The first real interaction I had with
wiki was last semester when our Numeracy assignment called for our group log to
be submitted via wiki. At first I was like, ‘ok no worries,’ until I was
allocated the job of wikilicious patrol officer and it took me far to long to
figure out!! It was frustrating, time consuming and painful! However with this
being said, when I clicked onto what the creator was thinking, it was a breeze,
it all made sense and I was like ‘ohhhh, that was kinda obvious’. Haha. I was
soon eager to make it ‘pretty’ with pictures and embedded links, documents, and
even discuss what was happening with other group members etc. It was fun,
however time consuming as it was easy to get carried away. It was very clear
how this internet technology was especially appropriate for collaboration.
Here she is.. Our Groups numeracy
experience via wikispace (cool huh, I wouldn’t even had imagined this possible
when I was at school – dialup probs wouldn’t have cooperated too well.. )
So what is a wiki you ask? Wiki is a
space (hence the name wikispace) that promotes collaboration in education
(Wikispace, 2015). It is a social writing platform that is designed to promote communicate
on learning projects, alone or in teams. It intends to enrich learning
experiences as the online, interactive classroom ‘makes teaching and learning
fun’ as students are encouraged to personalize their space/ contributions as
they post comments, upload and embed relevant images, links and videos. This
also promotes curiosity of learning as children are encourage to explore and
share what they can find. Wiki members are able to edit their own and their
peers work, therefore it is essential they are exposed to ‘wiki-etiquette’
prior to participation. Other functions are a built in calendar, project
manager, discussion tools, theme and color editor, tab/pagers creator and more.
The learning tool offers the educators’ insight into students’ engagement and contribution.
This informs comprehension on various topics and provides formative evidence which
helps teachers, help students.
It is fundamental educators recognise
the importance of appropriate scaffolding when designing wiki-learning
experiences to ensure children achieve deepened understanding of the topic
being explored (Birt, 2015). When this is achieved successfully teachers are
able to use the wikispace to create opportunities for children to discover new
information for themselves. This free, yet structured (graphic organisers,
stimulus questions, etc.) type of exploration promotes movement in and out of
higher order thinking as children solve various online literacy problems. Remember,
its not going to do the planning and the teaching for you, wikispace is a
learning tool that is a beautiful blessing when used appropriately. The wiki
space concept is strongly supported by social and cognitive constructivism and
connectivism, through collaboration and negotiation of new idea and collective
and individual experiences (Birt, 2015). It also has been influenced by
behaviorism, as children are able to receive around the clock feedback, when
appropriate and children are able to work at own pace.
The Wiki concept is strongly
underpinned by the social and cognitive constructivist theory as it designed in
a way which helps students build onto their existing knowledge as students as
they participate in discussion, and educators are encouraged to be the
supportive facilitator. It also links
with connectivism as children are encouraged to research, comment, collaborate
and embedded relevant links and information within their blog.
There are many many ways wiki can be
used as a teaching and learning tool, however some ways Wiki can be:
Substitution: Using wikispace,
just like you would use powerpoint, the different tabs being the different
slides
Augmentation: Children and
teacher permitted access to wikispace from any computer
Modification: Using wikispace
for teacher and student collaboration and to provide and receive feedback.
Redefinition: Using wikispace
to promote collaboration between students in other schools both nationally and
internationally.
Well, now its time to weight it all
up…
PLUS:
∆ Great platform for collaboration, at school and from home
in their own time- Students do not all have to be able to meet at the one time
to collaborate.
∆ Students can receive feedback around the clock
(behaviourism)
∆ Students can work at their own pace (behaviourism).
∆ A way to encourage children to write about specific topic
∆ Wikis promote development of metacognition skills as
students post content and comment on peers works in ways that must be
understandable to others, in a way the editors (the students) are the teachers
(constructivism).
∆ Promotes online literacy skills, technological skills and
research skills.
∆ Children are apart of a team therefore can feel
responsible to contribute to the ‘team’ to be best of their ability (ZPD).
∆ Encourage children to explore (constructivism)
∆ Can lead to opportunities for children to build
relationship with peers
∆ Graphic organisers can be added and easily edited
∆ Beautiful opportunity to engage children’s higher order
thinking as they synthesis and critically analyse
∆ Encourages students to explore the internet and embedded
content related to tasks and their own interests – children encouraged to
collaborate and discuss these points (connectivism and connectivism)
MINUS:
∆ Wikispaces can be edited by anyone which means one’s work
can be edited and delete by another participant.
∆ It is a bit tricky to figure out and can be frustrating at
times.
∆ Is only accessible via the internet
∆ Children may take peers words as gospel and information
may not be entirely correct, this may lead to misconceptions. This is why
wikispace classrooms need to be closely monitored, this can be time consuming
∆ Can lead to bullying.
Annnnnd INTERESTING:
∆ Wikispaces can be locked with invited access only or can
be open to public access.
∆ Great opportunity for a class learning record which can be
accessed by parents.
∆ Can be used as and effective formative and summative
assessment tools.
Upon reflection, wikispaces are great
as they lead to many constructive learning opportunities. Like Blogger,
wikispaces is supported by connectivism and constructivism learning theories. This
to me is great as it supports my teaching philosophy. I do think that so far, I
prefer blogger as it seems to be more individualized and I feel this would be
more beneficial for the teacher as it will be easier to determine formative
assessment. However I do feel wikispace are a little more appropriate for
collaboration. Both seem they will benefit specific situations. Ahhhh the
beauty of Internet technologies!! I will be using both in my classrooms, wiki
especially if I get older years.
Blogger OUWT, xx
Reference:
Wikispace Introduction. (2015).
Retrieved from: https://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom/about
Birt,
K. (2015). Managing E- Learning, FAHE11001 [ Digital tool 2: Wikis for
collaborative learning]. Retrieved from:
https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=101728
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