Imagine not only being able to access huge amounts of information, but also be able to edit and add to these pages. Wikis allow users to work collaboratively to edit information on a web page.
Last year I took a class for school that required us to create a wiki. Prior to that I thought that wikipedia was a site with lots of awesome information, but did not realize that wiki was a technology. Wikis are websites that allow users to edit the information on the page (Lamb, Annette; Johnson, Larry). Since this discovery I have actually been using wiki technology quite a bit. I used it for two of my classes last semester that had group activities. I have always hated group work because I found it impossible to find time for everyone to get together and collaborate. Creating a wiki meant that people could contribute on their own time and when it was convenient for them. I think it made our group work much easier to complete. An aspect of wikis I also like is that they allow you to post comments so you remain interactive with your group even though you may work on the project separately. (I was not able to put a link to my wiki since you have to be invited to participate, but if you would like to view how I used to wiki for school let me know and I will add you). As university students we became aware of the use of wikis to make group work easier. For younger students the teacher may have to create the wiki for the students. The students can then use the wiki for group collaboration, as I have used it, or to collaborate as a class on topics.
Perhaps the best known wiki is wikipedia. It is the fourth most visited website in the world (About wikimedia). Before I even knew about the wiki technology I regularly used wikipedia, though I didn't understand how people could add/change information on the site. Wikipedia, like other wikis, allows its users to create, edit and add to pages. Anybody can change the information on a page, but if it is changed to something incorrect it is changed back very quickly. I once changed some information on a page to see if it would go unnoticed, and within an hour when I checked back it was corrected. Because wikipedia pages are created and maintained by many people it works as a kind of peer review system. Often the information found on wikipedia is of a very high quality. Last year I worked on a reference desk at the university, if students asked me for an overview of a topic and everything that I could find was too in depth I would point them to wikipedia. I wouldn't recommend using it as a reference in a paper since many professors frown upon the use of wikipedia, but using it to get an idea of a topic is fine. Why is using wikipedia in a paper frowned upon? I think the quality of information is better than information found on a random personal web page, at least wikipedia has some sort of a review process.
Besides wikipedia there are many other wiki sites. Wikipedia has many similar pages that are all part of wikimedia. Wikimedia is a not for profit company aimed at dispersing knowledge in many languages all across the world.
Besides wikipedia, wikimedia offers:
wikibooks - provides free textbooks and manuals
wikiversity - offers free learning tools
wiktionary - is a dictionary and thesaurus
wikiquote - is a collection of quotations
wikispecies - is a directory of species
wikinews - is a free content news source
wikisource - provides free course documents
wikimedia commons - provides freely usable media files.
Wikimedia offers free information on a wide range of topics. It is useful for any school teacher or university student. Social studies teachers can take advantage of wikinews to assist their students in learning about current events. Wikispecies is great for biology teachers, and wikimedia commons is great for any teacher looking for resources to supplement a lesson. While the sites offered by wikimedia are helpful for teachers in North America, the goal of wikimedia is to offer free resources to students and teachers in countries that do not have the same resources at their disposal as in North America.
Wikis can be used by libraries to provide information for their users. St. Joseph County Public Library has created a wiki to provide their users with subject guides. Users choose a topic and the library provides helpful links, books, or articles depending on what information the user requires. WikiHow is a great site for teachers as well. It gives teachers ideas for demonstrations for their students and how to do them. For example, physics teachers can create a cartesian diver to demonstrate Newton's third law of motion. Anything that you could ever possibly want to know can be found in there. It is even helpful for everyday things that may occur in a classroom such as getting gum out of hair. Events like these are bound to happen, and wikiHow will tell you what to do.
Wikis can also be used to aid in collaboration between teacher and between teachers and librarians. Teachers can post lesson plans and librarians can view them and see if they can assist the teacher in any way. It is always important for parents to be involved in their childrens education. Teachers can create a wiki for their students to use, but allow parents viewing privileges so they know what is going on in the classroom (School Librarian's Workshop).
The American Association of School Librarians has create the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Among these standards are a familiarization with technologies necessary in the workplace, and to give learning a social context. Using a wiki in a classroom fulfills both these standards. Students are being exposed to new technologies and wikis require students to work collaboratively.
It is important for a teacher, school or library to pick a wiki that will work best for them and their students. There are so many wikis out there it is hard to know which one to choose. WikiMatrix is a website that allows you to compare wikis to see which will work best. The list of wikis is very comprehensive, and comparing them is as simple as selecting two wikis then clicking compare.
Wikis do not always have to relay information, they can also be used for fun. Though sites like Uncyclopedia and Wackypedia do not contain useful information, unless the list of lesser known scrabble words counts, but they are fun to view. Getting students to create nonsensical words and wiki posts can be a fun exercise too, it gets them using new technology and their imagination.
Connecting with Wikis.Full Text Available School Librarian's Workshop, Jun/Jul2009, Vol. 29 Issue 6, p22-22, 2/3p
Wikis and Collaborative Inquiry.Full Text Available By: Lamb, Annette; Johnson, Larry. School Library Media Activities Monthly, Apr2009, Vol. 25 Issue 8, p48-51, 4p
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I have yet to work on a group project that has used a wiki. I am looking forward to it though, as everyone who has done so has said it was helpful for organizational purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhat program have you used for those groups projects?
We used pbwiki. It was great for use in group projects. I don't think I would use it for anything other than collaboration though since it doesn't look very nice. Maybe that's just because I'm used to wikipedias interface now though.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of professors frown upon using Wikipedia in papers because although the content is reviewed and people are constantly checking up on it, there are many pages that do not have correct citations (or any at all for that matter) and it is not necessarily seen as a valid source of information - it has no real authority. There is no one person in charge, which is great when you think about it because it definitely keeps people in check and a more neutral standpoint is projected, but without one person "running the show" it is difficult to give Wikipedia any credit in terms of research.
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