Wiki: What is it?

A wiki is a valuable technology tool that can be used in any classroom and be an important part of classroom instruction. A wiki is a web page that can be viewed and/or modified with a web browser and the internet. According to the creator of wiki, Ward Cunningham (2001), wikis can be identified by the following characteristics: y y A wiki can invite all users to edit any pages or to create new pages within the wiki web site. Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making page link creations almost intuitively easy and by showing whether an intended target page exists or not. A wiki is not a carefully site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes the website landscape.

The name wiki comes from the Hawaiian work wiki wiki, which means quick. Wikis are used in the classroom by teachers and students to present researched information and instructional activities in a creative way. This can be used to create simple websites that will give the students a site they can create information resources. Student activities and assignments can be completed using the wiki. The assignment is put (attached) to the wiki site and the students can get on the wiki site to complete their activities and/or assignments. The wiki also allows for peer assessment of work completed by their classmates. This is an important aspect of the wiki page. Peer assessing is an important aspect of the student learning as it allows the students to not only show their understanding of the material taught, but to give the students a different form of learning. With wikis being free of charge for educators using wiki spaces, there are several ways a wiki can be used in the classroom setting as well as a school setting: y For a school setting, use of a wiki can be used to decrease disruption of instructional time. Each day, instructional time is lost because of interruptions throughout a class period, particularly announcements for teachers and faculty. A wiki site can provide all of the information a teacher needs for that particular day. For teacher collaboration, a wiki can be used to share lessons or activities when time does not allow for teachers to meet face to face. For students, a wiki can be used, in addition to assignments, as a source for vocabulary and terms, posting of articles that reinforce the lesson taught on any given day, and can be used as a study guide in which students and teachers can post information that may be on a test or an end of year standardized test, such as CRCT.

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Wiki Incorporated into Classroom Instruction The use of a wiki as a part of classroom instruction has many possibilities to enhance student learning regardless of learning abilities. Students will become excited about the classroom assignments, activities, and projects no matter the technology ability level of the student. These activities can also help the teacher become more creative in their lesson so students can be interactive in the lesson that is taught. The following is a list of ways that the wiki can be used in classroom instruction: Creativity Corner: A creativity corner can be created on the wiki for students to post their poems or stories they have written in class. This allows students to view their classmates work and can be used as a peer assessment tool. y Share Page: A share page can be used to share good books that have been read by the students or good books that students would be interested in reading. This page can be a valuable resource for those students who seem to always say I cannot find a good book. With this page being available to the students, they can look at the list to find books that other students have read and/or find books that the teacher recommends to the students. y Author Studies: An author studies page can also be a valuable resource for the students, especially if the class is completing an author study assignment. This page can give information about authors that are being discussed in class as well as authors that would be on interest to the students. y Embed Class Blogs: A class blog is a tool that requires the students to complete each week (or whenever the teacher assigns the blog). This page allows the students to respond to a question or statement about the lesson taught for that day and it can allow the students to respond to higher level thinking questions about any particular subject. It

can also be used to help the students use their creativity in how they answer or respond to the blog. y Embed Student Examples: Embed student examples is a page that can be created for student assignments to be completed or posted on a class wiki. This will allow the students to have a better understanding of what the teacher expects for an assignment. y Assignment page: This page can be used on the wiki as a weekly independent assignment page. Assignments that need to be completed throughout the week or projects that need to be completed throughout a grading period can be posted on this page. y Showcase for Student Work: This page can showcase student work to be shared with parents, students, and interactive pen pals. This page can be a useful resource for students sharing their work with others and a way for parents to see what their child and other students are doing in class. y Class Information: This page can be used for class information concerning topics taught throughout the week or as a place to post the class syllabus. This is a page that can be used throughout a grading period for students and parents to use so they can remember important information that may be seen on a standardized test.

Resources (researched articles) Castanos, C. & Piercy, F. (2010). The wiki as a virtual space for qualitative data collection. Qualitative Report. 15(4). 948-955. This research article discussed data collected on the use of wiki in the classroom. It discusses the positives and negatives of using this technology resource in the classroom. Kuteeva, M. (2011). Wikis and academic writing: changing the writer-reader relationship. English for Specific Purposes. 30(1). 44-57. This research article discusses how the use of wiki in the classroom can help students improve their writing in all academic subjects. The article shows how student writing can improve through the use of a wiki site. Lin, H. & Kelsey, K. (2009). Building a networked environment in wikis: the evolving phases of collaborative learning in a wiki project. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 40(2). 145169. This research article discusses the process of putting together group projects using a wiki. It shows the ways that groups can collaborate in a wiki format to put together any project that is assigned. Naismith, L., Lee, B. & Pilkington, R. (2011). Collaborative learning with a wiki: differences in perceived usefulness in two contacts of use. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 27(3). 228242. This article discusses a study in which wiki is used in the classroom and how the wiki encourages students working together. Using the wiki can help students collaborate in ways other than face to face meetings. Oatman, E. (2005). Make ways for wikis. School Library Journal. 51(11). 52-54. This article discusses how the wiki program is making its way into classrooms throughout the county. It shows how the wiki works and how student involvement in their classroom assignments has made their creativity better. Pifarre, M. & Fisher, R. (2011). Breaking up the writing process: how wikis can support understanding the composition and revision strategies of young writers. Language and Education. 25(5). 451-466. This article discusses a study of how the use of the wiki program can help students in their writing and how the wiki program can help students edit their writings and writings of other students.

Pifarre, M. & Klein, J. (2011). Wiki-supported collaborative learning in primary education: how dialogue space is created thinking together. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. 6(2). 187-205. This article discusses a study of how students can learn through using a wiki in a group setting. It shows how students, through discussion among themselves can created a positive learning environment. Sheehy, G. (2008). The wiki as knowledge respository: using a wiki in a community of practice to strengthen k-12 education. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning. 52(6). 55-60. This article discusses how using a wiki in the classroom from grades kindergarten through twelfth grade can help students master skills being taught in the classroom.

Resources (websites) http://studyingsocietiesatjfk.pbworks.com This wiki is a wiki site that runs throughout the school year. Each unit that is studied in this social studies class (information learned and other facts learned) in put on the wiki as a resource for all students. http://helpforlearning.wikispaces.com This wiki site is set up for the students to use to report on books they read throughout the year. It also has activities for summer reading and other summer activities. http://zeuswiki.com This wiki site is used for students to post assignments. It also has information on the lesson taught in this unit. http://glengarrypedia.wikispaces.com This wiki site provides additional information about the class novel A Tourist Guide to Glengarry. The site also provides additional pages of student work and/or projects. http://mrshopeenglish.wikispaces.com This wiki site is an introduction to a unit on poetry. It provides resources and the process in which the unit will be taught.

http://en.wikibooks.org This wiki site provides a source for students to find non-fiction books for students ages birth to 12. The site also provides information to help students to write a story or book of their own. There is also a page for discussion on different book in which students can talk with one another about any particular book. http://kritie.wikispaces.com/career-project This site is for students working in groups who are thinking of way they could help the community. The site asks specific questions for the students to answer. The students then have to write a persuasive essay on why this change in their community should be made.