Wikipedia at a Glance

Wikipedia is an information wonderland. But is it good information? Wikipedia gets a bad reputation at times because of how it's set up: with anyone having the ability to add and edit entries. However, Wikipedia isn't just a nonsensical website. It has things in place and set up to help the information seeker find quality, trusted sites.  So instead of shunning wikipedia immediately and outlawing it as an option for researching, teach kids good digital citizenship and show them how to look for and analysis wikipedia articles for their quality and trustworthiness.

Padlock: there is a padlock on some wikipedia entries. The meaning of these padlocks can be found HERE. Padlocks restrict who can make an entry and who can edit an entry, making it a much more trusted source of information.

Stars: Some articles/entries are starred, which means they are "Featured Articles" aka best articles Wikipedia has to offer.

Good articles: Articles with a green plus sign in the middle of a circle are considered "good articles" and can be trusted.

Use Blendspace to create and share digital content

Edcanvas is a great tool to share digital content with your students online. However, Edcanvas has changed and is now called "Blendspace." With Blendspace, you can create a free account and customize how/what you share with your students digitally. With the amount of time our students spend online each day, let's use that. Blendspace gives you many options to push out digital content, pictures, video, information, powerpoints, etc. You can also create quizzes for them to take after navigating the content on your specific Blendspace. In creating your blendspace project, you can pull from flickr, google, youtube, vimeo, drop box,  google drive, and many other places. It is a free tool with loads of possibilities.

Above is an example of some of the things you can do/create with  Blendspace. You can share your creation via link, embed code, email, twitter, facebook, or even get a QR code! (QR code is a black and white box that looks like a t.v. when the channels don't work. Ant race, you might call it.)
Use Blendspace to provide your students with resources/learning tools they can use/access anywhere with internet. The learning is not just in the classroom or at the home anymore. Learning can be done on iPhone on the way to practice, waiting in line at Wal-Mart, or via their X-Box 360.