The term Wiki is from the Hawaii word that means “quick” (Lamb, 2004). A Wiki is an on-line webpage that allows users that have access to the Internet to create, edit and publish websites. The Wiki was first created in the mid 1990’s and was meant for Scientists and Engineer to use for knowledge bases (Educause, 2005). As its popularity grew, teachers began to use Wikis for collaborating with students, and students began to use Wikis to collaborate with each other. Wiki makes collaborating easy with its editing tool that allows users to edit the content or add to the content on a Wiki. Users also have the option to make the Wiki public or private. Private Wikis only allow users signed in the particular Wiki to view and edit its content. With Wiki being an on-line database, anyone can sign in and have access to a Wiki as long as they have a computer and a web browser (Educause, 2005). However, since the Wiki tool is free and available to all, users have to be careful about who they give access to that can edit the Wiki space. Users can use their editing privileges to change or delete information off of a Wiki or add inappropriate content. Some Wikis are monitored so that the content displayed remains relevant to its topic (Educause, 2005). However, if managed properly, the Wiki is a great place to have students and teachers alike present material and collaborate on shared topics and projects pertaining to the classroom. Media Specialists can use the Wiki spaces for blogs about books or author studies. Wikis are also great for creating lesson plans and ideas for teachers to use in the classroom with their curriculum. Author Amy Bowllan of the School Library Journal article, “A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New Life”, described a situation where a teacher was beginning a book study with her fifth grade and when searching for lesson plan ideas to go along with the book, none existed on the web. So Amy and her colleague created a Wiki that provided videos and blogs about the book for students and teachers collaborate (Bowllan, 2008). She attributes the Wikis for helping teachers to spend less time creating lesson plans and more time enhancing students’ knowledge. By creating on-line resources for teachers to access for free, Wikis are giving new and longer lives to books and related content (Bowllan, 2008). While Wikis are a phenomenal tool for collaboration, users need to have access to the Wikis with an account, and then be invited to that Wiki if it is private. Media Specialists can provide login information to students and create the shell of the Wiki space for students to use. The media specialist can facilitate what is created and edited on the Wiki and provide additional resources and information to the students. Once more students and teachers see the benefits of the Wiki, collaboration will naturally happen.
Bowllan, A. (2008, September 1). A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New
Life. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from, School Library Journal
Web site: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590061.html
Educause Learning Initiative (2005, July). 7 Things you should know
about...Wikis. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from, Web site: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf
Lamb, B. (2004 September/October). The Way It Was Meant To BE.
Retrieved October 10, 2010 from, Web site: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0452.pdf
Natalie-
ReplyDeleteYour post about wikis was very helpful and informational. I intend to use some of the sources you used to try to get our media specialist and tech. specialist to see wikis as a good thing. I enjoyed your ideas about using wikis in the media center. I think using a wiki as a blog over books is a fantastic idea. I too, think wikis are a great tool to use in collaboration between teachers and students. The "free" part should be music to an admistrator's ears in these economic times. I also thought the idea of attaching videos to a wiki is neat. I have ran into the problem of having no resources on a topic or book I want to teach. I usually spend alot of time creating something that would be more benefical on a wiki. Thanks for your comments. I had no idea the term "wiki" was Hawaiian. :)
I enjoyed your posting as well. It was very informational to an educator wanting to know what this new technology is. I also liked the article that Amy Bowllan wrote. The wiki was not only helpful to introduce othe educators to this new tool, but also with this lesson plan. The ideal sharing the what can happen to the information being edited was very important to mention. I found viewing these websites very helpful as well especially for the media specialist to give to teachers.
ReplyDeleteNatalie:
ReplyDeleteGreat posting on the use of Wikis in the SLMC. I see that we agree on the collaborative nature of Wikis. And since collaboration should be one of the foremost characteristics of a great Media Specialist, Wiki should be one of our tools.
I also plan to research the Wiki you mentioned was used by Amy Bowllan-that sounds interesting.
As a Science person, I appreciate your point about Wikis being useful in providing related subject content to fictional books. Great idea!
Fabulous posting on Wikis! It was very informative and I love how you opened with the meaning of the word wiki. I appreciate you sharing the information about the teacher using it in her classroom as a way to collaborate with students and teachers about books. Students all but demand the use of technology these days and it definitely gets them more engaged in assignments when they are allowed to incorporate it in some way! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing a little about the history of a wiki. I never even thought about the original purpose of a wiki or what it even meant. The ideas you shared about the different ways a wiki could be used were very informative and well thought out. I think that as a teacher or a Media Specialist, I will take your advice and make the wiki shells for the students to use. I will also make the wikis private for the students so they are protected from others that want to alter their wiki in an inappropriate way.
I really appreciate your explanation of wikis and how they came about. I especially appreciate how you refer to a wiki giving and old book new life. This is one way I can see a media specialist using a wiki with students. I can also see how a media specialist could use a wiki to help teachers with book titles, providing links and lesson plan ideas - real collaboration. I also like how you point out the fact that wikis can be private or public.
ReplyDeleteTime is a precious commodity to teachers. You mentioned that wikis can "help teachers spend less time creating lesson plans and more time enhancing students’ knowledge." As a teacher, I see great potential in this!
ReplyDeleteI currently use our school and school system shared drives to share and access lesson plans and other resources stored on our school servers. This has been a great benefit to myself and my colleagues, so I can only imagine how much more helpful sharing files through a wiki could be. It can open up sharing opportunities with infinitely more teachers!
I have also utilized shared Smartboard files on the "Smart Exchange" website, but these resources are rather limited in media type. Wikis allow users to share a greater variety of media. Wikis just seem to be a great sharing and collaboration medium in all aspects!
Wonderful job! i like the fact that you reported background information and the history of a wiki.I did not know a wiki was created for scientists and engineers to use for knowledge base.
ReplyDeleteSince educators are alway looking for a new technlolgy tool, wiki was a great tool to discover. I like your responses on how a wiki can be used in a media center.