Odvard Egil Dyril on affinity groups and Wikicities: interest groups are one of the Web's hottest trends.When Bill Gates recently told a meeting of state governors that U.S. high schools are obsolete, an online discussion group was organized among educators to debate the issue almost immediately. At the same time, another Internet group was embroiled em·broil tr.v. em·broiled, em·broil·ing, em·broils 1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . in a topic, Correcting home-school home·school or home-school v. home·schooled, home·school·ing, home·schools v.tr. To instruct (a pupil, for example) in an educational program outside of established schools, especially in the home. misconceptions about the public schools, and a third was addressing, Do you support educational vouchers? These targeted, special interest Web-based affinity groups were set up quickly and easily, thanks to the free technology of "Google Groups" that has launched online discussions on almost every conceivable topic, including schools. Educators throughout the United States have regularly visited Internet chatboards to exchange professional information that helps them do their jobs better and discuss issues that affect their districts. To illustrate, the many themes at administrators.net and teachers.net--threaded, so posts on specific topics can easily be reviewed-have included bullying programs, homework policies, job interview techniques and classroom management. Other educators have kept up-to-date with colleagues by participating in e-mail discussion groups through organizations such as the National School Boards Association and many districts send out their own electronic newsletters. New Alternatives However, administrators, teachers, parents and students in countless districts are now setting up specialized Web-based discussions through Google Groups, and also Yahoo Groups, Groups@AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. and MSN Groups, as well as ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. Groups that require the extra step of downloading free ICQ software. While most of the existing groups are open to anyone, others restrict membership but allow postings to be read, and some can only be accessed by passwords. The services have different communication features that affect how people express themselves and interact, so it makes sense to compare applications. For example, the Google Southern Arizona Brown Bag is designed for educators from school, district and state levels to discuss issues they face, and New York's Ossining Union Free School District Dual Language Program provides support for parents of students enrolled in that program. Similarly, the Yahoo Westbrook-Glen-Grove PTA PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education. in Illinois was established to enhance communications among parents, students and staff members at both schools, and Michigan's Ann Arbor Families for Autistic autistic /au·tis·tic/ (aw-tis´tik) characterized by or pertaining to autism. Children's Education and Support is open to families of children with autism autism (ô`tĭzəm), developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communication skills, social skills, and reasoning. . AOL also hosts a group for the Greenwood High School Greenwood High School can refer to many educational institutions in the United States:
Wikicity Collaboration Recently a new type of affinity group arrived on the Internet, following in the footsteps of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Known collectively as Wikicities, users create Wikicity pages on whatever interests them, and visitors can add to and edit the information they contain using tools included at each site. Wikicities offer powerful collaboration opportunities. For example, Paul Allison, a teacher in the East Side Community High School in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , founded the High School Online Collaborative Writing site as one of the first Wikicities for schools, to "build on what we already know about collaboration and language and take advantage of the unique features of this new media environment." So far, 10 other high schools in New York This is a list of high schools in the state of New York. Note: For schools located in New York City (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond counties), refer to List of high schools in New York City. have joined the group. "Collecting student work online is a challenge, but well worth the effort," he says, "and I am enjoying the work of deepening computer literacy." Your staff can use the resources below to visit, browse and join online communities on scores of topics that will benefit your district. But since it is so easy to start new groups, you also need a clear sense of identity and purpose, or else your group may be counted with too many others that are lonely outposts waiting for colonization. Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritus professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . Web Resources * Google Groups www.googlegroups.com * Yahoo Groups groups.yahoo.com * Groups@AOL groups.aol.com * MSN Groups groups.msn.com * ICQ Groups www.icq.com/groups * Wikicities www.wikicities.com * High School Online Collaborative Writing schools.wikicities.com |
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