Wikis make me a little sickie by Michelle H.

When I saw this topic, I was excited to tackle the subject of wikis. The reason why isn’t quite so obvious. As you can tell from the title of this post, I am not a wiki fan and don’t quite see what all the hype is about. I’m a blogger-kinda gal, well rather teacher so I tend to lean more toward the use of blogs in my classroom. However, I wanted to explore the world of wikis a little more before I cast my final vote on their usefulness and place in the education sphere.

According to Dictionary.com, a wiki is a Web site that allows anyone to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser. At first glance, this definition would seem like using such a tool in a classroom setting would be an absolute nightmare. However, there are several teachers around the globe who love wikis and find them quite useful in enhancing their instruction. The idea behind wikis is that they allow students to work collaboratively on a single piece of content. Each student is able to contribute and the teacher is able to see the group collaboration happen in real-time. Since wikis are essentially digital content management systems they house tons of information without having students carrying around flash drives and then fearing that all their hard work will be lost if they lose their flash drive. Even though wikis can be open to the public, there are also some settings that allow the editing capabilities to be limited. For instance, a wiki can be created for specific groups and only those groups will be able to view and edit that wiki.

So, how do wikis stack up in a school setting, more specifically the Media Center. While I have seen several media center wikis, I don’t know if I would use them as a media specialist. They appear to not be very interactive. Instead, it seems like wikis in a lot of school settings are just dumping grounds for content. I like the idea of interactivity and also like the idea of students collaborating online. My choice tool for this task would be a Google Doc or a blog. I know that each of these tools has its limitations but I feel like they are easier to manage and “police” for lack of a better term. The major drawback to wikis is the ease at which information can be edited or deleted. Attempting to use them in a media center or technology lab seems like an educational nightmare. I mean I can’t keep the students from changing the desktop backgrounds on the computers, so how in the world, can I expect to manage a webpage that everyone has access to. I totally understand the idea behind a collaborative tool that students can use to organize content and manage resources. Yet, I’m not sold on the idea of using wikis in the elementary and middle school levels. However, I can totally see their value in high school and higher education where the students are a bit more mature and able to handle more responsibilities and are hopefully able to resist the urge to delete or edit someone else’s hard work.

In conclusion, while I do have a better understanding of wikis and as a result of this class, I’ve had a chance to use one, I think I’ll just stick with my current method of using blogs and Google Docs.

References

Wiki in a k-12 classroom. (2008, October 21). Retrieved from

http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom

7 things you should know about…wikis. (2005, July). Retrieved from

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf

Apalachee high school media center's wiki... (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://ahsmedia.barrow.wikispaces.net/