Wikis ~ How can I use them in my classroom and with my students?

Before this semester, I did not know what a wiki was. I have heard of Wikipedia, but I had no idea I could do something like that as a teacher for my class. I have recently looked into creating a wiki for my classroom. From what I can see, the possibilities are endless. First of all, setting up my wiki was very easy. It was definitely easier than I thought it was going to be. When I saw the layout of the wiki and that more than one person could edit it, I was really excited. Seeing all of this made me think, how could I use this wiki with my class so that every student (and even the parents) can benefit from it?

The educational benefits of wikis seem endless. First, they would be great for setting up schedules accessible to both students and parents. Teachers could post due dates for big projects, post important dates, and even schedule conferences with parents. This schedule page could include important notes as well as weekly curriculum information and even homework information depending on what the teacher chooses to post on the wiki.

Enough about what teachers can do with a wiki, what can students do with wikis? For one thing, students can use a wiki space for book reviews and response to literature. I think it is great when kids get the chance to read and share a little “review” of the book they read with their friends. Students could also use wikis to post projects, share writing they are proud of, to have discussions about what they have been studying in class, and more. Students could even set up their own personal page where they can post the work they are most proud of and want to share with their classmates. Students can comment on each other’s pages as well. This would create a great community environment in a classroom and give students one more way to be connected.

Shelly et al (2008) suggests that wikis can be used as a sort of journaling outlet for the classroom. Students could use wikis to report important news and information. Shelly et al (2008) even suggests that students my want to interview community members/leaders and write up their reports for the class wiki.

I plan to incorporate the use of a wiki into my future classroom. I believe wikis are a great way to get a class to share information with each other, their family, and other classes as well as a way to help students feel connected to one another. I am really excited to see what my future students can do with our class wiki. I am also excited to see how having a wiki will connect my students and their families to the classroom.

Reference:

Shelly, G., Cashman, T., Gunter, R., & Gunter, G. (2008). Teachers discovering computers: Integrating technology in the classroom (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Course Technology.