Tag: wiki

Categories
Module 4

Social Media and Learning

Wiki Activity: Social Media and Learning

This week in ETEC 565, we used a wiki to discuss the impact of social media on classroom spaces.  Our first task was to list a social media sighting from our teaching context on the 66B wiki page.  From there we utilized the discussion page of the wiki to discuss the issues and trends of social media and learning.  As a class, we were asked to come up with 5 key strategies and 5 key challenges for engaging students using social media based on our discussion over the week.

Normally, our weekly discussions take place in WebCT Vista.  Having a discussion in a wiki environment is quite different.  The main difference that I see is that the wiki environment does not afford threaded discussions, which for me, is a drawback as I like to reference others’ comments based on what was said prior and I like the organized structure of each forum.  This is a challenge of working within the wiki environment as it does not facilitate a conversation as easily and parts of a conversation can even be deleted or edited.

That being said, the use of wikis for group collaboration is advantageous in the following ways:

  • Groups can work privately on projects as usernames and passwords can be set up. This ensures safety when working on the web, especially with students who are minors.
  • The wiki environment encourages participation and motivates users to share their knowledge as common goals are set and realized. Furthermore, the use of a wiki engages students in their learning and is constructivist as an approach to learning.
  • The wiki environment is asynchronous, and as such, groups of people can work on projects when convenient instead of trying to meet at a certain time synchronously or even F2F.
  • The wiki environment is visual which affords the creation and completion of projects and the ability to see where the project is at. (Invaluable for our assignment this week)

My experience working in the wiki environment has been positive.  A challenge that I think might be difficult for some to overcome however is the fact that others can change your work, or the final product may not be how you envisioned it.  It is important to accept this as a fact of working in this environment and to “let go”.  Otherwise, the whole experience could prove to be very frustrating.  In the end, we are all accountable for what has been submitted and just as if we were in a F2F environment, there will always be people who jump in quickly to the conversation and others who listen and then contribute.

Please continue on to my toolkit post on wikis for examples of my educational (teaching & learning) experience using wikis.

Categories
E-learning Toolkit

wiki wiki wiki

The following reflection is in relation to the Wikis E-learning Toolkit Activity.

In December 2008, I introduced the concept of a wiki (using pbworks) to the parent community of my grade one classroom.  The wiki is called “Oasis of Learning“.  The main purpose of the wiki is to communicate with a very active volunteer base.  Parent volunteers sign up on the wiki when volunteer opportunities are available.  I have also posted our weekly spelling lists on the wiki, which are sent home in paper format, however, many parents have been pleased that they are able to access the information on-line as well.  The wiki is a private wiki in order to protect the privacy of classroom activities, students and their families.

In ETEC 510, we were responsible for editing a page and authoring a page on the ETEC 510 Design Wiki.  I authored the page on Universal Design for Learning.  This Wiki was much different than using pbworks.  It utilized MediaWiki.  What I found interesting with this project was that I was introduced to and learned some html.  Although this was frustrating at times, I loved seeing how the code changed the overall look of the page and piqued my interest in html in general.  Furthermore, I realized that Wikipedia is edited in this way and that got me thinking about the different types of Wikis and their ease of use.  Pbworks uses a WYSIWYG editor which requires no knowledge of html code, where as Wikipedia and the ETEC 510 Design Wiki require basic knowledge of html code.  I am assuming that Wikipedia uses this format to deter people from making easy,  unfounded edits.  That being said, comparing the two (Wikipedia and pbworks); they are used for very different purposes.

Also in ETEC 510, I completed a collaborative group assignment using pbworks.  The goal of this project was to identify the relevance of a particular set of ideas – e.g., about how objects are designed, how people learn, what kinds of learning spaces support meaningful engagements in knowledge-building, the affordances of social networking and collaborative learning – and to engage in a time-limited design practice that is informed by scholarship.  Our group decided to design a learning space that would contribute to the overall improvement of oral fluency in second language learners by utilizing the Wiki technology and Skype.  Visit http://etec510-65a-designproject.pbworks.com/ to view the final wiki project.  I enjoyed working on this project and setting up the wiki.  As a second language teacher, I believe that I will utilize this project with my students.

Overall, I must say that Wikis are a technology that I am very fond of.  The affordances of this technology are numerous and relate to the field of education in so many useful ways!

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