Wikis

As Richardson explains in Chapter 4, wikis have great potential as a tool for professional collaboration. When the teacher-librarians in my district were required to provide 90 minutes of prep time each week for kindergarten teachers, the district teacher-librarian set up a wiki where teacher-librarians could post ideas or documents that others could extend or modify. Unfortunately, because our schedules were already full, more was accomplished during the face-to-face meeting that prompted the creation of the wiki than through the virtual meeting place of the wiki. Nevertheless, a wiki could result in better library programs because many heads are better than one.

I also noticed that the new TTOC rep in my district has set up a wiki where union and other information important to TTOCs will be posted, allowing all TTOCs, not just the rep, to have a voice in communicating information and determining what is important.  

Richardson also outlines several excellent ideas for using wikis to teach students skills required for successful collaboration and to provide students with a means of creating and/or sharing projects with people living in  other parts of the world (63-66). After reading Richardson's chapter on wikis, however, I was not sure how I would use these ideas with my Grade 2 and Grade 3 classes. I decided to explore some of the educational wikis described by Richardson to see whether they would provide me with a better idea of how to use a wiki with primary students.

I first visited Wikijunior, thinking that my students could contribute to an online book for children. I examined the Wikijunior style guide, which has excellent points, but is written for an adult audience. The main points in the guide could be adapted for children and taught one at a time in mini-lessons. In each mini-lesson, the teacher could explain the writing tip and have the class compose a sample Wikijunior entry, focusing on the tip. Students could then add to a Wikibook on their own or with a partner and try to write using the stylistic tip.

Next, I looked at the Wikibook Geometry for Elementary School, as we are currently studying 2D shapes and 3D objects. In the entry about points, one of the first sentences contains a typo: "Even though everything in the physical world around us of things larger than atoms, it is still very useful to talk about the centers of these atoms, or electrons" ("Points"). I noted at the bottom of the page that the content has not been updated since November 6, 2011. So much for someone picking up errors within a few hours! Obviously Wikijunior has a much smaller number of contributors than does Wikipedia! I also realized immediately that the reading level of this entry is too difficult for all of my Grade 2 students (except one for boy) and for most of my Grade 3 students. Many of the Grade 5 students I taught last year would also have had trouble understanding this text. According to the site, the geometry book is meant for beginner readers: "Books at the beginner skill level are intended for readers that may have some difficulties with pronunciation and comprehension when new vocabulary is encountered. Uncommon and difficult words should be properly introduced or defined when used. New concepts may rely heavily on pictures or illustrations to assist comprehension. These books should be accessible to readers with no education in the subject area, and should keep new vocabulary and long sentences to a minimum" (Geometry for Elementary School). Despite the reference to the need for illustrations, the page about shapes has only one picture. None of the different triangles, quadrilaterals, or polygons are shown.  

The Wikijunior page about the sun (part of the book about the solar system) is much better, with illustrations, simpler text, and an interesting fact box; however, this site would still be difficult for some of my Grade 3 students. I might refer some students to this wikibook if they are doing research, but I will not ask the whole class to evaluate or contribute to it. I will share the Wikijunior link with the teacher who works with several gifted students in Grades 3-5 at our school. Perhaps they can improve the geometry book!

Because I am a former English teacher, I decided to explore Shelley Paul's class wiki about the novel Turn Homeward, Hannalee (a wiki recommended by Richardson). Although I was unable to access this wiki, I did find a link that she posted to the following site: Examples of Collaborative Project Wikis. Teachers Cindy Bode and Allyson Carroll worked with their third grade students to create an impressive wiki about western expansion along the Oregon Trail: http://gowest.wikispaces.com/ . I found the teacher reflections to be particularly informative, especially as I had some questions about the sources of the students' information. For example, while the students clearly cited the sources of all images, there is no in-text reference to the sources of their written information. I did locate a long list of references on the wiki, and I appreciate that for primary students, an understanding of plagiarism, not the ability to provide complete, accurate in-text citations, is important. The students listed their sources and, according to the teachers, used their own words. I was a bit overwhelmed by the vast number of skills that I would need to teach--and in some cases, to learn--for students to complete such a research project, but I think that the process would be very worthwhile. Because I teach my Grade 3 class only one day a week, I am a bit hesitant to begin such a complex project, but I will consider using a wiki next term when we focus on the solar system.

Print Works Cited

Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks: Corwin, 2010.