Amanda Tyler's Blog

Creating my Wiki was simple and fast. I was eager to collaborate with my classmates and get some ideas and feedback. Unfortunately, I might’ve waited too late, because as of 7:00pm Sunday night, I’m the only one who has written anything. I double-checked my settings, and they allow all members to edit the wiki, so I’m not quite sure what the issue is. Maybe by the end of tonight there will be some postings! 2 of the 5 members I invited have accepted.

Regardless of the success with this particular Wiki, I think they could be valuable educational tools. Wikis differ from blogs because all members can edit the actual document or presentation- not just comment on it. Each person can have a different text color and edit the document or give feedback. It’s clear and simple to use, and I both researched and thought of some ways it could be used effectively in the classroom:

• Having students use it for the writing process so that classmates can peer edit pre-writing webs, rough drafts, etc
• Maintaining a class newspaper
• Open a Wiki for big assignments and use it as a question-and-answer forum
• Maintain a class website with due dates, reminders, etc.
• Let students demonstrate their knowledge on a topic by making a page for each letter A to Z. The entire class can write as much as they know about a certain topic on each letter (For example, if the topic were United States geography, students might write “plateaus,” “prairie,” or “Pennsylvania” on the P page).
• Give students digital access to rubrics or assignment details
• Show students samples of assignments from previous students
• Have an ongoing document that other teachers can edit (all Social Studies teachers in a school or district could be members, for example)

Overall, I think the use of Wiki is one of the things learned this semester that I will definitely apply in my future classroom. The possibilities are endless, and everytime I think of another use for Wikis, I think about how helpful it’d be.