Uses of Wikis
Why should educators utilize wikis?
- Wikis and wiki-like applications provide a venue for collaborative creation of online content
- The ethics and social responsibility of having a global voice need to be understood and considered
- Me-publishing and collaborative publishing are important concepts and tools for current and upcoming students
Wikis as information/communication tools
Teachers and students can post:
- Course information
- Student writing
- Artwork
- Homework
- Upcoming events
- Much More!
Wikis as writing tools
- Most common use is for writing instruction
- Improve student writing by having them publish to an authentic audience
- When students publish to web, students often produce higher quality work and will go back and edit work
- There are some advantages over traditional writing support:
- Instructors and peers can provide immediately accessible and trackable feedback
- collaboration and feedback occurs across the boundaries of space and time
Wikis as collaborative tools
- Extend conversations outside of the classroom
- Facilitate problem-solving in small or larger groups
- Gather, create, and share information and resources
Wikis as community development
- Appropriate tool for "digital natives" that encourgages student-to-student interaction and community knowledge management
- Extend social networking concepts beyond what is normally found in pre-constructed social network sites
Wikis can help develop essential skills
Organizing information
- Learning to navigate and create within a wiki requires sophisticated skills
Many of these concepts are derived from Innovate Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom (requires free registration).