When creating my WIKI using Wikispaces I had my doubts.. doubts about many things such as: the overall purpose of my wiki, my creativity and its uses in education...
Dont get me wrong, I love the intent of a wiki but honestly I am struggling with trying to see the benefits. I am the type of person that likes to focus on a clear, set and easy to understand layout. That is why I love my blog so much because I feel that I have a sense of ownership to a certain extent. Where as, with my wiki I feel that with limited themes, fonts and openess to anyone editing what I write etc, I can't seem to make it 'feel' like my own.
However, in saying all of this, from an educational perspective I can definitely see the positives. When reading about wiki's in the course content on Moodle the key features stood out to me, particularly these three -
Fun; everyone can contribute - but nobody has to,
Sharing; of informaton, knowledge, experience, ideas and views, and
Collaboration; a good collaboration tool.
Then I had a light bulb moment...
Isn't our aim in the classroom to make each learning experience a fun task in which the students can share and collaborate with eachother. So, whether it be a wiki or a blog or hey, why not both, they each provide such interesting and insightful opportunities for children to learn from an academic and social perspective. In essence, a wiki and a blog are quite similar and genearlly in regards to which one I may choose to utilise in the future will largely depend on the students I have in my class, as well as what works best at the time. For example, because a wiki is very communcations based, I could have the students communicate with eachother - through a wiki - about a certain topic or issue which will result in each of them increasing their confidence with techonology and with eachother, as some students will be very confident and motivated, particularly if they aren't in normal classroom interactions..
As a lifelong learner, overcoming this obstacle about my feelings towards wiki is just a minor hiccup in my technological journey but I am sure I will get there eventually..
How does everyone else feel about wiki?
Hey Hannah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking out my WIKI sites and blog. It seems that Wetpaint does have a lot more to offer. Hannah,I felt like your blog really took me through the journey of your thoughts about WIKI.. the downs.. the ups.. and the in between.
I can see that just by finding out more about it you have become a lot more optimistic about its use in the classroom and in your life. That's why in my WIKI blog I said one of the important steps was to understand it. If teachers seek to understand the purpose and use of this tool first; it will open their eyes and mind, and begin to spark ideas about the endless opportunities it provides.
I'm glad to see that ultimately you have not wrote it off as an ineffective digital tool.
I hope it serves you well in your future :)
Hi Jess,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your valuable insights into Wiki and what it has to offer me in the future.
I really agree with your point about ensuring that the teachers seek to understand the purpose of this tool. I think that understanding the purpose of the Wiki would be a very wise first step to think about before creating the Wiki and involving the students.
Ultimately, as the teacher and the students work through this digital learning device together, it may be a possibility that the students will suggest most of the ideas and not the teacher as they each have such creative and enthused minds.
Thanks for your ideas! :)