Title of the Article: Wiki-Centric Learning
I found this article interesting because it gives detailed examples of how wikis can be utilized in a classroom, it underlines that a "technology-centric" classroom where pretty much everything revolves around wikis is possible. Indeed, it shows the multiple ways of using wiki such as quickly accessing handouts, assignments, PowerPoint presentations and other materials as well as creating online collaborative workspaces for students.
Although I have not used wikis yet, after reading this article and some others online, I truly look forward to using it with my future students mainly because it is not only simple and non-geeky, but it is also adaptable depending on what you want to accomplish. The biggest benefits of wikis are fast, efficient collaboration for projects, papers, and websites. I can see how much it can be useful for students because they make group projects easier to coordinate and teachers can interact with students throughout the course of a project or assignment, see their progress, and give them feedback along the way.
As more and more teachers learn about wikis, their simplicity, benefits, and the fact that it can bring them closer to their students, to other teachers, as well as to librarians, I believe that the use of wikis will grow.
Although I have not used wikis yet, after reading this article and some others online, I truly look forward to using it with my future students mainly because it is not only simple and non-geeky, but it is also adaptable depending on what you want to accomplish. The biggest benefits of wikis are fast, efficient collaboration for projects, papers, and websites. I can see how much it can be useful for students because they make group projects easier to coordinate and teachers can interact with students throughout the course of a project or assignment, see their progress, and give them feedback along the way.
As more and more teachers learn about wikis, their simplicity, benefits, and the fact that it can bring them closer to their students, to other teachers, as well as to librarians, I believe that the use of wikis will grow.
I never considered using the wiki for accessing files (handouts and PowerPoints). I think this is a great way to help students who are forgetful (losing their papers all the time) or when they're absent.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that you pointed out that they are non-geeky. I think that students today are so tech-savy that there's not much left in the computer field that would label a student by other students as geeky. It seems these days that pretty much all of our students are "computer geeks" in some way.
I like the idea of having a teacher be able to interact with students through a wiki on group projects. This would allow teachers to monitor progress (we know all students need this!), give assistance, and keep them on the right track. It also allows students to work together outside of the classroom though not necessarily in person, and the teacher to communicate with them also outside of the classroom. It extends our reach and leaves much more time in the classroom for other tasks.