Apr
5
Using Wikis in Education
April 5, 2007 | | Leave a Comment
One of the Web 2.0 tools that has great potential in classrooms and the library program is the Wiki.
A wiki is a website that you and a group can create and edit; that tracks your progress and history; that essentially allows collaborative construction of knowledge on any given subject. The benefits of using wikis in school is discussed in School Library Journal, and provides a link to these Gr. 3 Class Wikis.
How can you use wikis in education?
Some examples of how you could use a wiki in your school include creating:
** a wiki with collections of student work
** a class wiki discussing units that are being taught/studied
** a wiki of student-created study guides
** a wiki around a specific event (i.e. 2010 Olympics)
** a wiki for groups that are writing/editing a collaborative report
As with many Web 2.0 tools, teachers and teacher-librarians may be intimidated by the technology and not sure where to start. There are online tutorials that can guide you, and people have posted wiki tutorial videos on YouTube that are very helpful, such as the one below that shows how to set-up a class wiki:
Some examples of how you could use a wiki in your school include creating a wiki with collections of student work, a wiki of student-created study guides, a wiki-style class blog, and for student groups to work on writing/editing a collaborative report. In the library, visit Library Success for ideas and guidance.
The potential for using a wiki in your school is huge! Don’t be scared to try it out – a good place to start is pbwiki.com. Questions, thoughts, examples of your work? Let me know!
