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.
Anytime I find out about a new product for school, whether it is a new website, a new way to write lesson plans or anything like that, I always try to see how it can be beneficial to my students. When it comes to producing a podcast, the same is true. I work in a school with a high population of English Language Learners, so I am always on the lookout for new and innovative ideas that I can incorporate into the classroom. I loved the first article that basically described the podcast. It gave a lot of useful ways to use the podcast in the classroom and with children. One aspect I thought about after reading the article was how it can help a child with an IEP for speech. Sometimes children feel more confident in their speaking abilities when they do not have an audience. This would be particularly helpful for a student who has a speech impediment or difficulty with fluency. I think if a child has an opportunity to work on a podcast in their own private space it would be beneficial in helping the child to gain confidence in his speaking abilities. A student could even present a project by speaking through the podcast without having to speak in front of others, thereby allowing him to continue to contribute to his classes.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel like some students are too young to use certain types of technology. So, I purposely looked for a podcast that was done by a group of younger students, I happened upon the first grade class on the Radio Willoweb site that presented a very nicely done report of fish facts. It was done in the format of a news report, and each student had a particular role to play. Some presented research facts while others told fish jokes and there was a commentator as well. I absolutely loved it. It probably took a lot of planning on the part of their teacher, but it worked. I was struck by how well put together the podcast was for such a young group of students. It’s fair to say that students of all ages can utilize a podcast as a way of learning. I think another way a podcast can be beneficial is by allowing an English Language Learner to practice speaking and then listening to the podcast to try to improve upon his speaking skills.
I was thrilled to listen to some of podcasts and learn just a few of the various ways in which a podcast can be used to enhance instruction. I did take Dr. Cooper's reference class but I did not have to complete a podcast assignment so the whole podcast thing is new to me. I would love to read the article by Keith McPherson to enhance my ability to teach writing. Several teachers seem to struggle with teaching writing because it can be difficult to inspire the students. I am excited about the prospects of incorporating the podcasts into my weekly plans.
My first experience with Wikis was also when I started this program at UWG. I knew about Wikipedia and I knew it was a site that could be edited, but I never realized that anyone could create a similar site. I had not thought about using a Wiki to collaborate with my co-workers. If teachers are teaching a similar unit or focusing on a similar standard, a wiki would be a great place to compile resources for everyone to use. Don't know why that has never occured to me before, but it makes a lot of sense. I have never created a Wiki or used one outside of Dr. Cooper's classes, but now I feel like I have a good idea that would be a "risk free" way to start using Wikis. I really like that collaboration that Wikis offer. I do worry about the editing aspect because someone could accidently delete something important, but I think it would be worth the risk. I would definitly want to start using wikis with my co-workers that way we could work together to become familiar with Wikis. As we gained confidence in using Wikis, we could then start using that with our students.
ReplyDeleteVickie your ideas for implementing wikis in your own media center sound like they could be great resource for teachers, students, parents, and administrators. The only issue I know some media specialists may be faced with would be having the time and resources to update the wiki regularly, and because they are a resource meant for more than one contributor, there would be a need for monitoring the edits from others as well.
ReplyDeleteThe collaborative aspect of the wiki is what (I think) the best element of the wiki. Because wikis list the edits made to the wiki, who made the edits, and what time the edits were made, students are held more accountable than they may be during a “normal” collaborative assignment. Wikis promote true collaborative learning because students can contribute their ideas to the entire assignment instead of just submitting their own portion or paragraph to the assignment. When working on a wiki for an undergraduate class, I realized how important it is for collaboration when bringing multiple group member ideas together into one continuous paper or assignment. Each group member has the same responsibility to change or edit the wiki as they see fit (and it allows the option to undo edits as well). ☺ Wikis promote a solid sense of collaboration for students.
I really like the idea of creating a wiki for use in the media center. I believe this would be a great way for the library to connect with teachers and students. I wonder if you could get students to upload their own book synopses or summaries in order to get more students interested in reading. I've considered wikis as a useful tool in delivering and possibly monitoring professional development activities.
ReplyDeleteMy first introduction to wikis was also in Dr. Cooper's class. Since then, I have created my own wiki for my teaching portfolio. It has been an easy and manageable means of communicating with my administrator on my teaching goals and observations.
Using a wiki to communicate with stakeholders is an easy way to reach them. Most stakeholders are busy because they are business personal. A wiki can also be great to use to communicate with parents. Some parents have learned how to create a wiki. They could use it to share and voice their opinions about the media center.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that time is valuable and we need to learn how to use a wiki to communicate. Most meetings can be cut short if we use a wiki to help deliver the message.
A student learning how to create a wiki is a great idea in most cases. The student can use it to edit a paper or edit their classmate’s paper. As you mention in your paper, students need to be given some rules and guidelines on how to use the wiki and what they can and not do on someone else page.
Some students will be mean and try to destroy their classmate page. I hope when someone edit a page you can tell who that person is. Without guidelines or rules, this could cause a problem for the class.