Digital tool: Wikispaces
Wikis for Collaborative Learning
This week I created my own Wikispace in an endeavour to explore its effectiveness in a learning and classroom environment. My recent use with Wiki has been most proficient in another course I am currently studying which allows assignment groups to collaboratively come to one place to edit and keep track of the progress of the content of the site using a standard web browser. Furthermore the mobile phone wiki that I engaged in during week 1 of this course allowed my peers and I to explore and share perspectives on a particular topic, which I found very engaging and successful. After exploring wiki I found traits from both a Web site and a Word document which was quick and easy set up and use. Wiki can be often referred to as a giant online butcher’s paper that encourages learners to read, write and think which can act as continuous learning tool where users and guests can edit, modify, add, and remove information with has many simple and quick editing tools. One benefit of wiki that has been successful in my own learning is the ability to upload files such as videos, images, word documents and pdf files which in group assignment situations is an easy and successful way to share information, ideas and content in one area rather than sending emails backwards and forwards where documents can get lost and stored in numerous areas making it difficult to communicate.
Many key features of a wiki can be identified by wiki.org: (from http://wiki.org ) which explores all of wikis benefits. Essential scaffold is needed when using a wiki and a list of strategies can be accessed on a previous blog (mobile phones wiki reflection) to successfully scaffold this online learning tool.
Below is a quote that I thought successfully explains the use of wikis in a classroom context
The Wiki is gaining traction in education, as an ideal tool for the increasing amount of collaborative work done by both students and teachers. Students might use a wiki to collaborate on a group report, compile data or share the results of their research, while faculty might use the wiki to collaboratively author the structure and curriculum of a course, and the wiki can then serve as part of each person’s course web site (Mader, 2005)
Excerpt retrieved from
For students to effectively reap the benefits of online spaces such as blogging, certain thinking tools needs to well scaffolded so as to set clear requirements and expectations of the task. To ensure students success in Wikispaces, certain thinking tools as well as carefully constructed questions sequence or strategies need to be implemented.
Check out the wiki I created and see how Wikis can enhance and transform learning at http://bries.wikispaces.com/
To successfully analyse Wiki I have again used a thinking tool called SWOT to analyse Wikis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Wikispaces 4 Education
Strengths · Collaborative (creates networks) · Constructive (ownership of learning) · Connective – class, school, families, wider community, interstate or international. · Many features and tools (audio, video, YouTube, images and photo gallery etc.) This will ensure engagement with tasks · Flexibility of use · Encourages peer teaching · Peer perspectives · Critical and reflective thinking · Inclusive · ability to keep track of the history of a document as it is revised · Engaging · Easy use | Weaknesses · Time consuming · Some students lack of contribution (need some kind of colour coding to ensure students use · Incorrect content · Plagiarism · Fear of overwriting student work (one user at one time) |
Opportunities · opportunity become internet and computer savvy · navigate online · improve writing skills · critically reflect · ownership of their own learning | Threats · Time consuming · Unreliable (technical difficulties) · No learning gains · Plagiarism (legal, safe, ethical requirements) · Difficult to help students at one time if they require individual help |
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