Sunday, July 26, 2009

Wiki Spaces

The concept of everyone working for the common good is certainly not new. Various groups throughout history have attempted to develop societies where everyone lets go of personal ownership and works for the betterment of all. Unfortunately, it hasn't always worked. Wikispaces, however, are showing that people from different societies can work together for the common good, without concern of ownership in a system based on a free market principal with no barriers to accessing and passing on of knowledge, where the users self regulate the information and misinformation can be corrected immediately. (Terry Freedman, page 85, Coming of Age). As with any utopian sounding system, there are those who doubt. John Bidder (page 87, Coming of Age) talks about how many distrust wiki due to its openness, while others worry that "anyone can amend information so contentious issues can be passed on as facts and inaccuracies can go undetected." (page 85, Coming of Age) Many teacher librarians worry about its reliability when 'experts' aren't in control of the information, but wiki is about so much more than just the information outcome. 


Both Freedman and Bidder discuss the positive learning outcomes for students. They both point out that Wiki empowers students to become specialists in their own areas. It encourages collaboration and teaches students how to work together; to discuss and question the validity and style of written material. " What is most important is not the source of information, but the pupil's ability to evaluate its plausability and accuracy using a range of techniques." ( Terry Freedman, page 85, Coming of Age) Because it is community driven, it builds teamwork, provides leadership opportunities and teaches students social interaction skills. (Freedman and Bidder, pages 85-88, Coming of Age) As I see it,  wikis give students ownership of their learning and make them into thinking contributors in the learning process rather than receptors of knowledge dished out by teachers. It also allows teachers to teach the necessary 'techniques' that develop critical thinking skills in students. It encourages collaboration and working towards greater knowledge rather that who gets the best mark. One difficulty I foresee in this from a teacher perspective is the assessment. I have long used group activities and collaboration in my classroom, but have never used those in formal assessments as you need to assess each individual on their own merits. For every wiki 'project', teachers will have to ensure they also create some type of assessment that allows for each individual to show their personal learning and understanding of the expected learning outcomes.


As I delved into the world of wiki, I explored numerous sites. I saw some very positive things, such as the wiki on Global Warming which was incredibly well laid out, clear in the explanation of the different aspects of the 'space' and offered great guidelines for anyone wanting to contribute to the site (by encouraging respectful behaviour.) The contents page explained how you could look things up, while the main page had all sorts of relevant, current information. There was a link to a community portal that was very welcoming and let you know what other sites required input. It was very sophisticated and easy to get around.


Another positive was the site created by a teacher for his students to collaborate on study notes.  The site was protected, but I looked at the study notes created for King Lear and the links that had been added and was impressed. It was a very simple site, but clearly useful for any student wanting to review. The beauty of it in my mind is that it encourages students to review material over and over. First they have to discuss what is important to put on the page, then they have to put the information in, then they re-read to edit, plus they reread again to see what others have added and they continue to discuss.


In my AVID 9 class, students are required to participate in self directed tutorials on a weekly basis. At times, tutors come down from the high school to help guide the tutorials, but at other times, no tutors are available and kids are on their own. I can see these wiki spaces being an excellent place for them to put in their Cornell notes on a given topic, where other students not in that specific tutorial, or students requiring the material at a different time of the year, could all contribute. Also, tutors could look at the material when they were available and add to the discussion. At the end of the year, everyone would have a great set of collaborative notes to help them prepare for their final exams. Actually, any group of students can produce any wiki, for anything they are studying. I've had my students create collaborative notes in Social Studies on paper that gets circulated, but the wiki would be a far more effective forum. My only concern, is getting enough lab time to give them adequate access to computers.


Unfortunately, I also came across numerous sites that had not been updated in several years. It seems to me that wikis need to be kept current. If wikis are about the sharing of knowledge and a site is not developing or growing with new information, then perhaps the information is better suited to a different medium. Some other wikis were extremely sophisticated and clearly targeted to an 'expert' group. One example of this type of wiki is Planet Math.  I tried searching through a few math terms I thought I was familiar with, thinking my AVID students might benefit in tutorials, but it was way over my head and it felt like you needed to belong to the ongoing conversation, and have a degree in mathematics, to really understand what was going on.


After visiting one of Joanne's trailfire links , I decided to attempt creating my own wiki. I decided to try the wikispaces link because I liked what Will Richardson had to say about them in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts. (pages 55-69) He made it seem easy. Also,  two years ago I attended a presentation by a teacher who used wiki spaces and although my efforts then never really got very far, I remembered her enthusiasm. 


 I chose to set up a library site that my students will be able to use in the fall. It is called Phoenix Book Talk, and I'm hoping that interested students will sign up to log on and talk about the different books they are reading. Also, if any student wants suggestions for books to read, they will be able to go on the site and see what other students are reading and what they think of those books. It was really easy to do, and I had my daughter go in and sign up as a contributer. (I made it a protected site). It is still in its 'construction' stage, but I'm hoping that by September it will be an inviting site that many students will want to visit.


I'm beginning to understand why that teacher I heard two years ago was so excited about wiki spaces. I don't think that wikis should be used as a sole research tool, as students need to double check that the information is accurate, and no one should use only one source when researching. I also agree with John Bidder that students need guidance to truly experience and appreciate the power of a wiki space (page 88, Coming of Age), but with the ability to protect and manage what goes into one's 'space', and the ability to empower students in their learning journeys, I truly think we have created an idealistic, collaborative work environment.

2 comments:

  1. Good luck with your wiki in the fall, I hope your students like using it!

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  2. "Unfortunately, I also came across numerous sites that had not been updated in several years. It seems to me that wikis need to be kept current. If wikis are about the sharing of knowledge and a site is not developing or growing with new information, then perhaps the information is better suited to a different medium."

    This certainly is problematic, but I think it is a problem with any (all?) web technologies. People create things like blogs or wikis and then they don't get updated often. Just like 'old style' websites often have dead links or simply disappear. Wikis, especially those for educational purposes, have a limited shelf life in that they are created for a specific project or class. Your point is a good reminder, however, that perhaps once a wiki is no longer used or useful, perhaps it should be removed or deleted.

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