What is a wiki?
A "wiki" is a type of website that is used for collaboration inside and out of the classroom in which anyone with access to the internet can edit the page. One of the most common wiki type websites is one called Wikipedia in which many people from around the world have collaborated to create and share information about different topics, ranging anywhere from historical facts to biographies of fictional book or movie characters.
Who uses wikis?
Wikis are currently most commonly used in the college/university systems. However, the largest potential source for use in the academic systems is in the K-12 age range, due to the continued involvement of the students in the creation and exploration of a topic being discussed in wiki. Outside the classroom, wikis are used by those who travel, professionals looking to keep up communication and information from past experiences at events or conferences, or anyone with common interests looking to share experiences and expertise on a subject.
Wiki vs. Blog?
What is the difference between a wiki and blog? In a blog post, the post is edited by the blog writer, and is then published to be viewed by others. These other viewers can then comment on the blog post, but cannot edit anything about the blog post, which can be useful in the classroom if a post only needs to be commented on. However, wikis allow you to edit others' writing, as well as comment on certain aspects of a post, allowing for a much more open and adaptable structure for discussion.
How do we use a wiki?
Wikis can be used in variety of ways. Some of these ways are:
- Having students list vocabulary words and their usage in sentences
- Having a student collect different information related to the class while on a family trip
- A travel log made by the students after a field trip about what they saw while on the field trip
- A collection of different information seen in the real world by the students (i.e. fractions, abbreviations, shapes, colors, democracy)
Other more specific examples can be found here.
Why use wikis?
Wikis have many benefits to the learning process of students:
- They increase the connections made between the newer material recently learned and the older material learned a while back.
- The help creativity by allowing students to see what others are thinking and writing, which could lead the students to explore a topic at an even deeper level.
- Engagement of the students also increases, as a project seemingly never ends, but can always be refined and worked on within the group, without taking much time out of the students' normal routine.
- Interpersonal skills of the students who use wikis increases due to the need to communicate with one another, not only verbally, but by way of typing/writing, which is another skill in and of itself. If the students want to achieve a task at a high level, they must work together to achieve this common goal, and without communication, that is almost impossible.
Wikis are a beneficial resource that can be easily accessed and used within a classroom. Teachers, especially those in the K-12 classroom, must continue to try and find ways to explore new ways of teaching, and wikis are a promising future in the world of education.
