My wiki
A wiki is an online webpage where users and guests can use editing tools to, modify, add, and remove information. Individuals who wish to contribute to the topic or change the information if they have a differing view do this. The difference between wikis and blogs is that with a blog, you decide on the content and structure alone, and nobody else is able to edit, or add to it, only comment. A wiki allows everyday users to create and edit any page in your wiki including adding hyperlinks to create new pages. This makes a wiki website ideal for the upload of examples of student work, or activities they are to complete. It also encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by the less technical minded.
It does have its drawbacks though, as a reader of an article cannot be certain that it has not been compromised by the insertion of false information or the removal of essential information. As the content is subject to ‘open editing’, a user who visits a Wiki to learn about a subject, or to confirm some matter of fact, does not know is who has used the wiki before them and subsequently needs to exercise great care when relying on the ‘easily changeable’ information within. However, many Wiki sites have a feature called ‘user authentication’, which means only certain people can access the Wiki. This makes it ideal for an educational setting as it can prevent outside users from adding inappropriate information. When measures like this are put in place to protect the students’ security and wellbeing, I believe Wikis have the potential to be a worthwhile educational tool, although I found them not as simple to add information to as a blog- maybe I just need more practice.
In the classroom, a great way for a Wiki to be put into effect could be through a class story. Students could build on to the story over a period of time, with every student having their personal slant and input into its direction. Other ways they can be used is to formulate discussion or debate about how and why people see things differently. Students can be encouraged to use the habits of mind of maintaining an open mind and thinking flexibly in order to develop lateral thinking and the bigger picture. ’50 ways to use a Wiki’ seems to have many other uses that I will investigate in the future. Again as a teacher I would like to have a reasonable grasp on all the functions of a wiki before introducing it to the classroom.
Reference
Smart teaching.org retrieved from http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/
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