This week, we created our first Wiki! I had never used a Wiki before, but I am continually amazed by the various tools that can be utilized on the internet. There are many benefits of a Wiki which include creating a glossary, working on group projects, composing a study guide, peer editing, making a calendar, and organizing data. I really enjoyed the All About Me Wiki through PBworks because it is an organized way to read information about the other students in class. This would be a great way for students to introduce themselves in a class setting. You could also have students post on their Wiki page but present another student's Wiki so that they would become more familiar with the students in the class.
While there are many benefits to using Wikis, I do think that the site could be more user friendly. It was more difficult for me to figure out how to set up my page initially than it was to use sites like GoogleDocs. There are many tools that I do not think I would know how to use if my professor did not show us in class. I enjoyed the KWLS chart because it allowed me to really process what I had learned about the activity and what I still had questions about. The YouTube video that we watched called "Wikis in Plain English" was a great, concise summary of why Wikis are useful.
If I were to utilize a Wiki again in my classroom, I think I would create a glossary page and have students post various new vocabulary that they learned. For example, after a lesson on the parts of the cell, students could individually post the name of the organelle and its structure and function. If a student sees that someone wrote something incorrect or lacks information, they can fix it for them. Overall, I think Wikis can be very useful in the classroom, and I am looking forward to gaining more experience to boost my confidence with using them.
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