I’m really not sure what to say here. I recognize the value of reflection. It forces us (hopefully) to look closely at what we have done in an effort to improve or understand. The problem with this reflection is that I really like the wiki/hypertext assignment. I tried to explain, more in the paper than in class, the pedagogy that I think supports the assignment, so I guess I’ll start there.
Students learn better when they are actively involved.
Students are actively involved in the annotation, small
group discussions, and the web creation.
Collaboration encourages learning.
Collaboration is necessary to format the web page.
The discussion involved in negotiating ideas leads to deeper
understanding.
Negotiation takes place when the differing ideas are
discussed.
Students are more attentive when the learning is fun.
Most students view web pages and wikis as fun
Learning should be student centered
The students are responsible for their own knowledge
with only guidance from me.
Diverse opinions are valued.

I believe the assignment is pedagogically sound and helps students meet the stated objective.

Now to turn to the actual presentation. I felt very short of time. This is obviously an assignment that takes more than one class period to complete. However, I knew that when I decided on this lesson. But… I didn’t expect the time to pass as quickly as it did. I should have planned that a little better.

This is not the way that I actually teach this assignment. Though I do tell students what the goals are for an assignment, they are not usually voiced in the way that I did last night. I would not tell my students that I want them to negotiate and articulate. I would tell then to discuss and come to a workable solution, to agree to disagree.

I would have prepared the students ahead to use the technologies. These would be practiced in class. The wiki work and class discussions would take place well in advance of the due date for the assignment so that students have the time to become familiar with the web authoring. I did not make this clear last night.

I wish I had a copy of a student web page that I could have shown as an example. I used to have an absolutely beautiful one but cannot find it. (Must be that absent minded professor thing.)

Overall, I am pleased with the presentation. I made a couple of mistakes, but I think that I did explain and demonstrate the assignment.

Now I have a question for you. Should I offer an option for students who don’t want to/feel they can’t create a web page?

Please make lots of comments/suggestions!

Edith