Wikis - A Reflection

Wikis, as provided by Wikispaces, are another online space which allows you to write and reflect, but also allows for multiple people to be involved in the space.  This is one of the biggest drawbacks with wikis also.  Only one person can edit the space at one time.  Also the netiquette becomes more prevalent as you do have more than one person editing the space, so appropriate rules or guidelines would need to be established in the beginning as to what a student could edit or delete, and therefore not jeopardise the learning process or outcomes.

It was easy to create a wiki once you sign up.  The functionality is very similar to most Windows based software and applications.  This is what my wiki looks like now.

There are numerous applications for wikis and some are outlined in Smart Teaching blog.  There are also a number of shortcomings for wikis which are outlined by the students of eBusiness Technologies with ProfessorMike Jones at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

Also see my comments on using a wiki to do a critical thinking activity with de Bono’s Thinking Hats on mobile phones in the classroom.

Wikis allow for a very collaborative and constructivist approach to learning.  It is visual tool, which lends itself to group work  There are two great examples of wiki use in the classroom in the course materials, which I have linked to in my wikispace.