After doing the required reading and examining the websites listed in the course notes I am very interested in learning more about wikis. I thought our textbook, Library 2.0 and beyond, gave some very practical uses for wikis in public libraries. Such as using a wiki as a tool for internal communication amongst the employees in the library, communication between institutions and as a research guide.
I think these practical applications of wikis can be applied in the classroom and school library media center. Wikis would be a great way for teachers to collaborate with each other and the media specialist. A teacher might create a wiki on a certain subject matter and then others could add resources about that subject matter to the site. Examples of lessons plans and student work could also be added. Let’s say I was doing a unit on Ancient Greece and I created a wiki for my unit I could upload all my references, ideas, projects, etc. and then the other history teachers from the school, or even other schools, could upload their ideas and resources about this topic. The literature teachers could upload suggestions on readings that would go along with the topic as well as science and math teachers. I think doing a wiki on a certain topic would be great and could be the stage for an interdisciplinary unit being formed, especially in high schools because they are not arranged around teams which makes it more difficult to collaborate with other teachers.
Another example of taking the above idea to a grand scale is found at http://tinyurl.com/nvu9v. This is a wiki site where the country of South Africa has put up the entire national high school curriculum. “The goal is to make it easy for teachers to share information on how to deliver certain lessons or achieve certain goals with their students” (Richardson p. 62). Just imagine what this resource could be.
As far as using a wiki in the media center, I think it would be a great place to host an offsite book club. Students could read the assigned book and then comment on it. They could read their peers comments and then comment on those. The media specialist could facilitate a discussion which could be contributed to by students from home or school. The wiki could also have student created content about the book, such as projects, links to reference sources explaining parts of the text. (Richardson, p.65)
I think there are an infinite number of possibilities for using wikis. William Richardson, in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcast, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, states “Your students, with just a little help from you, could create book-reports 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 wikis, wikis for individual countries they might be studying, political-party wikis…you get the idea” (Richardson p. 65-66).
I think the use of wikis in classrooms and media center is about to take off and revolutionize the way we collaborate with each other. It has the potential to be such a powerful tool for educators. Without sounding like a total dork, after reading many articles about wikis I was so excited about using them and the amazing possibilities one can do with them, I could barely sleep all night. Corny I know, but true. Thanks for bearing with me as I probably posted way more of my thoughts that you cared to know.
Richardson, Will. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tolls for Classrooms. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
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Prior to this class I did not really know much about wikis. In fact, I didn't know the difference between a wiki and a blog. I do know now and will concur with you that wikis will be a force to be reckoned with as times goes on.
ReplyDeleteI really would like to know exactly how they are controlling the data in Africa, because if anyone can basically put in their two cents; does the site then become comprimise?
Just a question. I know the wiki has its place in education we just have to make sure it is in its right niche.
I will attempt to look up the information about Africa and their wiki.
I enjoyed reading about Wikis this week and seeing the various wikis created by the high schools listed. I was impressed with some of the work teachers have posted at their school's wikis. I think wikis are great for teachers to connect with other teachers, as well as show the school what their classes are doing. To make it even better with wikis teachers can connect with other schools as well. I look forward to having a wiki within a media center for teachers to post students' projects or to have discussions. I think Liz's idea about a book club is an excellent idea. This would be great for students and teachers to share their ideas about books they have read. I like to read opinions/reviews about movies, and this could be done in a similar way with books. Perhaps even we could use stars like they do with movie reviews. I enjoyed reading the wiki posted by the teacher about the Mung boy and the work she created using pictures of Kenya, and even including a recipe. Students could use these lessons and questions as they read the book in class. I thought the wiki was done very well. It inspired me to create one myself and possibly read the Mung boy book with my students. The ideas to use with wiki are endless! I think students, teachers, and media specialists will use these more and more in the future.
ReplyDeleteI like all of the ideas that you listed for using a wiki. At my school we are starting to experiment with wikis. We have recently began to do our vertical team alignment meetings through a wiki. This allows us to post our ideas and then have everyone add to, agree, disagree, or make changes. It is working very well so far. The one problem that we have had is that all members do not check it on a regular basis. This is frustrating to members but we are hoping as people get used to it that this will improve. All technology has kinks but I think wikis are worth the experimentation because they have so many benefits to offer.
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