WIKI: Hawaiian for Quick (Week 7)

Interesting how a day earlier I was giving examples of how a Blog could be used by an LMT... when I really needed to have more knowledge on a Blog compared to a Wiki. I had stated earlier that students could post their comments to the blog and have on line dialogue with a teacher or class. When in reality some of the activities I thought up for blogging should be done in a Wiki format.

After listening and viewing the different pieces for the Wiki assignment, I was amazed at the flexibility and ease a Wiki allows an online group to have when collaborating information.

Now, I am not going to jump right on to the Wiki bandwagon. The main reason for this is because I think as an LMT you have to approach Wikis a couple of different ways. The first thing to think about is your population. Rules and norms will need to be set up and enforced. These will need to be reinforced more when you are working with students rather that teachers. Students are less likely to have been exposed to an educational on line setting. Most of the students at my school have been exposed to chat rooms or myspace which is a completely different way to post to the web.

So after you set the norms, you need someone to 'police' the Wiki to make sure things are running smoothly. That takes time... Which is the second thing that needs to be looked at when creating a Wiki. As an LMT will I have enough time to monitor multiple Wikis if more than one teacher wants to explore the world of Wikis. Where do I as an LMT 'cut the cord'. Meaning, after I set up the Wiki and get teachers up to speed, is it my obligation as an LMT to make sure they are running smoothly.

But to imagine the power of a Wiki when run efficiently... Students are teaching students and collaboration is at the heart of the activity. Information is now coming from 36 sources (35 students in a class plus the instructor) rather than just the instructor (like on a blog). And if a teacher wants all their classes to post to the same Wiki now you are talking 180 brains collaborating.

To me, the most obvious way a teacher or LMT could use a Wiki would be for a Classroom Novel assignment. At my school teachers supplement the Language Arts material with different novels the students read (mostly outside of class). The teacher could set up a Wiki for each class or each book they plan on reading during the school year. Then, as the book is being read, students can post questions, comments, insights, vocabulary, history, or anything else relevant to the novel that is being read. These Wikis could be saved from year to year and added to each year or the teacher can start fresh each year and then compare the direction the Wikis went with different classes or years. The one snag I might see in this format is the kid who does not read the novel but reads the Wiki and is able to pass the tests because of others posting information on the Wiki. It is not a perfect situation but at least you can say collaboration is taking place.