Wiki reflections

I used a SWOT analysis to examine the learning potential of a wiki in my teaching:

Strength   ·         All students “own” the wiki ·         One easy location for all students to access most up to date version (rather than multiple copies on everyone’s usb and hard with version control) ·         Teacher can monitor how students are progressing with project, and provide feedback. ·         Can add videos, tables, web links, calendars etc. ·         Can personalise so students can have ownership over design and layout.

Weakness   ·         Doesn’t allow for simultaneous editing. ·         Easy to delete other students work (however, can be recovered). ·         Restrictive with editing tools (can’t define column width etc)

Opportunity   ·         Shared learning and group work. ·         Share learning with community groups or students from other towns, states or countries. ·         Peer editing as students can edit their peers’ work (grammar, spelling etc) ·         Post example test questions and allow students to work together to practice questions.

Threat   ·         Potential for unethical behaviour – bullying, slandering etc as students are given free reign. ·         Potential for students to delete other students work – need to set rules before creating wiki. ·         Requires all students to have access to computer and internet.

Overall, I think a wiki will be a useful tool in my teaching.  As mentioned in my earlier blog post about the wiki class activity, wikis call for higher order thinking skills as outlined in Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Depending on the purpose of the class or group wiki, students have the potential to collaborate, moderate each other's work, debate issues, comment, review and question thoughts of their fellow students and those in the wider web. 

 

The wiki that I created was based on a Home Economics topic that students are likely to work on – nutrition, physical activity and health.  Using the wiki to structure the assignment will give the students the guidelines to work within (as well as scaffolding so that they know what larning is intended out of the individual activities).  It allows all the students to own the wiki, rather than a blog where each student owns their own … making it much more appropriate for group work.  I like that the wiki stores all the information in one central location, so should eliminate the problem of multiple versions of the same document, and each student having to carry around the latest version on their usbs.  However, like all ICT, it does require students to have access to a computer/laptop and reliable internet access.  I know I always bring this up, but I feel it is very inequitable if all students don’t have these essential requirements.  It is limiting those students who don’t have these facilities at home to have to do their assignments at school (and in school time as I don’t think students are allowed to stay back late after school to use library facilities etc??).

Wikis have the benefit of being able to add tables, video clips, web site links, calendars etc so that it can be used as a way to collect all the research before completing the assignment.  Many of these multimedia items will also probably be used as part of the final product, so it is beneficial to have it all in the one location.  In group work, this can reduce duplication and reinventing the wheel, as group members can see what their peers have researched and added.  They can then build on what their peers have added, or find new areas that they may not have thought about before by themselves.  So wikis can help peers teach peers in a non threatening environment.  Unfortunately, there is the risk for wikis to not be supportive.  As students are given 'free reign' there is the potential for bullying, slandering and deletion (or inappropriate editing) of other students and their work.  I think that, like as mentioned in an earlier post about blogs,  a lesson on safe, legal and ethical guidelines needs to occur before work in wikis starts, and the class should be involved in setting their own rules and guidelines (and consequences) around unethical behaviour.

The ability for each wiki to be personalised by the students may enhance creativity, ownership and team bonding.  As a group, they can decide the look and feel of their wiki to make it their own.  Because it is a public space, it also shows the world what they are about.  So when they collaborate with students from other classes or towns or even countries, they can not only discuss the project or topic, but they can open doors for greater connections.  For example, one group may have a strong design theme around nature, which may start conversations with other groups who are also interested in nature.

 

Traditionally, projects and assignments were completed by the student, submitted, and marked by the teacher.  With the use of wikis, students are essentially marking their own work to a degree.  They will be involved in editing each others work by providing feedback on concepts, and editing grammar and spelling mistakes.  Wikis provide a lot more editing and feedback along the way.  Teachers are able to see how students are progressing in their projects / assignments by viewing the wiki periodically, and are able to submit comments throughout.  Teachers are also able to see the contribution of each student into the project, which is very hard to see in a paper-based traditional assignment.  I would anticipate that because of this transparency, there would be a more even distribution of tasks and contributions from all students.  For exams, teachers are also able to post practice exam questions so that students can work together to answer the questions.  Through each of their comments, the collective knowledge of the topic will be much greater, which will hopefully reflect in the final exam.