Task #18 - Wikis

The use of wikis within the classroom is something that I have dabbling in over the last few years.  In undertaking this week's task, it prompted me to thing back over the role that my class wiki page played within my everyday teaching practise.

Initially I spent a great deal of time setting up the site, focused on how the page would appear to the students and basically using as a storage area from which students where able to again access to documents, relevant educational sites, pictures etc.  Being new to the concept, I was very guarded of the design and layout and extremely reluctant to give students writer access to the site "just in case they did something", of what I am unsure but truthfully it probably came down to me worrying about them messing up my lovely new wiki design.  This is a hard thing to admit now - oh the wisdom of hindsight!

Over the next couple of years, the design of my page began to change as my understanding of how the wiki works at both a technical and educational level has evolved.  I am pleased to say it is now more about student input, collaboration, reflection and interaction with the site and less about the bells and whistle, which, let's face it, look great but slow down access to pages within the site.

I have recently introduced this year's class to our wiki page and they are currently in the process of designing their own page banners using some of the Web 2.0 image generators I discovered as part of Task #10 and they are having a ball! Not only that, they are coming in daily with new sites for me to check out and add to our links page.  I guess that what I have ultimately learnt about the value of wikis - it is less about ME and more about WE!

Time for yet another confession.  In undertaking my journey with wikis, and Web 2.0 in general, I am becoming a little frustrated with the realities of getting my students on computers in order to make the most of these experiences.  It really is getting to a stage where every student needs their own computer access both at school and at home.  The realities are, however, very different and it is this reality that I at times find quite frustrating.  14 years ago I was somewhat reluctantly teaching a Year 6 laptop class.  Pioneer as it was at that time, with all that has transpired over the last 14 years it beginning to emerge as more a necessity than a luxury, especially if we are to truly 'educate' students for the 21st Century!  It's ironic perhaps that I am once again teaching a Year 6 class this year.

One final thought - Wikipedia...great concept but very frustrating to the SOSE teacher in me who is trying to teach my student about sources.  I have many students who predominately use Wikipedia as their primary source of information and first port of call when researching.  Perhaps it is timely that this week's task also accompanies Rollyo, which I am hopeful might provide me with another medium through which to address this issue with my students.  I want my students to appreciate that there is a wealth of information out there and while Wikipedia is great and extremely convenient, with a little effort who knows what they might find to spark their interest and imagination!