wikis in the classroom (oct 6, 2008)

I was introduced to wikis in undergrad (moodle in particular), but wikis did not become a major part of course content until graduate school. Several of my professors have emphasized and assigned collaborative wiki work in their courses. For the most part, I found wikis to be an efficient tool in terms of accessibility, group work, and connecting information/research/ideas through hyperlinks. As a communication device for group work, I have no complaints. In terms of presentation, however, wikis appear, in my humble perspective, as more of a draft than a final project. Appearance-wise, I prefer reading websites and blogs. That said, I cannot participate in the collaboration of private sites, so clearly, wikis are more interactive in a group, and in particular, classroom, setting.

I am working on wiki for my final lesson plan idea, Critics' Circle. This wiki is incomplete in terms of the introductory content pages, but it does provide a framework for my idea. Basically, I am hoping to use a class wiki as a space to exchange book critiques and to start critical discussion about books that my students choose.

In addition to a class wiki project, I would consider using a wiki as a basic home site for a semester-long course. I also like the idea of a research-collecting site where students can all log in different resources and references. Wikis are a perfect example of reconfiguring the traditional author/reader binary. Accustomed to being passive viewers, I think students would be eager to produce their own library of research materials and critical thought.