Wikis
As I have explored the world of wikis, I first noticed the vast array of wikis available online. There are wikis for teacher classrooms for students to access and wikis for educators too. Wikis are becoming more common in schools and are being widely used by teachers in many classrooms. Students seem to be familiar with wikis and have a general understanding of their use. After taking a survey of wiki-using classrooms, Reich, Murnane, & Willett (2012) found that students use wikis for a multitude of purposes such as publishing homework assignments, having peers review their writing, and posting artwork among other things. The divide between wiki use comes down to how they are used in the classroom though. Many teachers report using wikis for classroom preparation and instruction, but fewer teachers actually require student collaboration (Reich, Murnane, & Willett, 2012).The only barrier I see moving forward is ensuring that wikis are used for more than just educators or as educator-centered sites. In the survey by Reich, Murnane, & Willett (2012), only 1% of wikis researched were used as collaborative tools. In my opinion for wikis to have the maximum benefit, collaboration must be the focus of their use. After reviewing some of the background research on wikis I decided to look at some examples of the different wikis available to educators.
I especially liked the Digital Resource Tools (DiRT) wiki for all the amazing tools for educators! The wiki is organized is a neat and easily understood manner starting with the home page. Visitors are prompted with “Types of Tools” and “I want to…” followed by an alphabetical list of options. Such options include analyze data, collaborate, make a screencast, share bookmarks, and use mobile devices as well as many other options. Visitors can then click on an option in the list and be directed to a page with several programs for using this tool. While I do like this wiki a lot and all the options it provides, several of the links are no longer valid. This is a little disappointing after reading through the tool and how it can be used only to have no way of accessing it because the link does not exist. While there is a disclaimer that no new information will be added after 2012, I still think some maintenance should be done to ensure only valid links are posted. To make this wiki better, examples of student or teacher use could also be beneficial. The brief descriptions are somewhat helpful, but seeing what has been produced with the tool would provide much more insight as to how the tool works.
I especially liked the Digital Resource Tools (DiRT) wiki for all the amazing tools for educators! The wiki is organized is a neat and easily understood manner starting with the home page. Visitors are prompted with “Types of Tools” and “I want to…” followed by an alphabetical list of options. Such options include analyze data, collaborate, make a screencast, share bookmarks, and use mobile devices as well as many other options. Visitors can then click on an option in the list and be directed to a page with several programs for using this tool. While I do like this wiki a lot and all the options it provides, several of the links are no longer valid. This is a little disappointing after reading through the tool and how it can be used only to have no way of accessing it because the link does not exist. While there is a disclaimer that no new information will be added after 2012, I still think some maintenance should be done to ensure only valid links are posted. To make this wiki better, examples of student or teacher use could also be beneficial. The brief descriptions are somewhat helpful, but seeing what has been produced with the tool would provide much more insight as to how the tool works.
The FHS Wolves Den wiki is a great example of how to use a wiki in the classroom. This wiki has two subjects on it, as the owner taught both literature and U.S. history. The literature portions have links to multiple types of resources on the Hunger Games, the book being read in class, such as podcasts, games, and a fan site. There is also a poll on the bottom which asks students what their favorite character is, which is a great way to promote student interactions. The history portion of the wiki also has many resources linked. The HQ portion has multiple links to every major history event and each event has information posted by students. I like the interactive portion and that students were involved in the initial information creation of the wiki. I would like to see more collaboration on this wiki with students interacting with each other. I do like that there are discussion posts, one in particular asks students to list their top five favorite history topics, but the students are not discussing with each other which is even more important. This wiki could definitely have more collaboration between students and if I were to do a blog of this nature, I would require students to interact with each other by commenting on blog posts of other students and requiring thoughtful responses. In this way, students have to not only post their thoughts and opinions, but also reflect on their opinions and the opinions of their classmates.
The Greetings from the World wiki is my favorite wiki that I found! The use of Glogster to encourage people to share information about their home countries is such a unique idea. Visitors can navigate to each continent on the right side menu or just scroll down and see each country that has a Glogster page. Visitors can also create a Glogster page for a country that does not have one if they choose. This wiki would be a great way for students to explore different countries and get a more intimate look at what each country has to offer. Plus this encourages much more interaction than simply searching information for a country on Google. There is also a map posted on the homepage. The map provides a good visual for visitors, but the map is not as interactive as it could be. When visitors click on the map, the map only displays the state or country and no further information. This seems to cause a disconnect with visitors and the placement of the map. If I were to have a wiki like this, I would have the links to the Glogster on the map. I would start with a broad world map and then have visitors first choose a continent. Then the map would zoom into that continent and have visitors choose which country or state they would like to view. If the wiki was done in this manner, visitors could not only scroll through a list of countries or states but see a visual of where each of those states and countries are located.
For my own personal wiki, I would like to make one for my classroom for when we discuss the eukaryotic cell unit. This is a unit that we go through relatively quickly and students always have questions and are so intrigued by the topics we discuss. After viewing the wikis of other educators and the ones they use in their classrooms, I would like to make my wiki interactive for my students. I will probably start with listing each of the major kingdoms within this domain then have students research information for each phylum associated with these kingdoms. Then, students can research something that is interesting to them and create a post with photos, videos, and brief but detailed information about that specific phylum.
More Collaboration Tools
Google Drive is something that I have been using in my classroom for the past several years but just this year I began using Google Drive for the collaboration purposes too. With a slight change in the curriculum timeline this year I was able to bring back a favorite project that involves investigating biotechnology and the facts and ethical ideas that go along with it. The only issue was that this project had a couple of in class work days but the rest had to be done outside of school during the weekend. This is where the use of Google drive was especially beneficial! My students were already familiar with Google Drive because they all had to create a folder at the beginning of the school year to turn in individual assignments. This prior knowledge was helpful for the students and made the transition to collaboration simple. We discussed the basics in class, such as sharing the documents and folder for their partner to access, the timeline of edits made to the documents, and how easy it is to both work on something at the same time. The students were able to complete all components of this partner project together without ever having to worry about trying to find a time to work together. In addition, I have several special education students that have “project chunking” as a requirement of their IEP’s. Because of the collaboration opportunities provided by Google Drive, I was able to create a Google Doc checklist and it was shared in their project folder. This way, these students could be held accountable for the timeline of the checklist and I could also track their progress. The beauty of this project and ability for collaboration is that it also fits into the highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy, create. Students are collaborating to create a final product and by using technology in the process, they are applying their knowledge to make this ultimate product.
Solomon and Schrum (2014) also provided an excellent list of collaboration tools for students. One in particular that seems like a great tool for students is Dweeber. The name itself is somewhat amusing so I think that would increase the appeal for students. After logging in and checking it out, I think it is a very useful tool yet still fun for students. The first thing done once creating a profile is to fill out the SMART questionnaire. This alerts students to their learning style and how they study. Then students can create study groups and by adding their friends. The collaboration opportunities with this website are endless! Students could work on projects together with this tool by posting web links, have discussions about content, and there is even a whiteboard option that allows students to write, draw, and solve problems in real time.
Of course, this tool would be great for out of school, but I can also see possibilities within the classroom. Students could be working in groups and I could even be part of those groups as a member to monitor the progress. If I did these groupings during class, I would have students strategically paired to have all levels of students in each group. Then lower level students can see how higher level students apply the concepts and lower level students can still feel confident by solving problems or answering questions they know how to do. I also think this could help my ESOL students because they can see how to solve problems or even use a translator to help partake in the discussions more quickly. This tool is wonderful because it addresses so many aspects of Bloom’s taxonomy too. Students have to use the lower levels of Bloom’s such as remembering and understanding to have a basic understanding of the content. Then, students also have to teach their peers and answer questions, which forces them to transition to the higher levels of Bloom’s through application, analyzation, and evaluation of the content.
Of course, this tool would be great for out of school, but I can also see possibilities within the classroom. Students could be working in groups and I could even be part of those groups as a member to monitor the progress. If I did these groupings during class, I would have students strategically paired to have all levels of students in each group. Then lower level students can see how higher level students apply the concepts and lower level students can still feel confident by solving problems or answering questions they know how to do. I also think this could help my ESOL students because they can see how to solve problems or even use a translator to help partake in the discussions more quickly. This tool is wonderful because it addresses so many aspects of Bloom’s taxonomy too. Students have to use the lower levels of Bloom’s such as remembering and understanding to have a basic understanding of the content. Then, students also have to teach their peers and answer questions, which forces them to transition to the higher levels of Bloom’s through application, analyzation, and evaluation of the content.
Office 365 is another tool worth exploring for student collaboration. Our school system recently purchased accounts for students in the district, so every single student has access. I do have mixed feelings about Office 365 when compared to Google Drive though. Some of these feelings involve accessibility issues. Google Drive is often glitchy on the school internet and is only consistent outside of school. Office 365 is very similar to Drive, except it is pretty much guaranteed to work at school. In addition, having a Drive account requires users to be 13 or older. This can be problematic in the elementary and middle school levels. For this reason, Office 365 is the better choice for in-class collaboration. Every student has an account regardless of age or grade and the files are available both online and offline. Perhaps the best thing is that this program involves all the familiar office products students know how to use such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Within Office 365 there is something called OneNote which allows students to collaborate with each other and post documents into a collaborative “notebook.” Students are also able to maintain documents and folders within OneDrive. This mass storage area functions similar to Google Drive and students can have access at school and at home. In addition, students can share documents with others for peer review and collaboration. The abilities of these tools allow students to function and learn at the highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Students are able to create final products individually and collaborate to apply all aspects of the content. This tool is also great for students who do not have consistent internet access at home and allows them to keep all important documents in one place In addition, many special education students and ESOL students struggle to adapt to new software and tools. With Office 365, most students are already very familiar with these tools, so the familiarity levels the learning curve. In this way, students can then focus on the task and not figuring out how to use the tool.
References
Carrington, A. (2015). Modern pedagogy wheel. Retrieved from http://www.designingoutcomes.net/ PadWheelV4/PadWheel_Poster_V4.pdf
DiRT. (2012). Digital resource tools wiki. Retrieved from https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/ page/17801672/FrontPage
Dweeber. Retrieved from http://www.dweeber.com/
Fayetteville High School. (2009). FHS wolves den wiki. Retrieved from http://fhswolvesden.wikispaces. com/
Google Drive. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/drive/
Greetings From the World. (2016). Greetings from the world wiki. Retrieved from http://greetingsfrom theworld.wikispaces.com/Learn
Microsoft. (2016). Microsoft Office 365. Retreived from https://login.microsoftonline.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=4&ct=1456201755&rver=6.7.6640.0&wp=MCMBI&wreply=https:%2F%2F
portal.office.com%2Flanding.aspx%3Ftarget%3D%252fdefault.aspx&lc=1033&id=501392&msafed=0
Reich, J., Murnane, R., & Willet, J. (2012). The state of wiki usage in U.S. K-12 schools: Leveraging web 2.0 data warehouses to assess quality and equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher, 41(1), 7-15.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How to for educators. Eugene, OR: ISTE
Carrington, A. (2015). Modern pedagogy wheel. Retrieved from http://www.designingoutcomes.net/ PadWheelV4/PadWheel_Poster_V4.pdf
DiRT. (2012). Digital resource tools wiki. Retrieved from https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/ page/17801672/FrontPage
Dweeber. Retrieved from http://www.dweeber.com/
Fayetteville High School. (2009). FHS wolves den wiki. Retrieved from http://fhswolvesden.wikispaces. com/
Google Drive. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/drive/
Greetings From the World. (2016). Greetings from the world wiki. Retrieved from http://greetingsfrom theworld.wikispaces.com/Learn
Microsoft. (2016). Microsoft Office 365. Retreived from https://login.microsoftonline.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=4&ct=1456201755&rver=6.7.6640.0&wp=MCMBI&wreply=https:%2F%2F
portal.office.com%2Flanding.aspx%3Ftarget%3D%252fdefault.aspx&lc=1033&id=501392&msafed=0
Reich, J., Murnane, R., & Willet, J. (2012). The state of wiki usage in U.S. K-12 schools: Leveraging web 2.0 data warehouses to assess quality and equity in online learning environments. Educational Researcher, 41(1), 7-15.
Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2014). Web 2.0: How to for educators. Eugene, OR: ISTE