Use Wibki To Organize Your Classroom
Using technology in the classroom is not always the easiest, especially for those teaching in a K-12 classroom. Teachers need a way to organize websites, make it easier to control several different computers, smart phones and tablets at once, and have their students navigate the web even if they are not always on the same reading and typing levels. Several teachers (such as Ms. Day and Mrs. Distler) have already discovered Wibki and have integrated it into their classrooms, and here is why...
- Use one computer to update the homepage for everyone.Whenever you add a website to your favorites, the logo is automatically uploaded. Therefore, if you add the website to the classroom Wibki page at your desk, the students also logged in to the page on other computers can access it immediately. This will save you time as an educator from going around and making sure everyone is at the right site or having to add the bookmark to each individual computer, which will leave more time for educating.
- Easy to use for students of all ages. Not every student has the technological, reading or typing experience to be able to enter long URLs to reach specific pages, however younger students are able follow color/picture/shape prompts. Because this tool uses logos, a teacher can describe the logo to the students who can then navigate to a specific webpage with a point and click.
- Directs students to school/age appropriate sites and legitimate research sites.Teachers can include a "research" tab or something similar in order to highlight websites appropriate for the class. There are many sites out there that do not have legitimate information or information that is not appropriate to include in a research report, and Wibki can help direct students in the right direction. Some teachers also provide a “games” tab that includes educational games, such as typing and math reviews, or age appropriate free-time games.
- Log into the site from any computer, smart phone, or tablet and have same bookmarked sites.Often times, research is not just done in the classroom, and students will need to continue on their own time. If your students are not just working from home, a library, or from the computer lab at the school, the website is accessible on any computer, smart phone, or tablet with the log-in information. All the student needs to do is sign into the account and they will have the exact same websites bookmarked. This is helpful for at home research or even extra practice with educational games and practice tests. This is also helpful for classrooms in schools where the computers travel between classrooms each day.
One challenge of classroom teaching is staying organized and ensuring that each student is on track and keeping up. These challenges are heightened in a smart classroom where it is easy for students to get distracted and for those without technology experience can struggle. Using Wibki as an educational tool is one way that teachers can close that gap and make sure that the use of technology in the smart classroom can be effective and efficient. For more examples of educators’ Wibki pages, check out www.wibki.com/english204 and www.wibki.com/phoenixacademy.
