Wikis in Education

What's a Wiki?
This is a question that I had asked many times as I typically assumed that it was related to Wikipedia. That makes the most sense, right? Well according to TeachersFirst, I was sort of right. Their definition of a Wiki is any website that allows visitors to become participants; meaning that anyone can edit, create, and delete information on the site. This is like Wikipedia as visitors are continuously editing the pages of the site.


Whats the difference between a blog, like the one here on Blogger, and a Wiki?
 This is too something that I found interesting. A blog, by definition, is more closed ended. There are typically a few content creators allowed to post while everyone is allowed to comment. However, not many people have the ability to edit comments or content on the blog. Wikis, however, are much more open. Anyone can change or delete others' posts and comments. One thing noted by TeachersFirst, that this may trump personal opinion, and hinder individuality.

Three ways to use a Wiki in the classroom

1. TeachersFirst states that a good way to use Wikis in the classroom is to post writing prompts weekly, allowing the children to have the whole week to post and edit their responses. It is also a good idea to ask them to comment on their peers' responses. This helps build the classroom community, and has the children thinking critically about the other child's ideas.  

2.  Create a weekly blog team consisting of two or three children to write a summary of the week on Fridays. These can be built by classroom helper systems if need be. Have the children write out the classroom events that happened and invite parents and children to comment on the summary. This helps link home to the classroom and provides children who were home sick with needed information to come back well prepared.

3.  Children in elementary school settings often have readings that they need to complete. These are usually in the forms of leveled readers or passages from a textbook. Assigning a reflection post about the readings will help children recall what they had just read and allow them to think critically about it. Provide the children with thought provoking questions about the story and invite them to dig deep between the lines.

While these are all great ideas, I do not believe that Wikis are appropriate for child use in the prekindergarten classroom, however they may be beneficial in a Kindergarten classroom. I am looking forward to seeing how this technology is used in my Kindergarten placement in the spring.