Wikis? Hmmm.... I have been intrigued by wikis and wanted to use them in my classroom for some time. Honestly, I have felt overwhelmed with where to start though! The idea of the collaboration is a great idea! I guess my take on the concept of a Wiki is similar to that of group "projects" that we had to do as kids. You know the projects where we work together to create a brochure and one person is the artist and...well you know the rest! I think to put it more currently, it is somewhat like what WebQuests were to the Internet several years ago. Except now students are just compiling information, they collect, construct, and present.
The first several sites I went to had me EXTREMELY overwhelmed. I had a hard time trying to decipher exactly what their purpose was. I also need to admit that this is my biggest fear in trying Wikis is currently. I want to try it and work with it. But I didn't feel I had a good grasp of the concept to use it well enough to be considered anything other than fluff!
One site that I really kind of struck me was the 3rd graders Oregon Trail Wiki. http://gowest.wikispaces.com/
I was really impressed with what the students were able to accomplish on their own. As I reviewed the Wiki, I was amazed by the amount of information that was being presented. I started to think "What an excellent way to teach students about so many things." Students taking charge of their education and having the chance to share what they have learned with the world. I honestly was very impressed with what the kids accomplished.
Further through the sites there was one by a Kindergarten class: http://kcountingbook.wetpaint.com/
What an amazing way to introduce students to technology and learning. Looking back, that is one thing I think would have been a huge asset to the students I teach! They have a hunger and passion for using technology, any technology, and if they had that at an early age I can only imagine the things they would have been able to do!
Another intersting Wiki was in Vicki Davis' article. I was impressed how her middle school students were working so amazing with Wiki's and the way her school community seemed to latch onto the idea and started to run with it! She shared that even her students had created a "study hall" wiki on their own for various topics to help each other with vocabulary for almost every content. http://studyhall.wikispaces.com/
The students posted things from samples of poems to notes from biology class to share. How amazing to see what one teacher does and how it spider webs out to the others. Truly amazing.
Things that I didn't see in the Wiki's that I am curious about:
I didn't see where there was much collaboration on the 3rd grade Wiki. I noticed that there were only 4 or 5 log ins and they were all the teacher Id. I imagine that the teacher monitored things until the final product and then let them upload. I think I would like to see the actual collaboration of students on a project and see where they are building their final product online together. Some of the other sites did manage to do that.
I am still reluctant to try Wiki's! I will do them, but I need to review some more sites and see exactly how it would best impact my students. Although, I am convinced that they will be amazing no matter how I choose to utilize the Wikis.
One thing that I find hard to remember is that you don't have to do everything all at once; You can have a work-in-progress. When we look at the wiki examples, we see something that has been created over time and think, "Gee, I want that." We are seeing a version of the "finished product." That wiki wouldn't be used as an example if it was in the beginning stages. These wikis have been up and running for a while. So, replace the fear with a small idea and try that one. Then add and change as needed. Plus, the students know more about this than we do, so they will have all the ideas. Then, there is always the fact that you can change it back if you don't like what a kid does.
ReplyDeleteRobb,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have said what Jessica said any better!! Some of what you probably saw were examples of wikis that have been around for a while. They were overwhelming to me, too!!
Start small!! I have a few teachers who only started using wikis for the message board features at first. The kids LOVED them. It gave them a "home" in which to have discussions and each student had their own voice heard instead of waiting to be called on.
Some teachers may not have individual logins for younger kids, which may explain why you didn't see as much interactivity as you might have desired. Also, depending on the task the wiki is designed for, some may be used more to display final products than as a centerpiece for a collaborative endeavor. Remember that a wiki is a flexible site that can be used in a myriad of ways.