LLS: Global Awareness through Wiki Collaboration

Phaedra Taft and her 4th grade students are communicating with students and their teacher in Myanmar via a wiki.

Image Source (Click on map for larger view)

How was this connection created? Phaedra explains:

The connection arose when the mom of a student was chatting with a friend in California who started Friends Without Borders, an exchange between India and Pakistan. The friend had just gotten a request from a teacher in Myanmar for a 4th grade class in the United States, and the friend in California knew that my student's mom had a 4th grader at home in Westport! Then they asked if I would be interested in an e-mail exchange. I was interested and decided to start a wiki.

The study of Myanmar supported the introduction and reinforcement of many of the geography terms that are in the Social Studies curriculum. Information and technology literacy skills are addressed through the use of the wiki, and in the group research projects that students did to understand the culture, geography and history of Myanamar. Students followed the Science Inquiry procedure and created PowerPoint presentations, and some students made newspapers and sculptures to present the synthesis of their research. The communication with students in Myanmar will also complement the biome unit beginning in 2 weeks.

Since the wiki is private, below you will see is an image of the font page of the wiki. (Click on the image to view larger.) Students and teachers have a logon and password to enter the wiki, then they can go to the topics and add their entries in comments.

(Click on image to see larger view.)