 Videos were very interesting
 Students were inclined to
revisit earlier activities and
videos independently
 Students could review material
from home
Negatives
 Time on task, some
students displayed little
work
 Students found it difficult to
motivate themselves to
move ahead, unsure of
expectation
 The repetitive aspect of
videos became
uninteresting after a few
days
A Student sample of something they questioned….I wonder…?
Hands on Activity;
Make animal ears!
Student’s wrote explanations for their
Animal Ear structures!
Teacher Anecdotal notes…
 How do we ensure students are attentive to the learning behind the fun,
music and visuals?
 Same students who have difficulty with outcomes, still inattentive and
forgetting and not knowing what to write in their logs.
 Students were always excited about viewing videos.
 High achievers continued their higher learning, logging thoughtful and
important questions and observations.
 A great deal of “I’m done, what do I do now?” Very little initiative to follow
through independently.
 There was an increased amount of student discussions during and after
Science class.
 Students looked forward to Science class, each day. Asking questions
about sound.
 Students carried bits and pieces from Wikispace experiences into their
writing projects and recess conversations.
A student sample of poster from Day 1 of project
and on the final day.
Challenges during Implementation
• Technology became a constant problem throughout the unit.
 Book the lab
 Space inside the lab/number of working computers
 Troubleshooting individual problems with computers; ie sound
working, computers working for 24 students
 Downloading speed of various videos, activities
 Only 4 students per class with complete headsets
• Analysing students learning, daily. Formal and informal
assessments became difficult as we were focused on the
student questioning and working environment.
• The creation of Wikispace student page with viable, pertinent
activities.
In conclusion…
•
•
Our “Teachers in Action” project was very successful, in many aspects. Learning to
use student workings as an assessment tool for our own teacher planning was
informative and challenging. As teachers, our planning perspectives are forever
changed, we believe for the better.
In using a Wikispace page for the effective questioning and learning of Sound is a
little more difficult to explain. While we have researched, analysed and noted a
variety of positives and negatives, we have decided that the Wikispace project
would best be suited for a supplementary piece of learning Sound in Science. As
well as using an older, more independent age group of learners. A large part of
our project required students’ self motivation and exploratory of information , via
the Wikispace page. Students, through our research, required more teacher
direction to ensure quality understanding of curriculum. The use of technology
was undeniably received in a positive and exciting manner. Students’ questions
were present and a majority of students were verbally expressing questions and
wonders of Sound and Science too!
Future Usage…
 With more use and understanding of a Wikispace page, could
students use it independently to write responses online?
 Would a Wikispace page be beneficial in a higher grade, when
students are more independent with their learning?
 Home connections could be more developed, encouraging
home participation.
 Could we have student submissions for the Wikispace page?