Before starting this program, I wasn't too familiar with what wikis are, and what their many uses are. I can now see how beneficial they can be for group work, and how great of a tool they are for collaboration. The article mentions that they came about in the 90's by scientists and engineers who created them as knowledge bases. This seems to be the case with many online platforms, such as facebook.
The article mentions a few downsides of wikis, and one of them in particular has the potential to be troublesome for ESL students. If you are teaching a class that does not have much technological experience, the initial setups and modifications that wikis require may be difficult to deal with. This can be a time-consuming task for both students and teachers, and the benefit of the wiki must be worth the time spent setting it up.
What about the idea of creating a "class wiki," where the entire class collaborates on one page, in specifically assigned tasks. While the project has the potential to be chaotic, it may be easier for the teacher to monitor one giant wiki, as opposed to a bunch of smaller wikis. I'm still not behind wikis 100%, but I think they do have potential in ESL classrooms.
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1 year ago
I agree with Deena and think having one big collaborative Wiki is probably more manageable than several. I do see the potential chaos if the learners aren't computer literate, as I myself struggle with this every day. It's not easy or self-explanatory and throw in language barriers and it will be a problem. However, working on one like a class project might be more manageable and the students won't seem so overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteDeena, Ryan showed me a cool way to monitor wikis to see who has posted what and when they posted it. If I had not known that I would be loathe to use them, but I think that would help make them more manageable. I agree with your concerns and also that it could be useful.
ReplyDeleteJessina- you're right about the potential chaos with non tech-smart students, so it would be a risky activity.
ReplyDeleteBill- I'll have to ask Ryan about that. I'm an advocate of Google Wave because you can monitor student input, so if you can track that with wikis, I might soften towards them a little more..
I like wikis, but they need to be introduced at the right time and for the right reasons. I'm glad that deleted material can be retrieved because that makes things easier. I like that you can see who makes what updates as well.
ReplyDeleteGive 'em a chance Deena.
I'm all for it Christine, as long as they're used for a purpose!
ReplyDelete