So then, Deborah, how might you integrate Wikis formally into your instructional design and for task scores, based on your pilot?
I have used wikis in my computer class. Since this was the first time using it, I let the students do it for extra credit. The students who did utilize the wiki were very creative in discussing topics. They included pictures, diagrams and You tube presentations. I believe that this method engages the student in the course and gives them the opportunity to discuss topics that they are interested in the course. I will be using wikis more often than I have been.Wikis are a great way to journal or reflect on what they have learned in the class.
FB can also go along way to facilitate and support a learning community , John.
Great idea, John. This would maximize the collaborative potential of the technology. The added outcome would be to increase the confidence ofthe students while they learn something new. Great!
I'm thinking of trying out a wiki for an assignment in my business class where students must produce a business plan. It's an introductory course and I find that this course requirement is probably too challenging for most students at that point to do well individually. Maybe the CL will be an improvement through doing the assignment via a wiki website and I can give some bonus points if a student takes the group work and individualizes it significantly more. What do you think?
In a couple classes I've been using a Facebook page effectively as a blog for everyone to add and comment. So many students are already on Facebook that it seems natural to add this.
As far as, free, online non-authoritative paper mills, such as Wikipedia, students can use this forum to share perspectives, opinion, and some facts, which will aid in the development and practice of several aspects of knowledge production, inclusive of data research, synthesis, and composition of articles. The immediate student learning benefit that I observe is the tangible nature of the end result of their toil, which is a public document, which more than likely reflects something that the student holds a passion for, available for heralding or scrutiny, facilitating further academic growth and development. Due to the online nature of Wiki publications, students are more inclined to exert optimal effort in rendering the highest level of their abilities in writing excellence, and the quality of these postings may even exceed what is deemed acceptable in the traditional classroom setting.
Furthermore, a student’s posting in a Wiki forum postures the student to gain some bragging rights and conversational topics, as the student acquires a pseudo-membership and/or inclusion into a worldwide knowledge-sharing platform, which may inspire them to higher levels of academia. Nevertheless, outside of classroom assessment, the Wiki looses a great amount of relevance in the educational community, because universities, such as the one which employs me, do not allow usage of Wiki articles as scholarly resources. Therefore, when students access Wikipedia postings, they should only refer to these articles to gain foundational subject topics, and after they gain key points mentioned in the Wiki articles, they should then seek scholarly documents to gain quantified information for their comprehensive research.
Yes, M. Clinger. It sounds like you use blogs with your students. How does this technology help support their learning, in your experience? Do you have "kick back" from any students when you ask them to use the technology? Has your integration of the technology in a course changed over time? If so, how? I found that I had to replan the actual assignments and also provide quite a bit of context and direction for the students beforehand so that their work would be focused and helpful to them. What do you think?
As with forums and blogs is very important for the instructor to keep them on a guided path. It is very easy for the participants in the blog to get slightly off-track and enter into a new subject or topic, especially if it's something that interests them, immensely. Additionally, without adequate research information could be imported which may not quite possibly be accurate or effective for the use of the particular form.
This is a very good point in that Wikipedia and about.com are not necessarily a positive reason for cement tool in that they do not exhibit a scholarly approach to the topic. They are more in a sentence, a huge blog from which one can get an abstract view or idea regarding a particular topic and then forge ahead with the base knowledge of information. It is by no means to an end.
People in general seem to have the tendency to want to retell a story in the order and format in which they understood it the best. A blog gives him this opportunity as well as gives him the opportunity to provide their own insights or highlights to a particular situation, as well as enter their own opinion
In today's society. Students have a natural tendency to want to post to blogs or other forms of media response areas. This is especially evidenced by the increased use of social media. It doesn't only give them. Anonymous opportunity to post, but at the same token, it does give them the freedom of speech that they may have not experienced before, and the traditional classroom
Blogging is almost like journaling. The student is creating knowledge and can use their creativity when blogging.
So, rather than the WIKIPEDIA model, how can Wiki technology increase collaboration without losing rigor, Carl?
I've seen students using Wikipedia - and other internet forum - as an answering source for multiple choice exam questions on side-by-side computer monitors and split screens. In my opinion, that defeats the purpose of trying to get students to become producers of knowledge and provides a method of cheating on an assessment. The internet was the actual test taker by the process of eliminating wrong answers and/or identifying the correct answer.
So, Cleve, there is likely to be more Wiki-like sources for students and even compiled by students. Often these can provide interesting information, however, I agree that students need to know the difference between those and research sources. Both can exist in a paper or project as long as they are cited correctly and used appropriately, in my opinion.
I think it is important to help students express what they really think and feel. Many students tend to repeat back what the teacher said or what is in the textbook. Students need to learn how to think critically. Blogs and Wikis are tools to motivate the students to think about topics and issues. The instructor can pose a question or two and let the students respond to the initial question(s) while their classmates respond to what others in the class post in reply to each other.
I have to remind my students several times not to use Wikipedia, too, and I still get at least one person who lists it as a research source. Sometimes I want to limit sources to hardcopy only.
Yes, Michelle, your experiences sound similar to my own as I have used Wikis and blogs with students. It is interesting how students engage well using these tools and seem to find a more confident "voice" in their learning process. Thank you for sharing ...
Blog entries can be used to provide students with learning reflection opportunities. Having each student journal their own responses and actions for the learning process enables assimilation of course content with already existing knowledge and skills, as well as providing mechanisms for sharing their viewpoint of the learning process with others in the course and the instructor (all while practicing crucial thoughts-to-written-communication skills!).
Using wikis in a course can be a lot of fun! Having students build their own page (perhaps for use in place of a blog or other journaling tool), while also providing shared pages for group collaboration and cooperative work provides opportunities to practice many skills – ranging from group dynamic and work concerns, such as whether to make corrections to work done by others, up to decision-making and evaluation processes, such as determining whether posted content together addresses objectives for the assignment. I use wikis in many of my courses (as well as online discussion forums), even though we meet face-to-face in a classroom. Students greatly enjoy them and clearly improve their communication, writing, and thinking skills. It is crucial to emphasize what ‘meaningful contribution’ to an online discussion or wiki page means, so students do not resort to copy/paste or simple ‘conversational’ postings. Students are clearly gathering, processing, and then producing knowledge!
