Wallwisher- Collaborative Post-it Board

by Langwitches ~ May 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Collaboration, Web-based Tools.

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Another tool popping up in the web 2.o ocean of web based collaborative tools: Wallwisher

I usually sign up for most tool that come around so I can try it out at least once. I believe, that the best ideas on HOW to use a tool, come about when you are in the process of using it, not just thinking about it.

So Wallwisher says about themselves:

Wallwisher is an Internet application that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily.

wallwishercom

One thing, I was not happy about from the start: There is a limit of characters in your USERNAME. It was the first time that EVER happened to me. “Langwitches” was considered TOO long of a username.  I was stumped, what was I going to do? I sat there and contemplated if I should even bother signing up if I could not have my name!!! Wallwhishers, if you happen to read this, could you allow longer usernames, pleeeeaseeeee :)

Once I got over it (well not really, since I am blogging about it), the rest was  easy and intuitive. I created a wall, chose the background, gave it a title and subtitle and double clicked to add my first stickie :

  • 160 characters or less
  • Add a link to an image, audio or video link

I grabbed the URL of my wall, twittered about it and asked others to add their own thoughts.

I see this as a potential for professional development as well as in the classroom. An advantage for working with students (especially elementary age ones) is that:

  • you don’t have to be a registered user in order to post a stickie
  • set preferences who can view and edit the board

Here are some potential uses I can envision:

  • any kind of collaborative brainstorming
  • virtual announcement board
  • create collaboratively a visual of relevant and supportive resources of a topic (bookmarking)
  • Get students /teachers to PARTICIPATE with their opinions

Larry Farlazzo listed a few potential uses on his blog post Wallwisher is a Winner:

It can be a great place for students to use higher-order thinking by creating categories of images (and descriptions) or short texts they copy and paste (or write themselves). It can also be used as a site for social bookmarking of websites if you just right-click the website you put inside the sticky-note and then click on “open in a new window.”

On Nik’s Learning Technology blog a lot more uses and examples of boards are listed. I especially liked his ideas about using the wall for:

Creating video and image activities or a space for debates

What uses to you envision or have used Wallwisher boards in your school with other teachers or students?
Here is my first board:
Building a Learning Community-

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6 Responses to Wallwisher- Collaborative Post-it Board

  1. Andrea Hernandez
    May 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 am

    I like this and can see a lot of applications for the classroom. I also am particularly interested in this topic you chose for your 1st board on creating a learning community.
    My frustrations were: I wasn’t able to read all of the stickies despite moving the slider tools every which way. I also tried clicking on one of the “view” preview windows which opened a portion of a blog in the window. I wasn’t able to move it, read it or close it. I had to go all the way out and come back to the blog in order to get back to the wall.

  2. The Schools We Need, Part 2 « changED
    May 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    [...] catching up on the huge number of entries in my Google Reader.  In doing so, I ran across this.  It’s excellent post by Silvia Tilisano in her Langwitches blog about Wallwisher, a website [...]

  3. Join the Discussion « changED
    May 3rd, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    [...] catching up on the huge number of entries in my Google Reader.  In doing so, I ran across this.  It’s excellent post by Silvia Tilisano in her Langwitches blog about Wallwisher, a website [...]

  4. Wallwisher « Amschool Web 2.0 Resource
    May 6th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    [...] read about this tool on the Langwitches Blog, followed it on Larry Ferlazzo’s Blog and viewed a sample on Nick’s Learning Technology [...]

  5. Sixteen Interesting Ways* to use Wallwisher in the Classroom | Technology Bits Bytes & Nibbles
    February 7th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    [...] Bright Ideas: http://slav.globalteacher.org.au/2010/02/03/wallwisher/ Langwitches Blog WallWisher: http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/05/03/wallwisher-collaborative-post-it-board/ Making Student Voices heard: [...]

  6. Jan Wells
    February 23rd, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    Hi ~ May I use your Building a Learning Community wall as an example for a PD training I’m doing?

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