Wikis - A Living Collaboration

“... whose purpose is the sharing of the creative process and product by many” (The Source for Learning, 2010)

First encounters with wikis

In researching about wikis, this statement rang true for me.  Although my experience working with wikis is limited, I have had the pleasure of working on a collaborative project with fellow graduate students.  Even though we were at opposite ends of the country, we were able to work together to create a space online where new teacher-librarians may seek advice on Managing Personnel and Volunteers in the Library.

Although much credit must be given to Tammy (for doing things such as setting up the wiki and designing the colourful front page), we were able to customize the wiki to meet our needs, adding features such as links and images.  Personally, I was confident in “adding” information but was much more reluctant to “edit” the work of the others.  Even in face-to-face encounters, I much prefer to propose suggestions for changes and leave it in the hands of others to make the final decision.

I have since then created my own wiki entitled “Global Citizenship”.  My intention here was to create a space where fellow elementary teachers may contribute ideas in preparation for learning and celebrating learning about global citizenship.  Again, using the platform of PB Works, I organized the pages to reflect the research that I had found up until that point.  By adding the names of my colleagues as members, they will be able to make additions/changes as they see appropriate.

New Learning

During an online class discussion, I can recall a classmate inquiring as to why I used PBWorks as opposed to Wikispaces to develop my wiki.  Essentially, I used it because I was familiar and comfortable with it.  But with this question, I then asked myself, “does WIkispaces offer something different or unique?”  I decided to use this opportunity to find out.

At a quick glance, you notice that Wikispaces offers both a free basic service to everyone and a free service for educators featuring things such as no advertising and no usage limit.  Jumping at the prospect of creating a wiki for use with my students, I proceeded to sign up.  Although this process was fairly straight forward, when I tried to modify the website address (had a change of heart), I could not seem to and ended up deleting this account and starting again.  Within my settings, I liked that I was able to adjust permissions so that only students could edit pages or take part in discussions.  I had the choice of allowing the public to view the wiki or not.  From the Home Page, it was simply a matter of clicking “Edit” and I was on my way... adding/editing pages and content, links, images and video clips, and adjusting the appearance of the wiki.  When finished, I realized the navigation bar listing the pages was not in the order I had wanted.  The help menu addressed this issue and provided step-by-step instructions on editing the navigation bar.  Le voila!   Not a “fait accompli”, but in the spirit of wikis, a work in progress. 

On a more personal note

In the midst of working on this assignment, I was contemplating attending a school-board initiated meeting with fellow FSL teachers.  Normally I am only too glad to get together but because this meeting will take place at the end of November (facing both report cards and the final week of this course), I decided not to attend.  But then it dawned on me.  I realized that much of what we want to address (sharing of ideas, resources, adaptations to programs) could be accomplished through the creation of a wiki!  I have been receiving several emails in the past few weeks from the French Ped. Consultant, highlighting recommended websites... why not include these links on a wiki where teachers may refer to them at any time?  I realize the face-to-face contact would be missing, but we would be saving thousands of dollars and could essentially arrive at the same place... and may continue to collaborate long after the proposed session!

Creating wikis to collaborate with others to find out more about personal interests is also an intriguing idea.  I love gardening but am restricted by such a short, cool growing season.  Why not create a wiki that invites others to share their knowledge about plants that grow well in northern climates?  And with my family being so spread out, I also like the idea of creating a “family album’” wiki where we may all contribute photos or videos and highlights of special events.

Wikis in education

In browsing for ideas on how wikis are used in education, I came across another nice feature that Wikispaces provides.   Their Educational Wiki invites educators to share wikis that they have created for use in their schools.  Some examples include Our Dinosaur Wiki, developed by a Grade 1/2 class; BookLead Wiki, created by Joyce Valenze highlighting resources for promoting reading; and Holes, a wiki which presents an analysis of the novel by Louis Sachar by Grade 5 students, and some activities revolved around its theme.  But it was only when I explored the site suggested by Will Richardson, Wikijunior, that I came up with an idea that I could integrate into my classroom. 

As part of an assignment for an Inquiry-based Learning course, I developed a project focusing on the Changes in Behaviours of the Wildlife of our Region.  In preparation for this project, I had planned to have the students research the characteristics and habits of these animals.  Working in small groups to conduct research, the students could then collaborate to develop a wiki that presents their new knowledge.  By allowing the public to view the wiki, parents could be privy to this learning process as well.  The wiki may be found at:

http://www.exploringandlearning.wikispaces.com/

Considering the students have not had any prior experience working with wikis, it would be prudent to both teach and model various aspects of their use.  As with an inquiry project based on literature circles (Moreillon, 2009), a teacher and teacher-librarian co-taught wiki etiquette, principles and elements of design, fair use of multimedia products and challenges of distributing wiki work on the Web (p. 25).  They also provided the students with “... a number of sites to find suitable copyright-free images” (p. 27) and EasyBib, a site to generate citations for bibliographies.  In this process of creating and developing a wiki, the students will develop critical literacy skills, as well as skills in working with Information and Communication Technology, communicating and collaborating and producing media works .  As pointed out in Web 2.0 for Schools (Davies & Merchant, 2009), “this process can widen students’ repertoires as readers and writers, also showing them the value of editing and refining” (p. 101).

Granted all of these ideas helps one become more proficient in working with wikis (and other Web 2.0 tools), I am reassured by the words of Harris (2006) who says,

the heart of the concept, though, is not about the tools, but rather the communities and the conversations that they make possible (para. 17).

References

David, J & Merchant, G. (2009).  Web 2.0 for Schools:  Learning and Social Participation. New York, NY:  Peter Lang Publishing

Harris, C. (Jan. 2006).  School library 2.0.  School Library Journal.  Retrieved online at http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6330755.html

Moreillo, J. (2009).  Learning and teaching in wanda wiki wonderland:  literature circles in the cigital commons.  Teacher Librarian, 37(2). pp. 23-28.

The Source for Learning (2010).  Teachers First.  Retrieved online at http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/