I know the default topic is to blog about blogging and discuss the use of blogs in the classroom. I'm sure I'll get to plenty of that, but in the meantime since we are looking at wikis this week, I thought I'd start a discussion about that topic.
I tried a few wiki experiments in my classes this past year on Wikispaces. The first few were a disastrous mess. I thought I had the activity well-planned, the directions were clear, and I demonstrated with examples on the projector. Still, most of my middle school students didn't know where to start, how to collaborate to organize information, and simply gave up. The ones who did contribute ended up adding minimal information in a discordant jumble of non sequiturs and disjointed responses.
So I finally realized that at this level, they need to start with some training wheels. I decided to make a "fill-in-the-blank" wiki. I know this is counter intuitive when we think of the constructivist principles behind collaborative web space, but you have to start somewhere to learn the basic wiki interface. And let's face it, most kids are used to the question and answer model. Weaning them off of it and easing them into producing their own learning content takes time.
Nevertheless, I still wanted them to be responsible for the majority of the web content. So I settled on a table format, which Wikispaces fortunately supports. My 7th grade class was reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck, and I wanted them to create a list of allegories and metaphors found in the novel along with analysis and discussion of each. So the table I created consisted of the following columns:
- Student name
- allegorical element (character or object that symbolizes something else).
- what this symbolizes
- life lesson learned
- Peer comments
I kept the wiki private, so I can't provide a link to the actual page. However, Wikispaces lets you export the pages to html, so I did that toward the end of the project. I was then able to past this onto a new page in this blog here. You can also hit it from a tab at the top. Of course, the formatting is not quite the same, and it's a bit horizontally squished with no table guidelines, but you'll get the general idea.
Next time I'll work a bit more on the quality of written responses, as some did not follow my usual standards of paragraph development. A lot of the kids slipped into "Facebook status" or "Tweet" mode, as if they had to keep within a character limit. Now that this bunch has had some practice, I'm eager to see if I can get a less structured wiki off the ground next year. One tool that I would like to use more is the discussion area. I realize that I could have helped generate even more enthusiasm if I posted encouragement in there to let them know I was really watching. I did make comments about the wiki in class, but I think it would have been different to see me chiming in here and there and hopefully generating some side discussions.
The History section was a lifesaver. I had more than one student mess things up, delete their own contributions, etc. The history tool is really neat because you can select multiple revisions and Wikispaces will highlight what has been deleted or added. This makes things very easy to fix once you get used to what you are seeing. I want to try out WetPaint wikis as well, especially after seeing the name again in the Richardson text. I've heard it's history utility is even better.
So, any other thoughts on wikis in the classroom? I know a high school teacher who sets them up as study groups for his finals. I've read a lot of ideas, but what really interests me is the what's and how's in middle school. A lot of great ideas work in college level test studies, but I teach a different species.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me just thank you for the cartoon website. I will definitely be making use of those from time to time in my classroom.
Secondly, your use of a wiki for your novel discussion sounds really interesting. I'd like to use something along those lines for some of the readings I assign in my AP classes. Just curious, how long was the wiki assigned for? And on average how much time did it take for your to check it over and reload histories and things like that? Like pretty much every other teacher I am fairly strapped for time during the school year and I'm just wondering about how feasible it would be to add that element to a classroom.
John
Yeah, Bitstrips is awesome. I gave the classroom version free trial a spin, but I'm not sure it is worth paying for. It was nice to have a collaborative space for just our class, but it actually didn't include some of the features of an individual account, like custom scenery.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, the wiki. It was assigned for about 3-4 weeks (however long it took to do the novel). It wasn't that much work for me once I explained the directions and got the class started. I did most of my checking during their journaling time (5 minute warm-up time at the beginning of class). I called out students to remind them that they still had not posted anything, and that's when I'd sometimes find out they made a mistake, so I'd check the history. As for checking the history to fix any other changes, I left it up to them to check the wiki and inform me if their contributions had been edited unintentionally.
Hey Adam,
ReplyDeleteI have to say I LOVE WIKISPACES. I have used it with my sixth graders for the last three years. I work with sixth graders, so I have to agree that structure and "baby steps" if you will are necessary for students to get the feel of how to navigate to the Wikispace, log in, find their class, their writing portfolio, and begin the task that is assigned. I normally begin with students writing a reflective paragraph and provide them about two to three days to complete it, just incase the technology does not go as planned or if work is lost. Once students gain confidence, I utilize Wikispaces as a place for each student to work on creating writing pieces, writing collaborative pieces, and even transitioned to paperless literature circles. In addition, students were allowed to comment on each other's work by providing constructive criticism through a PQP method (Praise, Question Polish) at the bottom the work they were looking at. What I find amazing about watching my students when they utilize Wikispaces, is that they write more, are more comfortable when revising, and even my struggling writers produce more. I break written work into pieces for my students and (with the exception of expository and persuasive writing) have them produce pieces according to plot development so that they make connections between novels we read and pieces they create. In addition, while writing I utilize Wikispaces as a way for me to hold and Author's Chair and Editor's Challenge with my students. There a student who volunteers goes into the "Hot Seat" and we look as his or her work on the wiki. The student will read his or her drafted piece to the class (which is projected on the LCD screen) and then as a whole class they will provide constructive criticism. The author of the work can edit their space and write the suggestions on the bottom of their work and go back to it later to revise. It's great to see how students delve deeper into providing constructive criticism based upon the requirements of the assignment.
I also have to agree with you that the history button is a LIFESAVER! I can't tell you how many times that I have had to retrieve student or group work. While some of the information from the latest draft may have been lost, they have the majority of their work. To avoid losing anything, I always tell them to copy and past it into a .doc on their computers just as a backup.
I too keep my Wikispaces private. Students need a username and login prior to accessing the wiki. In addition, by monitoring the wiki, I am able to see how much a student actually did revise and edit a piece. For example, if the homework assignment was to revise your climax of your piece. Students are given a checklist that they must follow. If "Jane" only changes a question mark to a period, well did Jane really do her homework. It makes students more accountable for actually having to engage themselves in the revising and editing process.
I have also utilized the wiki as a place for a literature journal reaction to a novel and State assessment preparation. The possibilities are endless.
Great post!
~Chrissie :)