Assignment 2 Wikis

I created a wiki for the first time the other day but didn’t do anything with it. I started thinking about how I could use this in a History class to get students interacting. History has this stereotype of being facts and figures…boring. So I thought up a wiki to discuss inspirational figures from the past and by using the wiki, in theory students could comment and add their own to it. You tube clips or even podcasts of famous speeches could be used. My first thoughts on using ICT within my subject!  Wikis can be used for any subject and in any context. Whether it is used as an assessment tool or as an online central classroom where students learning begins. You are able to combine all other online tools that are available into one place...A wiki! 


A few uses for Wikis


Resource Creation      eg:   Create reference pages online
                                              Create and present presentations in a wiki
                                              Readers' guides for online book reviews                                   
Student Participation eg:  Create and display Student Portfolios                                                       
                                              Share notes
                                             Collaborative effort on topics. Vocabulary and
                                             Spelling corrections                                    
                                             True or False activities
                            
Group projects          eg:   Online time lines
                                            Great for collaborative History projects
                                            
Student interaction    eg: Mulit- author creative writing
                                           Literature circles
                                           Debates
                                           Collect and store data for classes.
                                           Classroom Social page
                    


http://missgarratt.wikispaces.com/Who+inspires+you%3F

Potential of Wikis in secondary schools

Strengths

Encourages and develops higher order thinking.

Level of interaction is extremely high compared to blogs or web pages.

A new age method to engage students at all ages in learning. A wiki designed for a year 8 English class can be completely different to a wiki designed for year 11 History.

Enhances online learning.

Great for group collaboration on assignments especially with history projects.

Students interact and collaborate with each other and their teachers in a virtual world. 


Easy to navigate

Students can access Wikis outside of the classroom in private study yet still be interacting with other students. This can benefit students who are ill or absent from class as all the information a student would need can be online.

Weaknesses

Must be well balanced with other learning activities as can minimise physical interaction in a classroom.

The use of wikis relies on the good nature of the students. They can be manipulated by anyone.  Although there is a history function to restore previous settings and postings. Teachers would also have to monitor the behaviour of students to minimise the risk of undesired information being posted. 

Opportunities

Promotes collaboration within group activities.

Constructing assignments.

Threats

Must be monitored well by  the teacher.

Wikis encourage higher order thinking. They can be used for all ages in a high school depending on the context. I believe grade 9 and above would benefit the most from using this tool.