Terry Warren, Putnam County Schools
Frustrated with the difficult, inflexible district website, Terry Warren turned to PBwiki to provide easy web publishing, and was surprised when his students became de facto web editors.
Simple and secure collaboration
Frustrated with the difficult, inflexible district website, Terry Warren turned to PBwiki to provide easy web publishing, and was surprised when his students became de facto web editors.
It's important that students can jump on, and get involved right away. They don't have to wait to go to the computer lab, if they have the password, they can access our wiki from anywhere.
— Terry Warren
Mr. Warren was looking for an easy way to engage the students of his eighth grade computer class and showcase their completed assignments. He knew that his students actively used computers at home, and was determined to find a way to direct that energy into his classroom. Before introducing wikis, Mr. Warren struggled to upload student work onto the Putnam district website. He looked for a flexible site that allowed him to easily upload content and invited student participation.
Mr. Warren turned to Pbwiki for a free, easy-to-use website that allowed his students to post and share their work. Each year, Mr. Warren asks each student to create a "question and answer" PowerPoint presentation. In years past, students presented their ideas, turned in the assignment, and the project was complete. With the implementation of PBwiki, students were able to post their presentation online and, to Mr. Warren's surprise, other student began actively participating in the PowerPoint "game." Even students outside the computer class were creating their own presentations and asking Mr. Warren for the wiki password. Mr. Warren was astonished to see how quickly the quality of work improved, once students knew that others were going to see and participate in their projects.
One of the key reasons that Mr. Warren chose PBwiki was based upon its tight security settings and ability to easily track changes. Mr. Warren knew that he could control what was posted on his site and felt comfortable opening it to his students. The result was a huge increase in student participation as well as a noticeable improvement in the quality of work.