I compared two wikis at educational wikis. I found one from Southern
California that a class of 2nd graders and their teacher set up. They had links for science, reading, writing, and social studies. When I clicked on each one, it was like a word bank. Each link had the alphabet and content words assigned to each letter of the alphabet. I’m not sure what that was doing except to reinforce the alphabet. I clicked on one of the links in the writing segment because I wanted to read one of the group stories. The link would not open. Also, pages contained a picture of a padlock. Each page was protected.
Math 12 Outcomes Portfolio-Nova Scotia, Canada
They had orange letters for their title and withing each letter were outward moving circles. Different! I couldn’t look at them too long. It was also nominated (and I think it won) for Best Wiki in 2007. Their links included quadratic functions, exponential functions, circle geometry and probability. The portfolio instructions link gave very detailed information about how the submissions were to be made, when they were to be made, sample problems, a plagarism warning and the grading process. I really liked this one. Maybe because it was a higher level. I can see a use for this type of organization for a reading course. Can entries be deleted from a wiki? I didn’t see that issue addressed. Did I miss it?
Schools could really make use of this concept. I would like to try one for meetings. We can’t all get to together at the same time and this would lend itself nicely to everyone getting a say in what needs to be done. Could schools use this concept instead of after school meetings?
Wikis might be a good idea for countries to have educational information traded back and forth. A school in the United States could wiki with a school with a country in Africa. Information can be exchanged within academic subjects.
Science: weather, climate zone, topography
Social Studies: population, demographics, culture, economics
Writing: tales, handed down stories, favorite books/authors
English: cultural idioms, word endings, syntax
The possibliltes are endless. The educational value limitless. But-cyber security and safety must be at the top of the list for both parties involved.
I had a hard time getting started with this assignment. I kept looking for the Web.20 set up by Dr. Steven Smith, but never did find one. I (hope) followed directions and set up my own. It seemed too easy, so I’m sure I missed something. In the examples I looked at, they had links on a side bar. I didn’t understand how to do that and would like to know. I know I can make my page more appealing, but I guess I need to play with it more.
All in all, it was a good experience. I still want to set one up for meetings. I will keep playing with my new toy.
Elaine,
Yes, entries can be deleted from a wiki, but only by the administrator (builder) of the wiki. Those that contribute can sometimes delete their own entries if given permission by the admin.
“Could schools use this concept instead of after school meetings?” This is a very interesting question. I wonder if everyone would have enough commitment and discipline to do this?
You have offered some excellent ideas for using wiki’s.