While reading in classroom 2.0 I found out some interesting things about wikis and their use in the classroom. There were several sources that talked about different places where teachers could get free wikis with no advertisements.
Teachers also left interesting comments about the experiences they have had with wikis in their classrooms. Some of these comments follow:
- One teacher talked about students’ sense of ownership of what they had written. While the ability for peers to edit work can be a very helpful tool it could also be a potential problem. Students might not always like the way that another student comes and changes his or her work. The teacher leaving the comment talked about the need to have guidelines set out for students so that they would know what they should be allowed to change on another students pages and what they should leave comments about so that the author could change them at his or her discretion.
- Another teacher talked about a wiki site she had set up for her students. She said that her site was set up so that only students in her class could edit the page and students in her school could view the page but not edit it. This is a helpful comment for people who have never used a wiki and might be concerned about who can see and edit their page.
While there were many interesting things that teachers had to say about wikis in the classroom I thought that the above comments were very helpful for someone who might be looking to incorporate wikis into their classroom. If anyone is looking for more information or comments I encourage them to visit http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=wikis.
4 comments:
I think that wikis, would be a good source to look at or use for teachers. And I do agree that you should be very careful in using them and what is being said. This is good not only for the students but also for the parents because they would be concerned about who can see it like you said.
I think that teachers need to be careful and make sure that even if it is safe, the parents are fine with the students using a wiki.
I do not like the idea of students being able to edit what other students say because if there are personal issues between two students, this could give them room to make nasty comments or embarrass the other student. I would like to see a wiki where you can add your own comments and be able to edit them, but cannot edit the other students writing.
I agree with Brooke. I think an open wiki where students are able to edit each other's work could potentially create problems. Not only would it allow for students to post unnecessary comments, but it could also present an issue between advanced students and students who might be somewhat behind acedemically. Students would be editing each other's work and could possibly comment negatively. I like the idea of having a wiki where students were only able to post and not able to do anything to another student's post.
I like the idea of using wiki's in a classroom. I think it could also help parents connect with what their students are learning if you choose to allow parents access. I do agree though it is tough to regulate what students can or cannot change.
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