Blog #5: Wikis

Introduction

"Hey, Mrs. Vanness, watch this." Two years ago, an elementary school student popped open a page on wikipedia and typed 'Kyle smells bad' at the end of a paragraph and saved his edit.

"Kyle smells just fine, and I don't think that's what you're supposed to be doing in computer time today," I said.

"I know, but don't worry. It will be gone in a sec. Look." He hit the refresh button and sure enough, his vandalism was gone.    

Reflections on the process of learning about wikis

Before this week, my knowledge of wikis was limited to the above experience and a fondness for wikipedia. The above experience made me wary of information on wikis, and wikipedia made me love easy access to information on a wide variety of topics. I had only ever thought about using wikis in the classroom as a launching pad or starting point for research, not as something students could create or manage. Further, I had never thought about editing other people's wikis or making a wiki myself.

Walking through this week's trailfire, I was thankful that our class had dealt with information overload in previous class discussions. I am boggled by Joyce Valenza in general and the vast amount of work she is able to do in a day, but this particular trailfire made me rest my forehead on the desk for a minute. The teacherlibrarianwiki, created by Valenza, was a gold mine of quality information for Teacher Librarians, one that would take me weeks to wade through. I kept getting sidetracked by the content, clicking on interesting links within the wiki, and would have to reign my attention in and re-examine the wiki as a tool. This also happened on webtools4u2use and their very enticing home page.

I decided the best way to learn was to jump right in and create my own wiki. From the "Wikis and Libraries" resource page on Darlene Fichter's wiki, I stumbled onto WikiMatrix. I read the chapters on wikis in our textbooks, but neither Richardson nor Davies & Merchant firmly helped me choose between wikispaces, pbwiki, and all the other free wiki hosting services available. Also, after the frustration last week of trying to create and post a podcast and having the textbook authors claim the process was easy, I wasn't too trusting of their evaluations. "Creating your wiki is as easy as filling in the form on the page linked above, a process which takes maybe 45 seconds if you're a fast typist" (Richardson, p.67). Hmmmmmmm. WikiMatrix steered me out of my dilemma with the Wiki Choice Wizard. After completing the questionnaire, I was faced with 25 potential matches to my wiki needs. I decided to go with wikispaces as it somehow looked simpler than pbwiki and both had been referred to in the texts.

Discussion of wikis for my own personal learning

With only a week in turnaround time, from first learning about wikis to creating and writing about one, I needed a wiki that would engage a variety of contributors, not be onerous for anyone to add to, and hook people into writing. The wiki also needed to be free, easy for a newbie like me to set up, observe, and control, and quick, quick, quick. 

To launch myself headfirst into the world of wikis, I wanted a topic that my friends, family, and classmates would be able to quickly sink their teeth into and have something to contribute. Coincidentally, it was also my birthday this week and the annual event of my birthday reading list. For the past couple of years, I have been asking friends and family to send me their favourite reads from the past year. I would send around an email asking for recommendations, compile a list of all their suggestions, and then send the completed list back out to anyone who responded. Although this system worked, it was more work for me than anyone else - and it was my birthday!

I signed up for my wiki - and it really was easy - and created the following message on the home page.

It's my birthday!

This wiki is for people to recommend good books for me to read. They can be old books or new books, fiction or non, kids or adults, I'm not fussy - I just like good books.

Every year on my birthday, instead of gifts, I ask my friends and family to suggest a couple good books to read. Everyone emails me with their suggestions, then I compile a list and send it back out to anyone who responded. This way, I get a list of great books to read, and so does everyone else.

This year, I'd like to try something different. This page is a wiki. You can add to it, edit it, fancy it up, whatever. It's a public space, kind of like a graffiti wall. You can get started by clicking that pencil on the top right hand side that says EDIT. When you're done making changes, hit the Save button on the bottom right.

You can visit again and again, checking out new suggestions and seeing how the page evolves. I am leaving the space completely public, so even if you're not someone I know you can leave your recommendations.

Thanks!
Lisa

Good Books

I then sent around the following email to 31 classmates, close friends, and family members on Thursday night. These would be the people most likely to respond to my request, and the number of invitations was comparable to the size of a classroom. You will notice that the content of the email and the home page are very similar. I did this on purpose to provide a small level of scaffolding to those who had no experience with wikis.

It's my birthday!


Every year on my birthday, instead of gifts, I ask my friends and family to suggest a couple good books to read. Everyone emails me with their suggestions, then I compile a list and send it back out to anyone who responded. I get a list of great books to read, and so does everyone else.


This year, I'd like to try something different. I'm sending you this link to my "wiki." If you don't know what a wiki is, don't stress. You can VERY easily add to it, edit it, fancy it up, whatever. It's a public space, kind of like a graffiti wall. You click on the pencil that says EDIT, and make your suggestions. When you're done making changes, hit the Save button. That's it.


You can visit again and again, checking out new suggestions and seeing how the reading list evolves.


Thanks!
Lisa

p.s. - this is also a school assignment, as if you needed any more motivation to share with the world your good taste. And yes, it really is my birthday.


The settings on the account were left completely open so that anyone would be able to make changes to the page. I had my husband test out the page completely independently, without any prompting, to see what he would make of the process and where I needed to provide more direction. Some minor tinkering, and I was ready for the book suggestions to roll in. At the time of this writing on Sunday, the wiki has been edited by 10 people, all invitees, a total of 14 times, only 3 of which were myself. The melding of my birthday book list and a wiki was the ideal solution, so much so that I hope to repeat it next year. In October of 2010, I plan to delete all the entries from the recommended reading list and start over.

What I've learned from watching my wiki grow is that watching a wiki grow is terribly exciting. I check my wiki every day to see not only what books have been recommended, but also how people are using the page. I have noticed five things:
     1.) all contributors except my partner included their name or ID in their book suggestions
     2.) all contributors except my partner created a login
     3.) contributors did not follow the format of the first responder
     4.) there has been no vandalism or creation of new pages
     5.) one contributor linked their text to another page

From these observations, I conclude that editing wikis is a new skill for most of my contributors. As Davies & Merchant point out, "not being able to establish a specific author goes against the academic tradition of clear citation and the educational emphasis on individual contribution" (Davies & Merchant, p.93). All of the contributors have some form of post-secondary education, and some also probably want credit for giving me a gift ; )

Of the 31 people I sent an invitation to, the ten who have responded thus far are demonstrating what I will call a "Log-In Mentality." The concept of being able to edit and change a web page in the form of a wiki, a web 2.0 platform, without having to log in with a user name and password does not seem to occur to them. My instructions very clearly indicate that all one has to do is click "that pencil on the top right hand side that says EDIT. When you're done making changes, hit the Save button on the bottom right." How many other opportunities to edit and contribute on the web have been overlooked because users were not aware of the possibilities? How many times have I myself just accepted the text in front of me as static? I decided to test out my own Log-In Mentality by visiting some other wikis. Holy smokes! Who knew?!?!?

In the last year and a half of working on my Masters, I've probably wandered across a hundred wikis. Not once did it occur to me that I could contribute or correct grammar without logging in. I was shocked that even wikipedia allows you to make changes without logging in. (However, creating a wikipedia account and logging in will block your IP address from the public history.) This simple realization has shifted me from being a passive reader to an active, more analytic one. Using wikis in the classroom would have similar effects on students, changing their reading style from passive sponge to mini-excavator.


ike4014, "CIMG1103" March 26, 2009 via Flickr, Creative Commons License

Discussion of wikis in terms of teaching and learning

As an educator I am used to 'controlling the weather' in the classroom. So it was with hesitation that I left the settings on my wiki completely open. What if someone came along and messed it up? Well, then I would just go through the history and revert to a previous page.

If this were a wiki created for a classroom, the settings would be quite different. The students would have to log in to make changes, providing me with a record in the "History" tab of who has been contributing, and to what extent. To make the landing or home page consistent, I would probably restrict that particular page to only being edited by the teacher. However, I would attempt to leave as many settings open to the students as possible to see how creatively they use the online tool. Non-members, or those not in the class, would not be allowed to post directly to our wiki so that the students could assume full ownership of the content, "supporting their own learning" (Davies & Merchant, p. 99).

With the threat of H1N1 in the media and many students already ill and staying home, school districts are exploring alternative options for the delivery of education and communicating information. And, considering the immediacy of the situation, these solutions need to be quick. Enter the wiki. Steve Hargadon created a wiki in a matter of hours for educators to share information and collaborate. Now the site contains "readiness assessment questionnaires; federal and state government planning documents; actual school plans; a page for news updates; and lists of links to other resource sites, articles, discussion forums, and videos" (Hargadon, 2009). While exploring the site, I was surprised that all the pages were open, allowing me to make changes without becoming a member. I think this open setting was intentionally inclusive to encourage all educators, even those not yet comfortable with technology, to participate and share their knowledge and strategies.

While I can brainstorm a wide variety of day-to-day uses of wikis in classrooms and for professional development, Hannah Hudson has suggested five great ways to use wikis in grades 6 through 8 (Hudson, 2009). Of "Create Your Own Math Book," "Rewrite a Classic Tale," "Go Back in Time," "Learn Spanish," and "For That Science Center," I like the concept of "Go Back in Time" as it best allows students to collaborate and make links between each others work. Students are individually responsible for their own historical figure, but can share their research and gain a deeper understanding of history by pondering how their figure and/or events are connected.

Wikis can also be used as a pre-reading tool for educators. Physical Education teachers often struggle to maximize their physical activity time. When students are lagging in the change room at the start of class, learning the ins and outs of a new game or skills, and getting organized into teams, a large chunk of class time can slip by without the students being physically active. Derrick Mears suggests that "using these technology tools more, face-to-face instructional time can be devoted to psychomotor objectives" (Mears, 2009). I found this practical use of wikis very interesting because technology is usually fingered as one of the culprits in increasingly sedentary lifestyles, not the solution.

Besides being quick and easy to create and use, wikis have many more positive attributes in classroom applications. "Technology tools (such as Blogs and Wikis) can empower students by giving them a chance to express their views. It can also help students with reading, writing, reflective, and collaborative learning skills (Leight, 2008) which benefits students by providing them positive psychological consequences, and helps organizations leverage a flexible environment that encourages collaboration and also keeps up with technology innovation (Evans & Wolf, 2005)" (Hazari, 2009).

Summary

Creating a wiki has shifted me from being a Wiki User 1.0 to a Wiki User 2.0, or from passive to active. I am much more likely to participate in wiki sites, add content, correct grammar, and read reflectively now that I know how easy wikis are to use and change. This shift can also be experienced by students - and to their great benefit.



Works Cited

Evans, P., Wolf B.. (2005, July). Collaboration Rules. Harvard Business Review, 83(7,8), 96-104. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 863427171).

Hargadon, Steve. (2009, October). Web Site in a Rush. School Library Journal, 55(10), 16. Retrieved October 23, 2009 from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1876033921).

Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D.. (2009). Investigating Pedagogical Value of Wiki Technology. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 187-198. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1755224781).

Hudson, H.. (2009, September). How to Teach With Wikis. Instructor (1999), 119(2), 66-67. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1873816451).

Leight, J.. (2008). Lifting the Fog on Instructional Blogs. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 79(2), 52-55. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. (Document ID: 1431316341).

Mears, D.. (2009). Podcasts and Wikis: Delivering Content Information to Students Using Technology. Strategies, 23(1), 29-34. Retrieved October 23 from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1862970981).