Before this class I had never participated or even thought about wikis. I knew of Wikipedia, and that was the extent of my knowledge. I have learned a lot about what wikis are intended for after reading the class text, Library 2.0, and looking at examples online. I am a little surprised to see that these collaborative tools are not as extensively being used as I expected to find. There are some great things going on, but Wikis hold much more potential for the classroom, for the media center, and in instructional design. However, without commitment from participants, wikis cannot be anything more than an empty online filing cabinet.
Wikis offer a plethora of opportunities for collaboration and shared knowledge exploration. Classrooms can use them for student portfolios and assignments. Media centers can have students add information on book talks and reviews as well as participate in Literature Circles and other forms of shared inquiry. Teachers and the media specialist can collaborate on instructional design and the planning of lessons. Wikis also offer a common ground for teachers, students, administration, and the media specialist to lend support and novel ideas to the school’s education community.
One of the greatest benefits that I can see ion a wiki is that it offers students and teachers asynchronous communication. This may sound like a bad thing, but for many people asynchronous communication allows them time to think about their ideas and refine what they have to say. Students and teachers are often forced to work quickly with little time for thoughts and reflections. A wiki allows users more time to compose themselves. This could lead to deeper, more abstract thinking and truly novel ideas. Wikis would only be limited by the imaginations of the monitors and community of users.
The fact that wikis are only limited by the users can also be a drawback. What if users do not commit to adding information or trying to keep the wiki updated. Students can be required to make posts and add information, but requiring teachers to do anything often leads to resentment, which may hurt the integrity of the wiki and its information. Questions pop up like: How do you get a commitment from the school community? Also, how does one show the teachers and staff that a wiki is useful and can be beneficial? These are difficult problems, but realistic ones if a media specialist plans to truly integrate the use of wikis in his or her school.
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I had a hard time thinking of drawbacks of wikis but you bring up an interesting one. If the wiki participants are not contributing then the wiki will not updated consistently. This will create the online filing cabinet that you mentioned. I myself like the fact that you can post files to a wiki that people can see and use from anywhere, even if they are not adding their own material or posting discussions, etc.
I think that if wiki members are interested in the topic and committed the wiki will work and be updated.
I like your comment that a wiki can become nothing more than a filing cabinet. I do agree with its benefits but, how do you get the community involved? Who has time? As far as teachers, we have even more limitations of time. All this leads us to the future, no one knows what technologies are the most beneficial to schools and media centers. We will all have to wait and see.
I agree that getting teachers to use Wikis may be a difficult task. Teachers are sometimes resentful of anything extra that is laid on their overburdened plates. Therefore, the media specialist may be resposible for beginning and maintaining the school's Wiki at first. However, that could lead to the misconception that the Wiki is somehow the sole domain of the media specialist as part of her job description. Using Wikis with students first to do book reports or projects may also accomplish the secondary purpose of introducing teachers to the posssibilites of Wikis also. Wikis are a valuable and useful resource in education. The use of Wikis for instuctional and informative purposes should not be overlooked by teachers. Perhaps they just need a little education on the matter themselves. I know I certainly do.
I think your point about being able to think about your thoughts before responding is spot on. It could save a lot of trouble and embarrassment if people would just do that in everything. The fact that you can limit who would be able to respond and post information would help as well.
I understand the problem of how to show the teachers that they can be beneficial and useful. You might be able to show them some examples at a faculty meeting. Your examples could include Wikis from other schools. You could show them how other teachers are using them in different subject areas. They might get inspired. So I say, talk it up!
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