Wikis are wacky, wild, and worthy with the willpower to wow! How's that for a little alliteration? As defined in Wikipedia (the most popular and well known wiki site): "A wiki (
i/ˈwɪki/ WIK-ee) is a website which allows collaborative modification of its content and structure directly from the web browser." Wikis can be edited without waiting for a review or approval to post. It's quick, easy and instant (real time online). Wikis have been around for awhile. I remember PBwiki (now PBworks) and using that almost ten years ago. It was named after a peanut butter (PB) sandwich because it claimed to be as easy as making one. I used it for a personal site that I shared with friends regarding some forms I created for myself that I wanted to share and collaborate with (nerdy things like a packing list, grocery list, and more) to make life easier. I was in nerd heaven. It was like my own pocket protector filled with ideas, forms, photos and more. Wikis have been criticized as being used as a storage compartment instead of a collaboration tool, but if that's what is needed then why not? At least you know where to find your forms from any computer. Wikis were back before the days of Google Drive, which provides a similar concept. However, wikis are more involved and provide a much broader box of tools within the database. Google Drive is a great way to edit and share documents, but not on the larger scale of organization and collaboration. In looking at the Apalachee High School Media Center's website, I was not too impressed. There are ways to make a site more user friendly without so many distractions. I don't like to see mass sites thrown up on a page for me to click and sort through. One of the best books I've read applying to website design (which could apply here of course) is Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think Revisited. The book is an easy read and full of common sense. I highly recommend for anyone with a website (wiki or otherwise). Vanderbilt University's article on Wikis contains a succinct description and an acronym of STOLEN to keep clear expectations with a Specific objective, Timely use, Ownership, Localized, Engagement, and Navigation. Go to http://www.a6training.co.uk/resources_Social_Software.php to print off a copy of the STOLEN Principles Tick List by Dave Foord for future use.
There is a downside (maybe even a serious dark side for us control freaks) and that could be the risk of someone modifying or erasing work that is time consuming to correct or impossible to recreate. This can be devastating and send control freaks like me into the fetal position. However, there could be some structures put into place limiting members which can modify, but as the article, "7 things you should know about Wikis" said, "A wiki is essentially a database created by a group rather than an individual." Therefore, in the spirit of collaboration, there should be few limitations within the freedom of a group. Another drawback the article pointed out is that it could have a collaborative bias over time. Yet I still believe one only has to look to Wikipedia for it's phenomenal success.
As for the Media Center, I see Wikis as a big plus. The possibilities are endless for staff and student collaboration on unlimited topics or research. I could see it also being the storage cabinet (in a positive way) to house ever changing and updated informational site for subjects, such as the Civil War, that could showcase all the research and resources within the library or easily accessible elsewhere. Can you say "Pathfinder" anyone? The greatest joy of wikis to me would be the easy access and open sharing across the world for topics that may need no alterations, just there waiting to be put to good use. As the article, "A Wiki Gives a Worthy Book New Life" asks, "Why do some books have related online resources for the classroom teacher while others do not?". If everyone created one wiki, on one book, could you imagine the possibilities? Each one teach one. It would truly be a wonderful world of Wikis found wanted and worthy of its widespread wisdom.
I can see some of the differences between wikis and Google Drive, but I'm not sure I'm sold. I don't know if it's a false sense of protection on Google Drive, but I feel that my work is only "touchable" to those that I give permission to edit it. Also, at my school we are using Google Drive to collaborate. Could I be missing something?
ReplyDeleteI do like the wiki idea for give a book a new life and agree that resources for different books would be great to share. I would personally limit it to ideas and not post actually documents or items for use; I'd save those for TpT!
I have to start with how much I enjoyed your writing style and I was even starting to think, maybe I was too hard in my negative opinion of wikis...but then you lost me with the Google Drive comments. Google Drive has WAY more functionality than a wiki. Now if you were referring to the tool "sites" inside of Google Drive that lets you create your own website then I might agree that it can be somewhat limiting in its design, but it actually would be on par with wikis. The ability to use revision history and return to previous copies of something you are collaborating on is a huge plus for me about Google Drive. Not only can I determine who views and who edits if I don't like what they did, as the owner, I can change it back. No fear. I will be completely straightforward when I say that I am a Google Certified educator so it is my favorite. I just have yet to find anything that offers all of the tools it does in one package.
ReplyDeleteI went to look at Apalachee's site - it looks like they might be required to use a particular web domain, like school-in-sites or schoolwires. I know that a lot of school systems are going to these types of companies because they are cost effective, give a unified look for the school district and make it easier on their transient families to know where to look for information. However, I completely agree with you, the setups are generally just too busy!
First off, let me thank you for your honesty about being a control freak. I, too, struggle in this domain. And, while I love the concept of the wiki, the “dark side” is there looming in the not so distant shadows of the infinite world of cyberspace. I have helped create and contribute to a wiki in a prior class. Working alone on the wiki was not as difficult as working with others that can go in and edit along with you (and, as you point out – wipe your contributions off the face of the earth…) I found myself typing everything into a Word document and then spending the majority of my time cutting, pasting, and reformatting my items to fit in the wiki. The thought of simply typing it into the wiki itself and leaving my work’s annihilation and fate up to the wiki-gods and a few, well-meaning, awesome team members’ accidental deletes scared me senseless. I love that the wiki catalogs who has been there and who made what changes. But, in my estimation, it would be even more awesome if it provided a recovery function for deleted materials. You are right in comparing it to Google Docs. Despite loving Drive, I am not a fan of Docs, but, at least Docs allows you to set a “View Only” option so that other contributors can’t change or accidentally delete your work. Wikis would be beyond awesome with this option!!! I also like your point about it serving as a storage or filing cabinet of sorts especially for use with the media center. Great points and I am so glad to have someone who fears the “dark side” much like I do!
ReplyDeleteThe ease of using wikis for collaborative group projects makes them very appealing to many; myself included due to my experience with the group Pathfinder project for Online Reference course. Christi's comments about Google Drive however point out there are multiple programs to create collaborative projects. It just depends on what individuals are most comfortable or familiar with using. My husband often voices some concerns with the data collecting activities that happen with Google applications.... Is that something we should be concerned about as well? I need time to read more about issues like that. I think exposure to many different Web 2.0 tools is important for media specialists so that we can give options to teachers about which tools might be best for use with class projects or individual student assignments.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog on the subject of wiki spaces. Your writing style makes me feel as though I am reading a fashion magazine article which with all the technical reading we have to do this is a refreshing change. Thanks for that. As for you insight on the wiki it does give me a better picture of the intended use of the wiki. This virtual storage cabinet could allow students and teachers a place to create and collaborate on various topics. I do still struggle with the organization and accuracy of most wiki spaces. The ability to edit my work would also drive me nuts. In addition to that, outlining the parameters of what the participants are to contribute and monitoring it is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI was engaged from the onset of your summary. Your word choice lead to an interest read. There are pros and cons of Wikis. I think that Wikis encourage and increase teamwork. However, like you stated most educators are tyrants, including myself at times. Hence, wikis will certainly require some of us to change or modify our mindset. We need to let go of some of the control to provide our students with a unique and unforgettable educational experience. Moreover, as you said, “the options are limitless for staff and students to collaborate.” Most of our students love to collaborate with classmates because it provides them with instant insight from various individuals with different viewpoints than their own. Research proves that if the people are excited about what they are doing better results will follow.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your thoughts and ideas on Wikis. I actually created a Wiki last semester with a group of classmates. The task of collaborating with your peers to gather a number of references and resources required much planning and discussion. Although, it may be difficult for some to release control and allow others to share their knowledge and ideas, it can actually create an amazing online resource! I was quite apprehensive when we begin the assignment, but I actually learned alot and enjoyed the project. We each created individual pages within the Wiki, so we were each able to express our own thoughts and ideas, while sharing resources collaboratively. I plan to allow my gifted students to create one as a culminating project for our unit at the end of the semester. I know that this may be a huge task for students but it will provide a number of resources and allow them to take ownership of their learning.
ReplyDeleteL. Dobbs 7477
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Wikis
Wikis are fairly new to me other than Wikipedia which we have been told numerous times not to use because the information is not reliable. However, in a media center that has strong collaborative efforts it can be quite efficient. You are right this tool can be used across grade levels for all sorts of collaborating and researching. Teachers and students can benefit from sharing information to building research documents and sharing them with students in other schools around the world. By having a full understanding of the population that your wiki will initially serve and steering information toward that population it will serve is vital for its success. Appointing the media specialist as the point person or administrator of the wiki can be a good balance between teachers and students as well as parents if they too become involved on certain topics.
L. Dobbs 7477
ReplyDeleteResponse to Blog 1
Wikis
Wikis are fairly new to me other than Wikipedia which we have been told numerous times not to use because the information is not reliable. However, in a media center that has strong collaborative efforts it can be quite efficient. You are right this tool can be used across grade levels for all sorts of collaborating and researching. Teachers and students can benefit from sharing information to building research documents and sharing them with students in other schools around the world. By having a full understanding of the population that your wiki will initially serve and steering information toward that population it will serve is vital for its success. Appointing the media specialist as the point person or administrator of the wiki can be a good balance between teachers and students as well as parents if they too become involved on certain topics.
I enjoyed your insight into the use of Wikis. I have noticed a trend recently in our county in which teachers and parents are not utilizing our school websites as much as other resources. Instead, teachers are using other resources such as Wikis, Weebly and Bloomz to create their classroom websites and communicate with parents. I can see where Wikis would be a great collaboration tool for teachers who lack common planning time. For example,our elementary gifted teachers teach the same curriculum but serve multiple schools. They only meet once a week for about two hours to plan. A wiki would be very useful for this purpose, but the fear would be like you said, someone editing and modifying the contributions. We have office365 in our system and logged in the portal, changes are automatically saved which has caused some issues with our shared document such as the gifted guidelines for the county. Maybe a wiki could be used to just post ideas and resources to be used instead of putting actual documents on there for collaborative purposes.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow nerd enthusiast, I can imagine how elated you were in using your Wiki to store all of your files that you liked to share with friends. I am the same way! I have joined a wiki that was for cute stationary things and household organization tips like lists, household notebook, and etc. I have also used Wikis quite a lot in my time here at West Georgia by myself and in collaboration with fellow students. I believe Wikis are becoming a trend now and are a lot easier to manage than someone building a website from ground up.
ReplyDeleteFrom an educational perspective, I think Wikis are a great resource with endless opportunities. I actually plan on using them in my future media center to create Pathfinders for important modules with the collaboration of regular classroom teachers. I love how Wikis allow users to be very organized and easily accessed. The only downside is that I am always paranoid I will update a file at the same time as someone else and then we will overwrite each others changes thus creating chaos. I am a control freak myself and like everything a certain way so I can see how this might take some getting used to and the need for me to count to ten every now and again. Other than that, I believe they will make my life a lot easier and more organized!
Thank you for sharing insight into Wikis as well as your personal perspective. I learned how to create and use a Wiki in my program of study at Mercer University. I have since become more familiar with them as I use them in my classroom, and have used them in this program. Your post and the corresponding articles provide evidence that Wikis are becoming more prevalent in education. From classrooms, to libraries, Wiki spaces are a commonly used tool as our society continues to trend into one that is globally technological.
ReplyDeleteWiki spaces can be very benifical when created with accuracy and organization. They are also beneficial when done collaboratively with co-workers and other educational specialists. I have shared the idea of Wikis with the teachers on my third grade team this year and they are thrilled about the idea of an educational platform that is easy to create, use, and navigate by teachers and students.
The article " 7 Things you Should Know about... Wikis is a great tool and point of reference for Wiki creators and users. I like that it even includes the down sides to using wikis, this part of the article allows creators and users insight into the risks that are associated with this technology tool. These drawbacks can also be used to create Wikis that are seamless and appropriate. I enjoy learning the innerworkings of Wikis and sharing them with my colleagues!
As a parent I would agree with some of the comments listed. I do not utilize the teacher website provided by my daughters teachers. I'm still old school and believe in sending an email to the teacher or a note by my child. Wikis would allow for faster communication between teacher and parent. It would also allow for parents to see what their students are posting. As a future media specialist I can see where I could use wikis as a means to communicate with student about books they would love to see in the media center and it would be a great place for students to write critiques on books read to encourage other students to read books.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post regarding wikis. With any technology there are some inherent risks. As educators, we have to weigh the risks and the rewards. I see wikis as an awesome tool to get students to collaborate using technology. I also like the fact that students are able to modify the wiki. This can also be a disadvantage as students may access the wiki and post in an inappropriate manner. Wikis are a wonderful tool to utilize in a media center or classroom to communicate with students and parents. I could also see using them for assessment purposes in a classroom. I think the uses for wikis are unlimited.
ReplyDeleteKristy, thank you for such a great blog post introducing me the wonderful wacky world of wikis. Before this class, my closest association with wikis was Wikipedia. Much like you, the idea of creating something and putting it out there where someone else could just delete or modify is a very scary prospect, and would also send me screaming to the hills in the fetal position. I suppose that is why it is so important to always create a back up of important work. I hope going forward in this course, I can learn to live and let go a little when it comes to wikis and trusting that those involved have a common goal and purpose, and that not all change is a bad thing.
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