It's been a while but I am back blogging again... first chance to breathe since going back to school in September...
I always hoped that I could find a way to help my Year 7 students ease their way into their very first ever History essay on 'Why did William win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?' During the holidays I came across a website called http://ietherpad.com/ which would allow teachers to set up a secure area where students can edit a word processing document together whilst having a chat function to support each other's learning. What I particularly liked about etherpad was the fact that I could be part of the whole process without actually having to show myself online and offer subtle guidance whenever neccessary...
The effects of using Etherpad for the first time with students has been a really pleasing one and conversations with the students has revealed how much they have also enjoyed the experience. I am marking their assessment tasks over half term and it will allow me to evaluate whether it has made a great impact on their achievements...
Now the key to why this is a great Web 2.0 learning tool is the fact that you can link to the exact URL via the VLE and it ensures that all students get the help that they need from peer support.
Happy blogging and good fun collaborating...
I agree this is an excellent product. As you probably know it grew out of the now defunct Etherpad who made their code freely available. I tend to use www.titanpad.com - which is the same thing. www.primarypad.com has been set up by a primary teacher and so is a little more kid friendly. Did you know you can choose your own URL rather than accepting the obscure URL they offer you. So, you could type in www.titanpad.com/cheeseontoast (for example) and it would create that page for you provided it hasnt been created already. I have used it with all years - they love it. I even use it as a messaging box with my wife!!
ReplyDeleteJeremy
Thank you for a informative post.
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