Wiki Gives Kids a New World

Wiki curriculum pages act like an online electronic whiteboard, providing students access to change or add information and are a collaborative, constructivist approach to incorporate technology into lessons. The responsibility of contributing to a Wiki teaches students necessary skills to interact within a group successfully, engages student interest and gives them a feeling of accomplishment. A list of websites that provided appropriate information related to subject content is centrally located, eliminating the need for maintenance of a separate website. It breaks with the traditional learning model of an instructor-centered classroom and puts the learner in control. Through checking post homework, course materials, videos, screencasts, wiki also gives parents a chance to be a part of the classroom. Students with access to the Internet outside of school can complete projects without having to be in school. Wikis can be used for brainstorming, authentic assessment, literature discussion, journalism, collaborative writing and research papers.

Following the WebQuest Template, my wiki includes five parts: introduction, task, process, evaluation, and conclusion. For “changing an ending to a novel” project, I will post the novel list for my 12th grade students to choose. To introduce the novels, I have some clips of the movie based on the novels. One video made by myself is an example before my students start their own movies. I can become “the facilitator by offering suggestions and asking probing questions to make students inquire deeper into the concepts, by keeping them on task, and by teaching them to construct their learning through problem solving and discovery” (Shelly 2010). Tutorials and hyperlinks to how-to web sites assist in teaching editing movies step by step. The process of searching the websites is really time-consuming for me, but worthy saving students’ valuable time. Students are divided into groups to draft their storyboard, post and review their final work facing the real audience, comment on the works of other groups. By creating the decision tree, every group member can add his or her opinion and decide what will happen next. Grading rubric at the end provides the rules how the final work will be graded.

Making the wiki page more visually appealing was the hardest part for me. I always messed up while keeping images, videos, and links in the exact place. There is little doubt that opening the door to a level of group interaction, wiki is a valid tool to be used for students. I intend to further explore the effective strategies for educators with wiki.

References:
Shelly, G., Gunter, G., & Gunter, R. (2010). Integrating technology and classroom media in the classroom. Boston

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