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[] Make Way for Wikis: Easy-to use software that lets students collaborate is heading to your school
 * WIKI**

In this article, written in 2005, Eric Oatman tells how media specialist, Sarah Chauncey, used a wiki to enhance the writing and social skills of her students. Chauncey was noted as using pbwiki.com, “pb” for peanut butter, to deploy fun writing exercises that were used to engage students in collaborative writing. The students used the wiki to draft news stories to be featured in the school’s web-based newspaper.

Other teachers were noted to have used wikis to help students gain insights to world events, and to enhance musical abilities.

Microsoft seem to be impressed with the idea of wikis as educational tools way back then. With their support K-12 teachers in Virginia were able to participate in a program at James Madison University to make them wiki literate. The group discovered that the use of wikis for learning was unlimited!

This article also explained how wikis work and used Wikipedia as a model for which librarians should take note. Although most librarians would use with caution, it is a perfect example of how many voices make one product.

This article gave insight as to how I might use a wiki to allow student to express their opinion of topics in the news. I could direct the students to online newspapers, have them read world and local news and then ask questions that would require them to post their reactions. It would also be really interesting to have student pen pals from other schools and record the conversations using the wiki.

Natasha McFarland

LIBRARY-MEDIA CENTER FLIPCHARTS [] This is a free educational website which has previously created flip charts lessons on various subjects and for all grade levels to incorporate in the classroom or in the school library. You can also create your own flip chart and add it to this site. This website is to be used with IWB boards/smart boards and I have found it to be a very valuable resource to supplementing my lessons! I didn't know this site existed until I started working at a new school that I am currently at.
 * WIKI**

For library purposes: as the site states: " Help your students learn about various concepts related to the library and media center with this listing of flipcharts, which cover research strategies, the Dewey Decimal System, arranging books and more!" All that is needed is a smartboard, internet access, a computer, data projector and creating a free account with promethean planet in order to download flipcharts and to create your own. The neat thing about the site is once flipcharts of your chosen theme or topic is downloaded and projected on to the smartboard,,,,the teacher can add to it and so can students. It's interactive and more engaging than just doing worksheets.

Sylvia Garza