Why A Wiki?!

Why I would include a wiki as one of the many tools I utilize in my classroom?
The main point that would encourage me to utilize a wiki in my class would be the opportunity for the students to directly impact my class. When I place a link to my wiki on my class intranet (within my classroom) site I will definitely encourage students who might not otherwise contribute in class the chance to add some information on their own. This will also allow the students the opportunity to influence the products being produced in the classroom in lieu of or along with whatever I am already teaching. I will also be empowering the students with an opportunity to inform other students about the “inner” workings of the computer lab from their own viewpoint. My content, as of now, will include the following: Home page-explaining the purpose of the wiki, Eighth grade assignments suggestions, Important dates, Keyboard shortcuts-information about keyboard shortcuts keys for both platforms, Procedures-for interacting with the computer lab, Seventh grade assignment suggestions, and finally, Sixth grade assignment suggestions.

While I am wholeheartedly behind the concept of a wiki, I am also a realist and I understand I will have to monitor the content of the wiki pages to guarantee the veracity of the content placed on it by the students. This will be an interesting experiment for sixth through eighth grade students to work on. Ultimately I would like to turn the maintenance as well as the development of the wiki over to the students. I may start out allowing select eighth grade students access to the pages, which would allow me to monitor their progress without 113 students deluging the wiki on a daily basis. Then I could roll out access (content input and editing) to the pages to the seventh grade students and finally the sixth grade students. This will be an interesting year! Students for the most part do a great job of monitoring themselves in other situations in the lab but, this potentially, will be the first time they will have an opportunity to delete, modify, or create content of their own while also potentially removing another students work. So, instead of going overboard on rules and guidelines the first time I will explain the concept of a wiki while also showing some of the You Tube videos that were suggested regarding the use and nature of a wiki.
Wikis in the Classroom



Wikis in the Classroom at Green Bay UW