Wikis

Chapter 8: WIKIs

I was utterly fascinated by this chapter because the idea is one of the only that we are working on this semester with which I am unfamiliar. Of course, wikipedia is no stranger; I use it constantly myself and with my tutoring students at U of L. However, I never knew or even thought about the implications of a wiki in the classroom. I think it seemed like something kids couldn’t do before I read this chapter. Now, I see all the wonderfully exciting possibilities.

A few sections of the text jumped out at me, so I will just give a few examples:
1. “Giving students editorial control can imbue in them a sense of responsibility and ownership for the site and minimize the risk of someone adding something offensive” (65).

Anytime we can promote a greater sense of responsibility in our students, it is a positive thing. So many of them have no sense of responsibility, no accountability, and no sense of purpose in general, this can be such a great help. In my experience, if you give the students responsibility for their own learning and the success of a large project, many of them will rise to the occasion in a big way. Also, this is a way to teach morals and ethics without getting tricky, or stepping on anyone’s toes in a religious way. I love it!

2. “On his own blog, Paul says, “To write in a wiki is to compose within a living organism”. As students approach the wiki with writing ideas in mind, they first search to see if content about that topic has already been posted. So they need to read critically first, if they are to find the areas where information is missing or disorganized” (67).

The idea that using this and other kinds of technology requires students to “read critically” is a new idea to me, and is great for gaining support from administrators/faculty. If those of us who believe in the use of these technologies can present the benefits, which are numerous, and minimize the possible negatives, we can finally bring our students and our schools into the 21st century. I had honestly never thought about the fact that students must read critically in order to use a wiki effectively before reading this, and it makes perfect sense.

3. “The collaborative environment that wikis facilitate can teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is more and more becoming a group effort” (74).

I am a big believer in creating a safe, hard-working, organized community within the classroom, so this idea really hit home. In order to be the best we can be as teachers, we have to not only teach students core content and POS, but we have to get them ready to live in a technologically advanced world as well if we want to set them up for success. This sense of community online is spreading like wildfire, especially through social sites like MySpace or Facebook, and tapping into that for educational purposes is a brilliant, and necessary idea to reach students.