Working in a Wiki Wonderland

What is a Wiki?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and use the Wikipedia entry for a ‘wiki’ as my starting point. So, “A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language”. Sounds simple enough, right? However, to get the full picture, an even better introduction is the ‘In plain English’ video series from Common Craft by Lee Lefever. In my humble opinion, this guy knows how to explain Web 2.0 technologies better than anyone else out there. His video on wikis was enlightening to say the least. His humorous take on wikis (email = old; wikis = new) and his amazingly simple and accessible explanation and uses of wikis helped me to get my head around this Web 2.0 technology. An example of a teacher-librarian wiki is none other than Joyce Valenza. This woman is a force to be reckoned with. She is EVERYWHERE I turn while researching web 2.0 technologies and teacher-librarians! Her wiki contains some interesting resources and links to using wikis in education.

What are the differences between a wiki and a blog?

So, what can’t you do with a blog that you can do with a wiki and vice versa? According to the Wikipedia article, Wikis in Education:

1. A blog is a forum generally suited to the expression of individual opinions. Wikis are more collaborative in the construction of knowledge.
   
2. Blog postings and comments cannot be changed by just any user. Only the author of the blog can edit his/her posts. However, once a comment is posted, it cannot be edited.
   
3. A wiki’s structure is much more open than that of a blog. The emphasis is on group consensus of an idea or information.
   
   In her article, Wikis Are for You, Catherine Trinkle differentiates wikis from blogs because:
   
   
4. “they are organized by subject and pages rather than chronologically”.
   
5. content in blogs is more temporary and can get buried under new postings.
   
6. with blogs, eventually comments and posts are pushed off the screen and into the archives; with wikis, old content is still visible.
   
7. with wikis, the document can re-organized with the addition of new content.
   

Which Wiki Tool?

I started with Wikispaces simply because it seems to be the most used by educators. I even signed up for my own Wikispace, which I intend to use with future Social Studies 11 classes. I wasn’t wowed by this particular tool, so I checked out Wetpaint as well. There was a significant difference in terms of ease of use. It took less time to sign up, I preferred the more visually-appealing templates from which users can choose and finally, the tutorials were easier to follow. I also liked Will Richardson’s point that Wetpaint has no ads, which is important to most educators. To see what I mean, check out my Social Studies 11 wiki at Wetpaint, which already looks more presentable, polished and ‘ready-to-go’ than my wiki at Wikispaces.

As a teacher, what can I do with a wiki?

Some practical classroom applications of wikis suggested by Wikipedia include:

1. The writing process (i.e. brainstorming,, collaborative writing; peer editing)
   
2. Group authoring; group project; class project
   
3. E portfolios (great for graduating students)
   
4. Staff communication and collaboration (reading lists, course outlines and policy documents)
   
   Other ideas that would work in my classroom right now include:
   
   
5. Student-created study guides where each groups creates a guide on a particular unit - these could be used by the other students in the class. This is particularly useful for courses that have provincial exams
   
6. Vocabulary lists of key concepts and words – excellent for language and humanities; each student could be assigned 5-10 words instead of every student having to do ALL of the words for a unit of study

The Pros and Cons of Wikis

So, do wikis pass the teacher test? Let’s check out some advantages and disadvantages of using wikis in the classroom:

Pros of wikis

Teachers can create on-line learning spaces with pre-determined levels of privacy – a little or a lot.

Parents can see what kids are learning by seeing actual content. Kids can create content, which has more meaning for them and leads to more engaged learners.

They are very easy to create and modify – no special skills needed; simpler than a standard web page.

Wikis encourage collaboration, which was one of their original purposes when they were still mainly the domain of programmers and scientists.

According to Jeffrey Hsu, wiki users are not ‘passive readers’, but rather are active readers, writers and editors of content.

According to Jeffrey Hsu, they can promote student participation and a sense of group community, teamwork.

Doug Achterman states that wikis encourage reflection and metacognition through the discussion and comments features.

Individual, group and class progress on an assignment can be tracked by the wiki ‘organizer’ or administrator through the ‘History’ function.

The structure of wikis allows for a free and open forum for the exchange of ideas and the creation and re-creation of knowledge. It democratizes knowledge and allows anyone to access it. Paraphrasing the character Shelby in the movie, Hustle and Flow, “Everyone has the right to contribute a verse.”

Cons of wikis

Will wikis and other web tools eventually replace face-to-face teaching?

Parents might take issue with incorrect or ‘not yet edited’ information.

Kids can vandalize content or put inappropriate messages on a wiki – not good for every class.

If editing is always an option, is there ever a finished product?

The more collaboration, the bigger the wiki. They can become too big and can contain outdated or useless content. Contributors who disagree can also become entangled in edit wars.

Will using wikis encourage students to view ‘knowledge built by consensus’ as preferable to actually finding answers? What if the consensus arrived at is ‘undesirable’, inaccurate or biased? However, it is important to note that this criticism is from Wikipedia itself – which shows how open and democratic it really is.

What if there are major behaviour and discipline issues in a class? What if the group just doesn’t ‘gel’ despite the teacher's best efforts?

Unlike most adult learners in post-secondary environments, not every kid is a mature and responsible learner. What happens when one kid doesn’t contribute and the rest of the group or class is depending on him?

Does tracking group or class progress mean more work and more time spent on-line for teachers and teacher-librarians?

A wiki’s open structure may allow group consensus to override individual opinion. As General George S. Patton said: “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” So, who is the expert? Where is the room for individual thought and dissent? Are we being absorbed into the borg-like structure of a wiki?

Implications for me as an educator

The theme that keeps resurfacing through my readings on using wikis in education is CONTROL. I am fairly structured in my teaching and can predict that the underlying constructivist nature of wikis may conflict with some aspects of my teaching approach. Although I believe strongly that ‘many brains are better than one’ and I encourage a collaborative and communicative atmosphere in my classroom, I don’t know if I would be able to completely let go of the reins. I attended a workshop at the BC Teacher-Librarians’ conference on October 24th, and liked what one presenter had to say about allowing for the ‘gradual release of responsibility’ when it comes to teaching kids, particularly high school kids. For future wikis that I will create with my classes, I will opt for a middle-of-the-road level of security, i.e. ‘protected’. I do not want our wiki to be totally public, but would require that my students have passwords to access, read and edit our wiki. I definitely would want to know who is editing and commenting on the content of our wiki. But, just as the content of wikis themselves is ever-changing and evolving, so will my opinions and uses of wikis.

Articles cited

Achterman, D. (2006). Beyond Wikipedia. Teacher-Librarian, 34(2), 19-23. Retrieved October 26, 2008 from Proquest Educational Journals database.

Hsu, J. (2007). Innovative Technologies for Education and Learning: Education and Knowledge-Oriented Applications of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and More. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 3(3), 70-90. Retrieved October 26, 2008 from Proquest Educational Journals database.

Trinkle, C. (2007). Wikis Are for You! School Library Media Activities Monthly, 23(6), 31-33. Retrieved October 26, 2008 from Proquest Educational Journals database.