What is a Wiki?
Wikis are a fairly new and
limitless technology that is being used in many different instances today.
There are Wikis created for everything from the classroom to skateboarding. It
seems that everything has a Wiki. So what exactly are Wiki’s? Wikis are web
based cites that allow multiple users to add and edit information on a
particular topic. Of course, this makes for an interesting discussion since
many people would be worried about allowing anyone to edit the Wiki. What if
someone just removed all the content? What if people were uploading false or
misleading information? These are all issues that need to be considered before beginning
a Wiki. It is possible to have an access code before others can edit. This would
ensure that the content is more accurate and remains unchanged, but is this
against the whole idea of a Wiki as a user edited tool? I do not think so. I
think Wikis can have various purposes from a user edited program to an
information database that users cannot edit. Both have their uses and places
within a learning community.
How can Wikis be used?
I can see Wikis being used in many
different ways within a media center. First, it would be a great collaboration
tool for a school as a whole. The media specialist could set up the wiki so that
all teachers and school staff would be able to edit and add content. There
could be pages of resources and files for each subject taught or each class as
well as information for the school as a whole. This could be invaluable to have
as an information database about everything to do with a school. It would help
with the ease of finding information when it is needed instead of searching through
email accounts, network shared drives, personal information saved, etc. Personally,
I would love to use this tool just to lessen the amount of emails we receive on
a daily basis with school information.
Within this school Wiki, or even separate
from it, the media center could have its own section. This could contain all
the pathfinders created, media center information, podcasts, webinars, etc.
from the media center. There could even be a section that students could edit
and add their own book reviews or commentary. I like the idea of a sandbox that
Library 2.0 mentions. This would be a section that anyone could edit and play around
with to allow students the opportunity to learn about Wikis as well as share
information throughout the school. I know the thought of allowing student
editors is scary, but the key to creating a truly collaborative resource is to
allow editors. Without allowing editing by users, the Wiki could quickly become
a storage Wiki instead of an instrument of collaboration. Editors need to have
a say in what information is provided so they can take ownership for the Wiki.
This will ensure that more people find the information useful and helpful.
Also, who wants to take on all the work of maintaining a Wiki by themselves?
I’ve used wikis for years without fully understanding what they are or their function, namely Wikipedia. It was not until my first technology course that I fully understood what makes a website a wiki. I love the collaborative nature of a wiki and completely agree about their functionality within a school, particularly the library. Great idea about the students posting book reviews on a library wiki, or the teachers compiling resources on a school wiki!
ReplyDeleteI feel that teachers could so easily utilize a wiki for classroom use, requiring students to submit portions to a wiki on a particular topic for homework. I think that so often teachers can become overwhelmed, myself included, with the task of teaching students on a new technology that we often think it would be easier to not use it. Many probably feel, “Where will I find the time to teach these students how to do this?” This is precisely why I wish that our classroom standards would integrate use of technology and teaching the use of it more so. In my opinion, learning to use technology is about as important as learning to read in today’s society. Technology is only going to grow and grow and become more and more apart of both the school and work settings, so it becomes a life skill too.
I absolutely love the idea of a school-wide wiki that teachers, administrators, and the media specialist could edit with information like useful websites, pathfinders, podcasts, and school-related news items. If sorted correctly, this collection of information would be incredibly useful and, since there would be so many editors, the workload of maintaining it shouldn't be too overwhelming. I like the idea that teachers can add new and useful content and remove links that no longer work, because it's really annoying (not to mention a waste of valuable time) to click on a link that goes nowhere!
ReplyDeleteStudent edited wikis are also great. I think that in classrooms where teachers or media specialists can oversee the content, wikis are a wonderful collaborative tool for student expression.
My experience with Wikis is extremely limited and has been entirely negative. I appreciate the thoroughness of your posting and the enthusiasm you exude at least dampened my hurrrumph with Wikis.
ReplyDeleteI found my only experience at collaboration on a Wiki this summer to be frustrating. Rather than facilitate communication/collaboration use of a Wiki confused and hampered it. While my partner saved us by not panicing and we did manage to save it, she accidentally erased all of our work the day before it was due. Several of us, myself included, have struggled with the Wiki were're using for this class.
The Cobb LMS are using a Wiki initiated from the County level. As a novice looking for answers I am frequently directed to it, however, navigating this labyrnth in which a couple of hundred editors organize information in ways that make sense each to themselves makes it a frustrated search through chaos when you need answers.
Wow, the idea that a wiki could lesson the amount of emails is amazing! I work at 3 schools and receive triple the amount of emails. I route through dozens of emails that don't apply to me or my job. I can only imagine the improvement a school wiki could have in order to share appropriate and necessary information. Teachers could use share lessons and resources, administration could share upcoming events, projects, evaluations.
ReplyDeleteI think we are so used to emails that it would take some getting used to. Everyone relies on email so much that it would take email notifications to alert changes to the wiki, but this is also possible. I think it's possible that checking and maintaining a wiki could become an everyday part of the job, it would just take some adjusting.
I had never heard of Wiki's until starting my grauduate classes. I like the idea you presented of how they could be used for a media center, unfortuanately, the county I teach in isn't as opened to Wiki's because of the fact that anyone can edit them like you mentioned. Hopefully, in the near future this will change and they will begin to see the amazing benefits of using Wiki's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information on Wikis. I have to say that I am more like Penny in that I have not had a good past with Wikis. The experiences I have had with them have been frustrating; however, I do like the collaborative nature of them as a technology tool. One thing that frustrates me the most is having multiple fonts/sizes/layouts when different people are adding to a document. Obviously, this could be fixed by agreeing on a standard prior to starting a project. But...even when I wanted to fix a font, it was stubborn and did not want to make the changes. Probably a user error!
ReplyDeleteI am the community service coordinator for my school, and I think a Wiki might be useful for students who are working on a similar community service project. I know that students get frustrated with having to constantly email or swap jump drives when they are collaborating on projects. By introducing them to Wikis, their stress can be reduced and that would give them more time to work on their projects.
I will certainly give Wikis another try in the future!
I think that the examples that you gave of using Wikis are great!It would be extremely useful to have a school wiki that teachers and administrators can post information on. I don't see it replacing email though, because I do not think teachers would check the wiki regularly unless they knew that they had to check it on a regular basis, and not just when they needed information on a particular topic.
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of a libray wiki. It would be great for students to add book reviews and other information to it. Personally, the idea of allowing students to have access to edit a wiki makes me nervous, but if there's something in place that makes sure that inappropriate content is not allowed to be published or something, then I would love to use that to allow students to post.
I know that using wikis on a regular basis would take a lot of adjustment, but I think it would be well worth it. Especially for information sharing among teachers.
Your post is very informative and filled with creative uses for the Wiki. All technology should have some established boundaries. Students will need to learn how and why technology is filtered. The use of the Wiki in the classroom and Media Center have a promising future. Students editing the site may not be in my comfort zone either. However, given the appropriate guidelines and expectations, the students will benefit from the experience.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points of interest.
I thought it was a great point that teachers could use wikis to collect and share resources. As a teacher, I could upload useful resources to the section that corresponded to my grade/subject. Likewise, I could look in that section for resources that other teacher had found useful for a certain topic. Regarding using one in the media center, a wiki would be a useful page for pathfinders, as long as it was connected to something the teachers utilized frequently. I think that as long as everyone used the wiki responsibly and professionally, it can be a great tool for collaboration!
ReplyDelete