Wall Wisher
What is it?
Wallwisher is a fantastic online framework which allows students, teachers and other members of the community to collaborate and share ideas and information. It is simple to use and visually appeasing which means that students of many different abilities and ages can contribute and explore the site with ease. The idea behind the site is that it is a virtual pin board, where people can post ‘sticky notes’ with text (160 word max), images, audio files and even video clips. The ‘sticky notes’ are dated as they are posted and can be moved around on the site, which can be used for creating a sequence of events or timeline for example. The privacy settings mean that any posts added to the wall must be approved by the creator before being published on the wall.
No email account is required when adding a sticky note to someone else’s wall, however if you are wishing to create your own wall, you need to enter a valid address. In my own classroom, I will ensure that a student based account can be developed for individuals before students begin creating their own walls.
How does it work?
Click on the following video to see how to create and contribute to your wall wisher:
Wallwisher is a fantastic online framework which allows students, teachers and other members of the community to collaborate and share ideas and information. It is simple to use and visually appeasing which means that students of many different abilities and ages can contribute and explore the site with ease. The idea behind the site is that it is a virtual pin board, where people can post ‘sticky notes’ with text (160 word max), images, audio files and even video clips. The ‘sticky notes’ are dated as they are posted and can be moved around on the site, which can be used for creating a sequence of events or timeline for example. The privacy settings mean that any posts added to the wall must be approved by the creator before being published on the wall.
No email account is required when adding a sticky note to someone else’s wall, however if you are wishing to create your own wall, you need to enter a valid address. In my own classroom, I will ensure that a student based account can be developed for individuals before students begin creating their own walls.
How does it work?
Click on the following video to see how to create and contribute to your wall wisher:
Ideas for the classroom:
This resource is ideal for an endless list of ideas to use in and outside of the classroom. The fact that it is interactive creates a high level of engagement for students and its ease of use limits any frustrations involved in contributing to the wall.
Create a wonderwall page with KWL style questions in the sub heading before completing a unit of work
Develop ‘Go To’ of resources at the beginning of an assignment
Links to web pages / Books / Places to visit in the community
Generate inquiry based learning opportunities for students when beginning a new topic.
Find an interesting fact/video or image about the topic which you would like to explore
Share information and resources when working on group assignments
During literacy in the early years, use as a weekly wall when working with chunking and different sounds
Add a word that is in the ‘ch’ family
During numeracy in the upper years, students could be challenged to post an equation with a specific structure
Write an equation with 3 operations which equals 124
Use as a parent/teacher connection wall to ask about parent volunteers, notes, homework queries and other classroom information
Reminder wall – for personal use to record things that need to be done when organising sports days/field trips etc
Teachers can use the wall among their school to share links to ideas and lessons etc
Students post links to assignments which they have completed
Use the wall as a feedback source from the students about how they felt towards a particular activity, project or anything else.
Goal setting for the year could be created on the wall, where students write what they hope to accomplish over the week/term/ year.
This resource is ideal for an endless list of ideas to use in and outside of the classroom. The fact that it is interactive creates a high level of engagement for students and its ease of use limits any frustrations involved in contributing to the wall.
Create a wonderwall page with KWL style questions in the sub heading before completing a unit of work
Develop ‘Go To’ of resources at the beginning of an assignment
Links to web pages / Books / Places to visit in the community
Generate inquiry based learning opportunities for students when beginning a new topic.
Find an interesting fact/video or image about the topic which you would like to explore
Share information and resources when working on group assignments
During literacy in the early years, use as a weekly wall when working with chunking and different sounds
Add a word that is in the ‘ch’ family
During numeracy in the upper years, students could be challenged to post an equation with a specific structure
Write an equation with 3 operations which equals 124
Use as a parent/teacher connection wall to ask about parent volunteers, notes, homework queries and other classroom information
Reminder wall – for personal use to record things that need to be done when organising sports days/field trips etc
Teachers can use the wall among their school to share links to ideas and lessons etc
Students post links to assignments which they have completed
Use the wall as a feedback source from the students about how they felt towards a particular activity, project or anything else.
Goal setting for the year could be created on the wall, where students write what they hope to accomplish over the week/term/ year.
Who is it for?
Wall Wisher is a program which would suit the learning needs of students ranging from VELS level 1 right through to VELS level 6 and this is because it is so adaptable to the content being covered. As mentioned previously, it’s simple and easy to use features makes it ideal for younger users, however I have focussed on VELS level 3 to show how Wall Wisher incorporates the learning domains of ICT for students working at this standard:
VELS (VCAA, 2005) defines students working at VELS level 3 to be able to complete the following aspects. I have also included examples of how Wall Wishes can develop this skill:
Students develop skills in using ICT for presenting information for different purposes
o Opinion polls, assignments links, wondering, feedback, group work
Working in all areas of the curriculum, students explore a range of ICT tools and simple techniques for visualising thinking
o Brainstorms, questioning, sequencing events
They also use simple graphic organisers such as concept maps and sequence charts to provide a framework for visualising thinking.
o Sequencing events that are posted, creating timelines, family trees
Students are introduced to the simple security strategy of using passwords to protect access to their files when working on a network.
o Used for logging in and approving sticky notes posted by others
Students explore a range of written and visual communication forms such as the Internet which illustrates a variety of perspectives on a range of topics and ideas
o Student opinions about topics, student feedback walls
The above skills can be easily demonstrated and practiced through incorporating Wall Wisher in the classroom.
Wall Wisher is a program which would suit the learning needs of students ranging from VELS level 1 right through to VELS level 6 and this is because it is so adaptable to the content being covered. As mentioned previously, it’s simple and easy to use features makes it ideal for younger users, however I have focussed on VELS level 3 to show how Wall Wisher incorporates the learning domains of ICT for students working at this standard:
VELS (VCAA, 2005) defines students working at VELS level 3 to be able to complete the following aspects. I have also included examples of how Wall Wishes can develop this skill:
Students develop skills in using ICT for presenting information for different purposes
o Opinion polls, assignments links, wondering, feedback, group work
Working in all areas of the curriculum, students explore a range of ICT tools and simple techniques for visualising thinking
o Brainstorms, questioning, sequencing events
They also use simple graphic organisers such as concept maps and sequence charts to provide a framework for visualising thinking.
o Sequencing events that are posted, creating timelines, family trees
Students are introduced to the simple security strategy of using passwords to protect access to their files when working on a network.
o Used for logging in and approving sticky notes posted by others
Students explore a range of written and visual communication forms such as the Internet which illustrates a variety of perspectives on a range of topics and ideas
o Student opinions about topics, student feedback walls
The above skills can be easily demonstrated and practiced through incorporating Wall Wisher in the classroom.
References:
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). (2005). Victorian Essential Learning Standards: ICT. East Melbourne: VCAA.
www.teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/2011/03/22/free-tools-challenge-1-wallwisher
www.wallwisher.com
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). (2005). Victorian Essential Learning Standards: ICT. East Melbourne: VCAA.
www.teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/2011/03/22/free-tools-challenge-1-wallwisher
www.wallwisher.com