Wiki's are not difficult!

A Wiki is a collaboratively-edited website which many people also view as a publishing tool. The distinguishing feature of wikis is that they typically allow all users to edit any page, with full freedom to edit, change and delete the work of previous authors. Wiki's can be utilised for most grade levels and incorporated into any KLA. Here are some idea's;

• Study guides made by student groups for themselves and peers: each group prepares the guide for one aspect of the unit or responsibility rotates: one unit guide per semester.
• Vocabulary lists and examples of the words in use, contributed by students (ongoing throughout the year).
• The wiki as the organizational aspect of your class. Wiki all assignments, projects, collaboration, rubrics, etc.
• Products of research projects, especially collaborative group projects: They can include computer files, images, videos, etc. Creating an organizational structure for the content is an important part if the project.
• An annotated collection of EXAMPLES from the non-school world for anything: Illustrations can be included for visual representations.
• Students can construct their own class calendar of learning events for the term/year.
• Articles by students who miss school for family trips, written about their travels on the class wiki, relating what they see to concepts learned before they left.
• Have students post KWL entries and continue adding questions that occur to them as the unit progresses. As other students add their “answers,” the wiki will evolve into a student-created guide to the topic. (What is a Wiki, 2009).

Wiki's as Active Learning and the Learning Pyramid:

According to Dale's Cone (learning effectiveness), collaborative discussions make up 50% of our learning retention. This is a considerable jump as apposed to the 5% of information we retain within a lecture. It also shows that audio and visual activities have a retention rate of 20%. Through the implementation of a class Wiki, students participate not only within an on-line approach to learning but construct and control their own learning. Although the Wiki needs to be monitored and guided by the teacher, learning experiences through the use of a Wiki can capture the 'hands-on' approach to learning.

Wiki's and Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs:
As I stated above Wiki's create opportunities for hands-on learning. I believe as a pre-service teacher that all students enjoy hands-on activities. If we look at Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs diagram self-esteem components such as achievement and recognition is the second highest level of effective learning. As student contribute to their class/individual wiki they can develop a sense of belonging as Maslow describes, can then anchor these attributes and result in the raising of self-esteem and satisfaction. Although self-esteem can be developed from the home setting and community I feel that all students, regardless of background, need to develop a sense of self-worth and I have found the Wiki to be most educational and a very flexible tool for developing such individual needs.




References:

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. Retrieved 16th August, 2009, from; http://www.psyctherapy.com/Enrolled/L3IndividualsMotivation.htm

What is a Wiki? Retrieved 16th August, 2009, from; http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WhatIsaWiki