The neutrality and versatility of wikis is what makes it a unique collaborative tool. As Will Richardson points out in his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcast and other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom, more often than not people making contributions to a wiki page want the information to be right. There is no personal agenda. There is just collaboration towards the storage of knowledge in a timely fashion, and in an educational setting, wikis have the potential to change the system. As Richardson goes on to illustrate, an entire high school curriculum can be organized within an wiki to ease communication amongst teachers or students from all over the world can connect and work on projects together, such as the case with "Flat Classroom." Even textbook companies are beginning to fear what wikis can do as they become more reliable sources. When applied in the classroom, wikis become part of the learning environment and not just a site to look up information.
However, the reality is that while many teachers are beginning to seize the benefits of collaboration and negotiation skills that wikis offer students, the playing field is not level. In a recent study of wiki usage in K-12 classrooms, Justin Reich, Richard Murnane and John Willett discovered that even in the Web 2.0 era a digital divide continues to exists, and students attending more affluent schools are the ones reaping most of the benefits. This isn't to say that teachers in schools serving low income families don't try to incorporate wikis or other Web 2.0 tools, they are just not as successful and terminate their development. As Reich, Murnane and Willet demonstrate, teachers lack support in using technology for innovation. These tools are simply being used to make everyday routines easier to complete.
While some wiki pages may be more innovative than the others, we cannot loose sight of the impact they bring because the ability for students to develop 21st-century skills is highly present.
Ms. Sarah, A-Freaking-men! I thought I was the only one who felt this way about Wikispaces. I am an English teacher, or "a teacher of the Language Arts" as a pinheaded colleague of mine calls English teachers, the pretentious mutt. I bring him up because when I mentioned I used Wikipedia as a point of direction and inspiration, he launched into this twenty-two minute speech about legitimate sites. He actually said, "find one, just one other real teacher who dignifies Wikipedia, and I'll eat my hat..." I outta send the s.o.b. your post and a bottle of ketchup for his old greasy hat. Anyway, thank you for your post, you made my week!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, You bring out good points. I must say i didn't think wiki was a useful source because my language art teachers would say it wasn't a valid source because people can edit them. After doing this assignment it can be useful in a classroom.
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