Wiki's

I already new that wikis could have a powerful and effective impact on the learning process.  The articles and resources only confirmed many of the things I already knew.  One negative point about wikis is the same as the most positive point in wikis, which is the ability that anyone can go on the wiki to delete, edit, and change information.  This can be  a wonderful  thing because it will allow for those who are not as vocal and aggressive in a social setting to still contribute to classroom discussions and projects.  This can be a negative aspect in the sense that if a person provides erroneous information , that data can be made available to the public and for free.  I remember seeing articles in which someone edited information in a wiki, (Wikipedia) pertaining to a famous person and the erroneous information found its ways into the newspapers and other media outlets. This link provides a story in which a comedian was falsely reported deceased, http://lostremote.com/false-posting-on-wikipedia-reports-sinbad-dead_b2363 .  There is a trust issue involved as to who can edit information in a wiki.  You have to trust that what is being made public and available on the wiki is also valid and true, the article 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis, discusses this to some extent and I totally agree with it. I will also admit that I use Wikipedia at least once per week, so I rely heavily on this wiki and normally trust the information that is on the site.

After reading the articles, I was excited about the possibilities of using the wiki to post information related to some school activities in which I am a part of.  It is a great place for students to post assignments, as they won't have to be plagued with "losing" their homework because all they had to do was post the assignment. I would like to see more schools use wikis to share information, as  a new way to promote learning.

Wonderful World of Wikis

Vickie Holmes

Wikis

I had my first introduction to wikis during one of my classes here at West Georgia.  I had heard of them before, but never created one or saw one in action at my school.  Using the definition from Library 2.0 And Beyond, a wiki can be defined as “a website in which the content can be created and edited by a community of users.”  Depending on how they are set up by the administrator, they can be edited by anyone or those with an account.  It’s a tool in which communication of various types can take place.   I don’t know why I never connected the dots before on this one; but Wikipedia is one of the most famous wikis created.  The content is open to all viewers and anyone can edit.  This is one of the reasons why I never use it for an authoritative source for articles.  I will use it for information, but always back it up with a reliable source.

Monica Morscheck wrote an article called, “The school library and the VLE”.  The acronym “VLE” stands for Virtual Learning Environment.  In this information age using wikis is a great way to promote VLE within the media center.  Librarians can use wikis as a way to bring information about the media center to the school, staff development for specific grade levels, and a way of communication between stake holders and the media specialist.  A wiki can be used as a great collaborative space for effective cooperative planning and teaching.  Time is valuable in our profession and this is a way to communicate without having an actual meeting.

Keith McPherson wrote an article for Teacher Librarian on the topic of wikis and student writing.  He taught students how to use wikis for collaborative writing projects in the media center.   He suggested for primary students they can begin creating an animal alphabet wiki.  Intermediate students can use a wiki to create a story with multiple beginnings and endings.  Secondary students can use a wiki to create hyperlinks from an existing poem to pages containing their responses and understandings.  But he does stress that students need to be taught how to use wikis and develop a few rules for collaborative writing on wikis.

I plan on developing my own “wiki” for the media center when I finally get a chance to become a media specialist.  But until then I can use wikis for relaying information, links, and articles that deal with reading to my parents.  Developing a wiki for book talks would be a great idea; students can respond to books on the page and read how other students feel about the book.  

Of course, if you have taken Dr. Cooper’s referencing class, you have had great experience with projects using wikis.  Most wiki programs are free and easy to understand how to use.  You Tube offers wonderful tutorials on how to enhance wiki pages.

In conclusion when you are developing a wiki consider your audience.  Do you want them to be able to edit?  Teach students how to develop and use a wiki properly.  There is a protocol to follow when you are doing collaborative projects.

Now it’s time to hear from you!  How does your school or business use wikis?  What do you like the best or dislike about wikis?

References:

Courtney, N. (2007). Library 2.0 and Beyond. p(25). Libraries Unlimited, United States

McPherson, K. (2006). Wikis and student writing. Teacher Librarian, 34(2). 70-72

Morscheck, M. (2011). The school library and the VLE. Access (10300155), 25(2), 23-27.

Podcasts

Podcasting is a creative way to record just about anything you want to redeliver.  A podcast is an audio file recorded on the computer and later shared with others.  Podcasting can be used to record and redeliver notes for an absent student, to share a favorite book with others, or to present information to a large audience online.  Podcasting has become a very useful and valuable tool for educators everywhere.  My first run-in with podcasting began a few years ago when I stumbled upon a teacher's blog.  The teacher (British Literature teacher in New Jersey) posted tons of lectures about the material I was teaching along with lesson plans and student activities.  These podcasts were posted for his students in case they were absent or wanted to review for upcoming tests.  I thought to myself, what a wonderful learning tool.  Plus, I learned new ways to present material to my own students.

I have to admit, I've never enjoyed the recorded sound of my voice; however, I've grown to like the ability to record class lectures and discussions to share with students who are not present in class.  Although never completely perfect, a recorded class meeting is much better than missing the meeting altogether.  With podcasting, I can ensure that my students are receiving their course material and not missing out on valuable classroom discussions.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe in recording every single class meeting (I'm sure my seniors wish I would because they would probably be absent on purpose), but I can see recording those meetings where missing the material and the discussion that follows would be detrimental to the learning of the student.  Also, I've recently considered different project ideas for my students to complete as podcasts.  My thoughts are to post the podcasts for students to listen to on their own time in order to prevent using class time for presentations.  Of course, presentations are valuable in their own right, but what a time saver!

This is a welcome post.
Welcome!