What’s a Wiki??

Wikis are tools for group authoring.  Often group members collaborate on a document by emailing each group member a file that each person edits on their computer, and then some attempt is made to coordinate the edits so that everyone’s work is equally represented.  Using a wiki pulls the group members together and enables them to build and edit the document on a single wiki page.  Wikis are designed for collaborative authoring by everyone.    Possible uses of wikis include:  students can use a wiki to develop research projects, with the wiki serving as ongoing documentation of their work; students can add summaries of their thoughts from the prescribed readings, building a collaborative annotated bibliography on a wiki; a wiki can be used for publishing course resources like syllabi and handouts, and students can edit and comment on these directly for all to see; teachers can use wikis to share reflections and thoughts regarding topics; wikis can be used for brainstorming, and editing a given wiki topic can produce a linked network of resources.

• Is there a particular example of a classroom wiki which inspired you? No, just having to use them in a couple online courses that I have taken has opened my eyes to the ability to use wikis in a classroom setting.  I have seen the value in them and have tried a couple of times with some of the teachers in my building to use them with their classes.  We have used them in a Government class where the students used a wiki to collaborate on an election campaign project.  I have also used them with U.S. History teacher.  The students were collaborating about their Civil War projects.
• What was most challenging about creating a wiki together as a group in
  Activity 4-C-1?  One challenging part of the project was trying to find good sources for the topic that we were assigned.  Even though there is plenty of information on the topic, evaluating which sites would be useful to use to educate our students took longer than I expected.  I had two excellent partners to work with and we all chipped in to make the group experience a good one.
• What did you learn from the group wiki project? I think that I reinforced my belief that using wikis with the students can be very valuable and it adds substance to the topic being taught. The students can benefit greatly from making connections like this and by working collaboratively with each other. They are able to share their findings and learn from each other while completing their projects.
• Has your opinion of Wikipedia changed at all this week?  No, not really.  I think it can be used effectively in the classroom if the students understand how to use the site and teachers need to make them realize that the site should not be used as a primary resource.  Again, I think the use of wikis with students who are collaborating on group projects can enhance the project very much.
• Are you encountering resistance to using wikis in your class, either from others or from yourself? If so, how do you plan to respond?  No, I think there are teachers in my building that would definitely continue to use wikis with their students, but there is a small population, like with everything else, you must make them feel comfortable with using the tool themselves before they want to use it in class with the students.  I think it is a good tool to be used with the students and possibly with other teachers who would want to collaborate on curriculum writing or for other professional use.