Blog 6- Wikis

A wiki is a set of expandable web pages that can be edited by anyone. It is similar to a blog structure, but it can be edited, deleted, and modified using a browser interface or the work of other authors. They are collaborative environments by design that can serve as ways to collaborate and communicate through the Internet. Some features of a wiki are that they do not allow more than one person at a time to edit and there is a log that keeps track of every edit.

In the article, Collaborative Learning The Wiki Way, Engstrom and Jeweet described a project called Under Control, which had middle school children use wikis to promote critical inquiry and collaborative problem-solving skills. They chose to use the Twiki software program to complete this project.  This limited access to the wiki site to only the students and teachers involved in the project, in order to protect students' privacy. Teachers had access to all the wiki pages, but students only had access to the pages for their small group, to prevent students from changing or vandalizing others' work. Twiki uses a page-locking system, which only allows one person to edit a page at the time.  This is monitored by a pop up on the screen that informs if someone attempted to edit a page that had already being edited by someone else.

The teachers received ample training and discussed the pros and cons of the use of a wiki. They stated that the two lessons learned could be grouped into two categories: instructional issues and technology-related issues. A strong majority of teachers reported that their technology skills increased, but that they had more difficulty using the wiki than other communication tools. They also expressed concern that not all students were responding to one another?s edits. Most teachers also reported that the students researched on their own or in small groups without much support of the inquiry process. In regards to technological issues there were a few including, not being able to edit more than one paper or not enough access to computers. When teachers divided their classes into small groups and gave each student a specific job relating to different areas of the wiki, being locked out was not a problem.

I think a wiki would be great to use in teaching the steps of the writing process. My students can edit one another?s papers and provide feedback or suggestions for improvement. It would be beneficial to include different members from the school community to add comments and expand on one another?s thoughts. I would like to start a wiki for the parents and school community. Teachers, parents, students and administrators could all be involved. In first grade, we teach a unit on dental health. Students can post their poems, writings, etc. and the school community can respond to writings. The school community can write about similar experiences and post images and captions that capsulate the content.

Posted at 03:18PM Jun 20, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]