With Wiki’s you can share and collaborate without having to purchase and install expensive software and with little if any training. As long as you have a web browser anyone with access to the wiki can modify it. You can correct and contribute to the wiki in real time if preferred. Assembly of a wiki is as easy as pressing add and delete which most every age level can use. You can work on it at any time or location with internet connection. Wiki’s encourage democratic use of the web. You can expand community involvement in your subject or activity. Teachers can engage their students in collaborative activities that they may not have time for in the classroom. Examples of use in the media center show that using a wiki encourages collaboration between the student, media specialist and teachers. Teachers can easily add links or assignments to the site themselves and students are able to access this information all in one place. Students can show off work with personal submissions of school work. All of which can be monitored and regulated by the media specialist easily. I had no idea Cobb County Media Specialists have a wiki that they all use and share ideas from. Topics such as Dewey and the OPAC Destiny include tips and tricks as well as instructions. This is perfect for newer media specialists to collaborate with veteran media specialists at the comfort of their own computer. Teachers by subject area could do the same thing cross county, or even state.
Wikis can be strong because authors/students can gain pride and a sense of accomplishment once they create their wiki. They can be good for teachers as well for collaboration of assignments and projects.
Wikis can also be weak in the fact you can make changes that could be inappropriate or even incorrect. Monitoring this can be very time consuming. Student may use them as a reliable source of information, even if they are not. Most popular is Wikipedia.
To make sure they do not just become passive “storage cabinets, users of wikis need to make sure they are visually appealing as well as trustworthy users and information. Be careful of who knows about the wiki and who has access to make changes to the space. My recommendation is to make sure one person constantly monitors the wiki and the material being added. Be sure to ask for feedback of all users to its value and make appropriate changes as needed.
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI agree that wikis can be great collaborative tools. As you said, they are very easy to use and navigate, and the beauty of them is that you can work on your own time! Teachers can collaborate with other teachers as well as students. And, as you said, groups can share information, much like our Cobb Library wiki.
I also have experienced some 'bad' wikis where information and links were not kept up-to-date, or had inappropriate postings. So, your point about having one person in charge of monitoring the wiki is a good idea. Also, I think a comment section would be a wonderful way to evaluate and revise the wiki.
Great pros about wikis. I have read some cons and its nice to read positive info on them. I like the recommendation for a comment/suggestions section on the wiki. This would be great even for a web site. Thank you for your post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the notion that the ease of use and ubiquitous nature of wikis (no software to buy, update, etc.) make them attractive resources to use in the media center and classroom. All it takes is a small time investment in training and practice and you have a fun, collaborative online space that is accessible to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a great point about how it can be difficult to monitor wikis for errors and inaccuracies. I suppose that, however, is true of many collaborative tools that allow multiple users to edit the content. Even though you might only allow specific students to have editing privileges, the wiki would still need to be checked periodically to maintain the quality of its information. I think that wikis are great tools for students to create informational resources as a class project that can be shared with classmates. Perhaps the most famous wiki of them all, Wikipedia, has a rather notorious reputation as an unreliable source of information due to its lack of documented sources, somewhat open editing, and shortage of authoritative contributors. While this reputation is somewhat deserved, I think showing Wikipedia to a student as an example is definitely a way to teach them about both the uniqueness of the medium as well as the need to make sure accurate, documented information is presented within their own wiki.
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting because I did not know wikis had "real time" capability. I am going to have to do more research so that I am able to navigate wikis as well as use them for resources. I also found your suggestion about requesting feedback on wikis to be a very valuable idea. Since wikis are designed to be helpful resources, a poll of patrons would determine how helpful (or not) the wikis are for the ones accessing them.