Educators are increasingly seeing the benefits of collaboration and reaching out to each other for ideas. Because of this, educators want to share ideas with more people than just their neighbors across the hall. Blogging could allow this type of widespread collaboration, but most school districts block blogging websites because of inappropriate advertisements. Wikis provide a better alternative to blogging. They usually are not blocked by school district internet filters, so no special permission is needed to access them on the school’s networked computers.
Wikis allow any user with access to the internet to contribute to ideas, edit the page, and add new information. Thus, students and teachers can all contribute equally to a wiki. This allows for more ownership by a broad range of stakeholders instead of a limited number of authors on a blog with many people simply “commenting” on materials.
Wikis have many uses in the media center. The media specialist can create "Pathfinders" for teachers and/or students, in which they post quality sources of information for certain curriculum units. If a teacher or student finds resources that can be added to the pathfinder, they can do that themselves without having to go through the media specialist. (Most teachers and students do not like the hassle of going through someone and having to get permission to publish information.) Also, since wikis are internet-based, they have much more storage capacity for pages than a school’s server would have. A media specialist can post podcasting files in which she is giving booktalks or information literacy lessons. A classroom teacher can then pull these up on the projector and have the media specialist “visit” the room for instruction while the media specialist may be busy doing other tasks. Students could make their own podcasts for book reviews or projects they’ve produced and add them to the school’s wiki. This would get students very involved in the “wiki process.”
A classroom teacher can use a wiki in many ways. If students are completing group projects in which they have many electronic files, they can store them on the wiki. Any student can then log on to the wiki at home and continue working on the project. The teacher can access the students’ work from any internet-connected computer instead of just the school’s network. Also, wikis can be a great way to foster communication between the classroom and home. Teachers can make different pages on their wiki for different units and projects. Students can then easily share their work with parents that they’ve completed for these units. Most of the time, students’ work is stored on one computer in the school building and parents never get to see it. Also, the teacher could easily post a weekly newsletter, reminders about homework, and upcoming events on the home page of the wiki. One idea I found in my research that I really like is that of teachers posting podcasts or summarizing notes on the wiki so students can access them when studying for tests.
Finally, the educators already using wikis have a running start compared to educators who are not using them. Wikis are quickly becoming a favored way to store and present information to students because of their ease of use, cost effectiveness, and accessibility. Start your wiki today!
I like the way wikis can take collaborative planning to the next level. It can be difficult to impossible to meet and plan, especially across disciplines, yet most educators appreciate the educational value of cross curricula planning/learning opportunities. If a Language Arts teacher and Social Studies teacher want to plan a collaborative lesson, the wiki can be a great way to post various bits of instructional content, while also giving the teachers a place to plan how the lesson will work, sharing notes, a calendar for implementation timeline, etc. The teachers can do all the planning through the wiki, perhaps even posting audio and/or video podcasts back and forth to "discuss" the content and process sides of the planning. What's really cool about this process is that it can be picked back up the next quarter / semester / year and tweaked out to improve, without starting from scratch, and the teachers can visit the wiki in the interim to add something that comes to mind for future reference. A great tool with even greater potential.
ReplyDeleteBy Cecilia:
ReplyDeleteThis blog about Wikis is very comprehensive. I didn't know that school district Internet filters were unable to block information retrieved by Wikis.
Teachers can use Wikis to collaborate and share information. Specifically, teachers can share worksheets, lesson plans, reading lists and activities. Additionally, there is a "discussion" board where they can leave comments and questions. This will facilitate an organized approach to teaching; no teacher will have to "re-create the wheel". In essence, Wikis are like a electronic drawer filled with files containing detailed information that can be accessed 24/7.
The wiki allows the teacher and student to keep organization of their assignments. This has helped me with our class. I know our projects are posted. Teachers will have access to these projects when the students want to present their assignments in class. Since it is internet base, students can work on their assignments from home. Students can interact with their group member as well. Students will also be able to look at other posting. Teachers can interact with students as well. It was great after putting together the podcast and seeing the video. Teachers can have students to be creative with their activties. Teachers and media specialists will certainly find the wiki useful for organization of resources, collaboration between teachers sharing lessons, and teachers and students posting assignments.
ReplyDeleteI think it might benefit teachers for the media specialist to have a page that would list standards and books that would help teach that standard. I am aware this would be a huge undertaking but this is something I am looking at when I take a position in a media center.
ReplyDeleteSpecial consideration needs to be taken into account for students without access to computers at home. Possibly during a “centers” time, that/those student(s) could go to the computers to complete their part of the projects. Newsletters would need to be printed and any other necessary information you want those parents/students know/have.
I think it would be a good idea to have a page on the media center wiki devoted to websites that students/parents can use at home (Star Fall, Scholastic.com, Math Magician).
The possibilities are nearly endless with a little creativity and a wiki.
I like the aspect that you mentioned that students could continue to work on their projects from home. Since you can access a Wiki form any computer this could be extremely convenient to anyone using the Wiki and it would be a great way for students to continue doing their work. I also like the idea of a classroom Wiki that would have a "newsletter, reminders about homework, and upcoming events" this would be a great way to communicate with parents (especially since I rarely see my sons paper newsletter). There are many different uses of how to use a Wiki and the one that I really like is being able to create pathfinders and then everyone having the opportunity to add to these. This would be a great way to compile a lot of resources that would be readily available to anyone with internet access.
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned in your blog that teacher and students could use the wiki as a form of communication, assignments and reviews of lessons. Have you thought of using wikis as a way of professional development for teachers? Administrators could use wikis as a way of making “do-it-yourself” professional development sessions. These sessions could include tutorials of how to use new materials, blogs about questions or concerns and questions to reflect on about the information provided. The wikis would provide teachers with the flexibility to complete the professional development course on their own time, just as teachers provide information for their students to use during a time convenient for them.
I liked the point about wikis giving users the ability to publish or present information without having to "go through" anyone else. In our school district, many teachers have wanted to create classroom webpages that are in conjunction with our district's website. However, numerous times, teacher's requests have been turned down. Lack of server space has been cited as one reason for the denial. I'm sure the technology specialists' lack of time is probably another factor. A classroom wiki would be an excellent alternative to a classroom webpage! It goes beyond the mere presentation of information that a webpage provides and allows students to interact and present information themselves. In addition, lack of server space would no longer be an issue and, because of the easy nature of wikis, technology specialists wouldn't have to assist in the wiki development.
ReplyDeleteWikis do have many uses in the classroom and in the media center. I like your suggestion that the LMS could load podcasts to the wiki so that she can "visit" a classroom without actually coming to the class. Students would love to be able to make podcasts or produce things to be posted on the wiki. I know that the students in my class would be so proud to have their work "published". They love sharing their writings and projects with one another. Using wikis in this way could also increase parent participation because parents would not have to go to the school in order to see what their students are doing. The wiki might also replace newsletters. Many counties are having financial issues right now. Using a wiki instead of a newsletter might be reasonable. Also, a wiki is interactive whereas a newsletter is not.
ReplyDeleteBritney Keith