Wikis In Education

Alicia M. Shaffer

Menu• Use of Wiki Summary 1• Use of Wiki Summary 2• Use of Wiki Reflection• Virginia Summary 1• Virginia Summary 2• Virginia Reflection• Taste of Web 2.0 Summary 1• Taste of Web 2.0 Summary 2• Taste of Web 2.0 Reflection• Works Cited Page• Conclusion

Use of the Wiki

• Wikis are becoming a more popular and widely used form of technology, especially in the area of education. Teachers, as well as those in the business field, use wikis as a form of communication and collaboration among students, or in some cases co-workers, to write and discuss related topics with each other.

Use of the Wiki

• Another reason that a wiki is useful in education, is that it is a great way for students to do group work. Many students at once can access the wiki and upload writing and documents to a group project. Collaboration is a very easy concept when using a wiki because it does not require all members to have a set time to meet. All members have access to everything on the wiki, so they can make suggestions or add ideas to each other’s contributions.

Use of the Wiki: Reflection

• I never really thought of using a wiki for a group project because I always just find it easy to use email.

• I did not realize that wikis were such a popular thing because I just now heard of them from this course

• I was surprised that a wiki can be edited by so many people at once as long as they have proper access

• “Once the wiki is created, it acts as both a document and a webpage.” – This was new information for me because I did not know it was a document as well.

Virginia School Reinforces Learning With Support Site

• Educators at a vocational school in Virginia have created a collaborative website that is very similar to a wiki. This site is called ProProfs, and it allows teachers to provide extra information as well as quizzes and other helpful activities to reinforce what students have been taught in the classroom.

Virginia School Reinforces Learning With Support Site

• The students may interact in the forums and other areas of the site at no charge. Flash cards are created and provided by the teachers as a resource for the students to use for studying the material learned in the classroom. The school also now offers a section of quizzes on the wiki that cover material that may be on certification exams as well as material that may be helpful in passing the SAT.

Virginia School Reinforces Learning With Support Site: Reflection

• I think that it is really great that these teachers created all of this for the students, but I was surprised that everything provided is completely free of charge.

• I did not know that wikis could be used to provide study tools such as flash cards and practice tests.

• This may sound bad, but I did not realize that vocational students really planned on taking the SAT, which is implied by the fact that practice questions for the SAT are provided on the site.

• “The site, ProProfs, combines some of the factors of a social networking site, with member blogs and chats, with elements of a wiki, in which users create and edit the content themselves.” – I was just impressed by this because the site combines so many different concepts into one site.

A Taste of Web 2.0

• Wikis give the creators a chance to determine settings and a variety of other aspects regarding how the site is used. For instance, a wiki can be set as private, public, or protected. If the wiki is set as public, anyone can view or edit any aspect of the wiki they wish. If the wiki is protected, it can be viewed by anyone, but only certain people can edit it. If it is private, only those given access can view and/or edit the wiki.

A Taste of Web 2.0

• Wikispaces for educators is a site that allows educators the opportunity to create wikis specifically for use of their students. These sites are created solely by the educator and designed to include the material covered in his/her classroom and to assist students in better learning this material. The teachers can post notes, information, forums for students to discuss amongst themselves, study tools, as well as a number of other resources.

A Taste of Web 2.0 : Reflection

• I was intrigued by the fact that the creator of the wiki has such control over the settings of the site.

• There are so many different ways to control who can access and edit the wiki.

• Wikis are accessed by so many people and they are constantly edited by various collaborators.

• “Designate your wiki as public, protected, or private.” – this just provided me with new information because I did not know so much went into creating a wiki

Work Cited

• Briggs, Linda L. (2007). “Virginia School Reinforces Learning with Support Site.” The Journal. November 23, 2008, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20681.

• Deubel, Patricia. (2008). “A Test of Web 2.0.” The Journal. November 23, 2008, from <http://www.thejournal.com/articles/22266_6>.

• Solvie, Pamela A. (2008). “Use of the Wiki: Encouraging Preservice Teachers’ Construction of Knowledge in Reading Methods Courses.” Journal of Literacy and Technology. November 23, 2008, from http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/volume10/solvie.pdf

Conclusion• I find the concept of the wiki to be impressive to say

the least. It still blows my mind all we can do with technology. I find the wiki to be useful and beneficial especially for use in group projects and with practice with learning material

• It is amazing to me that a teacher has the ability to create these types of resources for students. With technology being such a major aspect of our lives now, it is more feasible for a student to spend the extra time on the computer to help with school work. To me, this concept is a way to get children more inclined to spend extra time working on academics.