Using Wikis

Even after a very long twelve hour day, I found that setting up my wiki was fairly straightforward and painless--just like a Web 2.0 tool should be. :)

One idea I have for wikis involves the staff here at Sylvester Elementary. There are five teachers in my building, myself included, who are a part of a Mi Champs team. We are a part of a cohort who have received a grant through MACUL to learn about technology and then share that knowledge with our coworkers. During one of our required training sessions this summer, we discussed the possibility of setting up a wiki that other staff members could visit to learn about ways to incorporate technology into their teaching. We envision other buildings using this to add to the volume of information available and let "iron sharpen iron", so to speak.

As far as using wikis for the students, I think it would be a great tool for those teachers who use project based learning. Long-term projects that require teams of students to work together could use wikis as a tool  to organize their thoughts and the various roles they play in putting together their projects. Resources could easily be collected and saved with created links. A task list could be easily referred to and edited as duties are assigned and/or completed. The wiki could also act like a e-portfolio of the students' work. Learning to use the wiki of and by itself would generate a tremendous amount of learning.

A more specific idea for using wikis in the classroom would be to set up a wiki for fifth grade math students. Pages could be dedicated to various topics in math and how students think of these types of problems. For example, a page could be devoted to long division. There are different algorithms for doing division and students all have their own preferred way of doing things. Students could add to the wiki how they think about and approach a problem, which would give perspective to another student who may be struggling in that area. Videos from teachertube could be linked to further demonstrate how to work problems. A page for multiplication of decimals, one for fractions, one for geometry, etc., can be created. Favorite math sites with games to help master particular topics could be added to the wiki. In time, a great resource would be created--all by students for students.