My Personal Learning
I continue to be struck with people's generosity in sharing their knowledge without any expectation of acknowledgment or compensation. I think back to my days in education where knowledge was something produced by "experts" , who were acknowledged as such by the fact that they had been published in a book or a journal. The information age is challenging the way information is produced, and today's students likely do not revere published authors as I did during my schooling. By contrast, today's learners will probably regard authoritative works to be those that are collaboratively written. The popularity of Wikipedia is an example of this change in nature of knowledge.
A wiki is different from a blog in that wikis typically have more authors than blogs. Thus the wiki is an ideal format for group projects and for individual or partner student pages within a class. Any member of the wiki can edit, delete, or add video and images to any part of the wiki page. The philosophy of wikis is that collaborators add and improve on the work of previous writers so a collective piece is always better than one written by a single author. Each person sequentially improves the work of what was done before.
Library web page or Library Wiki ?
When I first started self-publishing on the web, I wasn't sure what the differences were between wiki, blog, and web page. Therefore, I made a library web page and wiki. I learned that what suited my needs was a library web page, not a wiki, since I was going to be the sole author and I was giving information, not asking for collaboration. For example, what's really noticeable in this wiki, is the "edit this page" button. I did not want others to edit the library web page !
Classroom Uses
Wikis as classroom assignments promote research and problem solving based outcomes. Some of the examples of classroom wikis cited by Richardson included Luise Maine's biology wiki which showed students' lab reports (problem solving) and discussion topics (ie: food research).
Instead of submitting their lab reports in written form, the students posted them on the wiki. I think that seeing what other students are producing is a great learning tool for the students since they can get ideas on how to improve or modify their assignment for next time. Also, I'm sure the lab reports were also a great review tool.
Class discussions
Wikis can work as a platform for class discussions. Sometimes an online environment is preferable to face-to-face interaction since in an online environment, everyone is "forced" to participate and articulate their thought processes. Since student opinions are written down for everyone to read and re-read, it is also more challenging to the teacher, who then has to take the time to seriously read,consider, and re-think depending on the class reactions. One of my colleagues (a TL) created a wiki with an English teacher around the novel Macbeth. The teacher posted lessons and discussion questions after they read each Act / Scene in class. I thought that the strength of this idea is that both the TL and the teacher participated in the wiki. When students are posting large amounts of information, it seems an excellent idea that two teachers would share in the student discussion by posting questions, info, and feedback.
Publishing for a larger audience
I enjoyed Kathy Cassidy's comment on her blog that the best part about having a blog is the ability for other people to read and comment on it. I would say this also applies to wikis since an open wiki is open for anybody to comment on. I also agree with Kathy Cassidy that even adding a widget such Revolver Map to track who just looks at the wiki would encourage students to keep writing.
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| I saw this tracker on the Katikati Primary School Wiki |
Revision History
An interesting feature of wikis is the Revision or History tabs. These type of tabs are important to see who contributed to the article and possible discussions and controversies. When readers see the kind of negotiations involved in knowledge production, they become critical consumers of knowledge because they can see that knowledge is a dialogue and collaborative.
Wikipedia
In my experience, most teachers are ambivalent about Wikipedia. Despite Richardson's claim that most of Wikipedia is accurate (I agree), most teachers do not allow their students to cite Wikipedia in their projects. I think this is because many teachers misunderstand the Wikipedia community and do not know the rules of engagement. I have had a lot of positive reactions when I offered to give lessons on how to judge a Wikipedia page. For example, most teachers did not notice the Discussion tab which is an important element in judging the value of a Wikipedia page. I also like how Wikipedia editors rate pages as Featured content, Good article, B etc. I think this is another example of how web pages (and books) are never fully comprehensive and teaches students to be critical readers.
Professional Learning
Teacher Librarian Handbook
This year some of the TL's in my district are working on a Teacher Librarian Handbook that would be used to explain library procedures for all TL's in the province. They are compiling sample handbooks from across the province and then will produce a generic version. I think that it would be great if these kinds of documents could be made available as a wiki. In this way, people could edit / add comments/ and revise electronically as policies and procedures change (ie. cataloging ebooks, e readers, etc. ) . Also, since the Handbook is going to be a Provincial resource, it would seem more democratic if all TL's could contribute to it instead of only the district that won the grant. Wikis are collaborative and encourage all the writers (and readers) to take ownership of the content and so this would be a way to promote collaboration among TLs in the province. In addition, since the wiki is dynamic, the Handbook would always contain up-to-date information.
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| An example of a tool to edit / comment on a Wiki |
Resource / Lesson Plan sharing
I belong to a wiki called Tech4TLs that was started by teachers in Surrey School District, where I completed my TL training. It is a great resource to upload / download library lessons.
Conclusion
Wikis enhance student research practices and academic achievement because they demand verification of statements, collaboration, and the negotiation of knowledge. It is important that students learn the technical and intellectual skills demanded by applications such as wikis during their school years so that they will be well empowered to function in the information rich world that awaits them as adults.
