Learn and share on a wiki

I planned a lesson in which I had students learn about renewable, non-renewable, replenishable, and recycleable resources from any resource they wanted, then read examples of each kind of resource on a wikispace, then add two examples of their own that were not close to those already listed on the wikispace. Then each student was to comment on why they suggested that kind of resource belonged to that group.

Some students chose the book we use for the class to find information about the terms, but more chose sites on the Internet, frequently wikipedia. They placed their examples on a wikispaces site, and we will discuss them during the next class.

What I particularly liked about this assignment was that I could watch each entry as they submitted it, and I could determine the validity of each suggestion and get back to the student in class (as I did for two of them). Those students reviewed their submission and changed them.

Next class we will review the characteristics of the four kinds of resouces, then make verbal descriptions of the characteristics of each. They will then review the list they, as a class, put together last class and in their cluster, evaluate the examples and reasons for each category and report changes they would make to the class.

After students completed the assignment:
Only one student did not get the assignment done in the five days since the last class. She didn't attempt the assignment until after 10 pm the night before class and said the Internet would not give her access to the wikispace. When she tried it in class, it opened immediately. After a discussion of the terms, all students were given an assignment of reviewing, correcting, and elaborating on what they had placed on the wikispace.