These articles presented two different ways of using Wiki. One was a collaborative project and the other was peer editing. While I see the benefits of using Wiki for a collaborative project, especially when the learners are in different locations, there are some negatives. First of all, when students are in the same area working collaboratively they can bounce their ideas off one another before actually making the change. If you're by yourself, it may be intimidating to add something to a document and even more nerve wracking to change something someone else has written. Plus, if it is mandatory to edit, a student might end up changing something that would have been better left alone.
For peer editing, which was focused on in the third article, I'm not sure what the difference between this and e-mail is. I realize that students would have the opportunity to read everyone's story in the same area, but most likely they will only read one or two or however many they have to comment on. Still, I do find this beneficial because you won't have twenty stories coming through your e-mail.
I think Wiki is something I would like to try with a class and get their feedback. Whether or not the students enjoy this would probably change with every class. I would just read the class and use it accordingly.
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1 year ago
Bailey, I agree that you really need to look at the pros and cons of using a Wiki before deciding if it will be beneficial for a class. Also, you make a great point about students losing the brainstorming aspect of group work when using a Wiki. You may be able to work around this by giving students class time to work on the Wiki.
ReplyDeleteI agree that collaborating with a computer screen could hinder the learning experience. Students aren't really participating in a communicative task by working on a wiki, so I think that it could be used as a supplemental tool, but I'm not entirely behind the idea of making a wiki project a focal point for a class/lesson.
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