Why+Wiki?


 * // Why I like wikis! //**

I feel that Wikis strongly support the application of a collaborative, authentic, project-based learning environment which we feel is essential for success in the 21st century. Project-based learning is developmental in nature, and learning is constructed through the experience. Wikis parallel this experience because knowledge evolves as more users edit, contribute, and discuss content. Wikis provide a learning environment for understandings to be socially constructed and shared. Students have the opportunity to learn new things and share their knowledge, skills and abilities through multiple forms of intelligence-abstract, textual, musical, social, and kinesthetic.

I also like wikis because they can be both individual and collaborative at the same time. For example, on the [|Spice it Up with Nutmeg 2008 teen wiki], students posted their individual reactions and opinions about what they were reading and were able to respond to each other on the book discussion pages, while collaboratively writing the Story Elements pages. Using the History Tab, it is easy to see the evolution of the topic, the "growth" of the content, and the evidence of how students built on each other's contributions as they developed the page.

For my projects I like the website-like design of a wiki; multiple pages, hyperlinks, more "web" like and layered (multi-dimensional) and less thread like, or chronological. Wikis provide a more open structure allowing others to change what one person has written. This openness may trump individual opinion with group consensus. The goal of the //Spice it Up with Nutmeg// wikis is for the "whole group" to create an extensive resource as a final product. The responsibility for the content is shared equally among the whole group.

I choose wikis for projects not only for the cooperative, collaborative nature, but because they allow the development and publication of a final product. By providing their knowledge to create an online collaborative product, students are contributing to the greater whole; they have both value and purpose beyond themselves. However, they also have the opportunity to share their own thoughts, ideas and opinions concerning the content through posts on discussion tabs and individually created pages. The following quote by Will Richardson captures the essence of what we find so powerful about the wiki as an educational tool.

//"The main strength of a wiki is the potential for incredible depth born of multiple authors working together to hone material. This contrasts with the blog, which shines in its ability to offer one person’s opinions and insights across what may be a vast and often contrasting spectrum of subjects."//

From my experiences, I have found that teachers envision many more possibilities for using a wiki in their classrooms than blogs. They tend to use blogs mostly for posting assignments that they wish their students to respond to or for sharing information and student work with a wider audience. They use wikis for more multi-faceted purposes such as classroom projects, threaded discussions, cooperative group work...