Alison+Colen

Wikis are a great way to get students to collaborate with one another on a particular subject matter. In my 4th grade classroom, we do a lot of research for every unit of inquiry that is taught throughout the year. Setting up a wiki could be beneficial for both me as the teacher as well as for my students.

The benefits for me as the teacher could be used for the purpose of linking resources that the students can use for their research. I could also check in on my students as they collaborate and post material on the wiki. This will give me a better idea of who is understanding concepts, who still needs to research more about what they are learning, and grade them accordingly. Wikis could also be used for brainstorming ideas on a subject area and allowing the kids to show what they already know and what they still would like to learn about certain topics.

Some of the benefits for my students would be to help build relationships and collaboration between them and would help pull the kids together to work on a common goal. "The use of wikis opens the possibility for students to take an active role in writing content of the site" (Hew & Cheung, 2009). Each students could provide input on the wiki and continuously add the content that they have learned about the topic. It also helps the students share their ideas with one another, it offers different perspectives on the same topic, as well as clarifying understanding of certain things.

~Alison

References: Hew, K. F. and Cheung, W. S. (2009). Use of Wikis in k-12 and high education; a review of the research, Int. J. Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, Vol. 19, Nos. 2/3, pp. 141-165.