Here is my Final Project Wiki.
There are a number of ways that I could use wikis in my classroom. When I envision using wikis in the classroom I lean more towards reading literature and responding in wiki form than actually setting up a wiki for the sole purpose of writing.
I would like to use wikis for literature circles with my ninth graders. This would work well because students can record and respond and there can be a written record of their discussions and thoughts.
Also, while reading any novel, small group wikis would be beneficial to increase students' comprehension. Students naturally like to talk about the books anyway so to have them do it in a productive, technological manner would be beneficial.
As we've discussed in class, the collaboration aspect of working with wikis is constructive because students can corroborate their own ideas or opinions based on others' ideas. Collaboration is an increasingly important skill which students need to develop.
As a teacher it would be helpful to monitor students' activity on the wikis. Also, I often have a difficult time giving students feedback in a timely manner on essays. With wikis I feel as though I can evaluate students' writing and the revision process can be much more immediate as well.
Some challenges that may occur for students in collaborative writing seem to be the same challenges that students face whenever group work is assigned. Some students ultimately do more work than other students. Students may rewrite portions of the wiki which someone does not want rewritten.
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2 comments:
Wikis do face as many challenges as any group work. I almost wonder if it's more of a burden to kids than a help? They definitely need help organizing and establishing a "wiki" but once that is settled I feel the collaboration piece would be set into place. It is very easy for teachers to monitor the work done on wikis...which is a plus for me. I like the fact I can hold students accountable to the work and ideas they have contributed to the group project via the wikis. Taking time to establish wikis for a long-term project could really foster the sense of collaboration and group effort needed to make things successful for students.
You and I should probably talk about our final projects because I am planning a similar project. Actually, I plan to do the same thing except that I'll be planning a lit circle wiki project for juniors in American Lit. But we'll certainly have some overlap in some of our final products. So, it may be helpful to share ideas.
I agree that feedback will be so much easier if the groups use wikis. I would like to have very specific guidelines for the wikis so that the lit groups end up being very self-sufficient and productive. I hope, too, with the use of the wiki that I can assign specific tasks to kids and the workload will be more evenly distributed within each group.
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