My next recipe tried and tested from the Web 2.0 Recipe Book was Wiki.
A collaborative Web site comprises the perpetual collective work of many authors. Similar to a blog in structure and logic, a wiki allows anyone to edit, delete or modify content that has been placed on the Web site using a browser interface, including the work of previous authors. In contrast, a blog, typically authored by an individual, does not allow visitors to change the original posted material, only add comments to the original content. (Webopedia)
A wiki is a content collaboration tool (Berger &Trexler, 2010, p. 94) where one starts with a base, adds sauce, meat, and cheese.
The cook keeps adding desired toppings to improve the taste, presentation, needs, and wants of the customer.
I have never set up or added to a public Wiki before. With this being my first attempt at setting up a Wiki I found the initial process relatively straightforward, just getting the base and sauce ready. Within a couple of days I was able turn the simple pizza into a pizza with a few more ingredients. Getting the ‘works’, is still in the works.
Learning About the Tool
Learning about the tool has come with its ups and downs. The front page that I created for my classroom had the characteristics of a blog, used to update parents on events and learning in the classroom. I added photos from
Fickr, links to Voki
and videos
that had been posted to youtube. A feature that I did find useful was having each student creating their own page with an introduction about themselves. Some of the more technological advanced students were able to add links to their favorite pages and upload a report they had written.
We very briefly worked on a class project through the Wiki, which discussed character traits that we were learning about.
Experimenting and learning about the tool I feel that I have learned about the basics of setting up the Wiki and using one for my class. Many ingredients can continually be added to improve the taste. The design is very basic as well as the tasks that the students have had to do. The main learning that took place is that it is not enough to learn about the tool outside of the classroom, it is also important to learn with the students inside the classroom, difficulties come up that one does not know about until later.
Positives
• able to share link with parents
• keep parents and students updated with pictures and students’ work
• students able to complete posts at home
• become better at thinking about other peoples’ thoughts and opinions
• work collaboratively
• able to have students work on group projects
• adding links websites that enhance learning
Negatives
• if all students are working on the Wiki at the same time, some students were overriding the saving of others
• not sure students are effectively critically thinking about the post and then adding to it
• could be difficult posting videos if parents did not want their child photographed
• if all students are working on the Wiki at the same time, they aren’t reading each others posts, just worried about getting THEIR posts done
• can take away from personal contact in class if the students are spending a lot of class time on the Wiki
Teaching and Learning
Wikis in the classroom are a way to open up your classroom to a whole new world. In reading many different learning experiences through Wikis, I would hope to someday soon have my class working on a wiki that brings others into the classroom or have my students be part of different collaboration groups. Before this can even take place, I feel that students need to be exposed to a lot of Wikis and finding different Wikis that interest them. Wikis can also be a place were I can learn along with the students (as usual), but I can also be a part of educational Wikis for teachers. There is no limit to what one can do with a Wiki.
So let’s take a minute and imagine the possibilities here. Your students with just a little help from you, could create book-report wikis, “what–I-did-this-summer” wikis, brainstorming wikis, poetry wikis, notes-from class wikis, sixth-grade wikis, history-of-the-school or –community wikis, formula wiki, wikis for individual countries they might be studying, political-party-wikis, exercise wikis… you get the idea. (Richardson, 2010, p. 66)
References
Berger, P. & Trexler, S. (2010). Choosing web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching in a digital world. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Wiki. Retrieved from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/wiki.html
