Like anything new, I
think there is a hesitation to Wikis in the Media Center because of a fear of
the unknown. If you are not particularly tech savvy, it is understandable why
some may be intimidated. It certainly requires a lot of work from the
start, but if it is set up efficiently with precise directions, a Wiki can
create a great space to engage the teachers and the students.
To be used most
effectively with teachers, I think it is important to treat the space likes a
Barnes and Noble book store. When you go into a book store, you want to be able
to walk around on your own time and at your own pace. You may pick up a book
and scope out the cover. You may select another one and read the author’s dedication.
Everyone’s strategy is different in how they make their selection. The same is true for teachers. As an instructional supporter, SLMS can
utilize the Wiki to provide a menu of choices and services that teachers can
peruse. Perhaps including links to sample student work to engage the teacher to try a
new tech tool might encourage a hesitant tech user to sample the menu.
Including “how to” You Tube videos for common questions and services provides a
“Self Service” tool for your teachers always on the go. If they are given the
opportunity to look through the Wiki to see how the SLMS can help them create a
more engaging and meaningful learning environment, the Wiki can definitely be
an effective tool for a SLMS.
For students, I think
the same book store experience holds true. Students want to be able to look
around and see items before making a final choice. I would definitely
incorporate a social media section since this seems to be the best way to
capture a student’s interest, at least at the high school level. I think including
several “how to” videos would be extremely helpful for students such as how to
drop a file into a teacher’s drop box or how to format a Word Document to MLA. Providing
the student an opportunity to learn and see new tools and books also encourages
student traffic through the media center. If they can connect through an online
presence such as a Wiki, they are likely to connect with the Media Center
itself.
A huge drawback to the
Wiki includes an abuse of power. This can come with any new tech tool though.
According to Educause Learning Initiative (2005), “because users can modify the
content of a wiki,” they can just as easily modify the content in a negative
way. With this in mind, I think it is especially important to communicate clear
expectations, and this is where administrative consequences would need to arise
for a misuse of technology. This type of behavior would not be tolerated in a
classroom so it is important to acknowledge that the same in not tolerated in a
virtual classroom as well.
A particular strong use
for the Wiki included Derrick Higginbotham’s Wiki
for his English class at Barnard. With the emphasis on text analysis and close
reading, especially as content subjects switch to GA Milestones, I would want
to encourage this use among the Language Arts teachers. Teachers can post
sample text along with close reading passages. From there students can write
their answers and collaborate with the class. The teacher can also take a
sample text, highlight, and annotate and post their annotations for the class
to view. It really helps encourage a flipped classroom where teachers can post
the essentials, and then questions can be addressed during class time.
A particular weak use of
the Wiki is the bias. It reflects the thoughts and works of a selected group,
and over time it will continue to reflect the attitudes and thoughts of one
specific group. To address this, it may be a good source for students for a
short terms project and not necessarily a semester or yearlong project. For
teachers, I think it is important to continue to add new things so teachers do
not continue to see the same items in your Wiki store.
It is encouraged to work the "Wiki" way as a SLMS because the engagement and collaboration potential between students and teachers is infinite. As long as you keep in mind the Barnes and Noble model, you are likely to have both the teacher and the student buy into the idea.
I like your analogy of the Barnes and Noble book store. It is so true that different people look for different things. I also like the idea of adding tutorials to the site. Children of all ages know what YouTube is and how to navigate it so this would be a great avenue. The only drawback to that is, at our school YouTube is blocked for students. There would have to be a way to let them access the videos and still be in the guidelines of the school policy.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the issue of “abuse of power,” I think this is a great thing for the teacher to discuss before using the Wiki with the class. It might even be a good idea to have a “contract” that the students and parents sign to make sure everyone is on the same page. Setting the rules up front is extremely important.
I feel that Wikis are a useful tool in the media center and school wide. I think it should start off small and be introduced to the students in 5th grade, in a perfect world of course. Older grades it is a must but even in 4th grade I think they will grasp the concept well and start using it as a tool for their education and assignments in class. I liked the acceptable use form that Barrow County has on their web page. I think this is a good option to have as it lets the students know what is expected when using Wikis or other technology devices in the school, personal or school owned. Once a wiki is created by the teacher it can be education that is self-centered . As the students create works they are sharing their knowledge with other students. If the wiki is about math it can help motivate the students to strive for the correct answer. As stated in the Vanderbilt web page, “Wikis achieve many of Chickering and Ehrmann good teaching practices including cooperation between students, active learning, prompt feedback from peers, time on task, the articulation of high expectations, and support for diverse talents.” Wikis can help improve technical skills as well. One of the draw backs is that it can be edited by others. In the media center it can be used to advertise books and strike interest for those that are not familiar with certain materials. This can be a useful tool for teachers and students and advertise new books that come in or resources for the teacher to use. A special headline commercial for the printed material in Wiki form. I like it because as stated in one of the articles, “Teachers can share ideas and not reinvent the wheel on everything thus saving time and more time.” I do like it because editing can be made public or private and controlled by the creator of the Wiki, but if not managed well a mess could happen. Most Wikis are created with the web page being open editing. Anyone can edit and that could become a huge playing ground for bad information for students, teachers, and the community at large. I think that is a draw back and if used there must be a central person monitoring it to make sure there is not plagiarism and other bad language, or writing taking place on the student made Wikis.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society it’s great to have a place to share and express thoughts and ideas between colleagues. I don’t know how we ever made it without the internet and social media. I guess people actually talked to each other face to face. Well, with time being such an issue and everyone having so much to do it’s good to see Wiki’s popping up everywhere and people utilizing them. I really like your analogy about browsing the bookstore. Just like taking your time in the Barnes and Nobles, students and staff can take their time using wikis and exploring other people’s ideas and thoughts. We can’t think of everything, so bouncing off information in this form is worth exploring. It’s good to know that wikis in the media center have a plethora of information.
ReplyDeleteYou have made some great points about wikis. I especially liked your comparison to browsing in a bookstore. That is so true! As a classroom teacher, I love learning about new technology tools to use in my classroom. However, often times, we are presented with a lot of material all at once, and then nothing. I like the idea of introducing teachers slowly, and allowing them to experiment at their own pace. Even if wikis are only used in the media center and not as much in the classrooms, teachers still need to be on board. I think it would be extremely helpful to have wikis created for different lessons that the media specialist and teachers could use in collaboration, kind of like our Pathfinder projects we created last semester. That was the first thought I had when I read Amy Bowlan's article. Having negative behavior is definitely a risk when students are involved, but I think you're right. If there are procedures and consequences, just like in the classroom, I think it would be manageable. We currently do not have a wiki at our school, but the more I learn about them, the more I want to venture out and give it a whirl.
ReplyDeleteHello there Lorraine
ReplyDeleteYou began by saying that there is a hesitation to use Wiki’s if you are not tech savvy and you are exactly right. In fact, I feel that most teachers at my school don’t use more technology because they are not familiar with it and won’t take time out to even play with different technologies. Being that I am a Business and Technology teacher, my advice to them is almost always just assign it to the kids and let them play with it and teach YOU how to use it! I also tell them that they will build relationships with the kids by being truthful with them and telling them they don’t know how to use it and asking the students to play with it and teach the teacher how to use it! You were also right on the money when you said to setup the Wiki like a Barnes and Noble book store. Teachers are so busy now-a-days that they may want to try to new things such as a Wiki, but may just not have enough time. Setting up a Wiki with everything they need from how to videos, to rubrics on a new tech tool could be just the thing they need to get over the “technology” hump and start incorporating technology into the classroom. I am not sure if there is an option to add this to a Wiki page, but a form to insert questions/comments or a blog area to ask questions about something that is on the Wiki would be great too! This way, the teacher or the student can ask questions on their own time without always having to find time to stop by the Media Center although we are always happy to have visitors!!
I also read in your initial post that you were concerned with people being able to abuse wiki’s by going into them and modifying content in a negative way. According to the 7 thing you should know about Wikis article that Dr. Cooper assigned us to read, there is a way to minimize the unauthorized editing of a Wiki. This article suggest that you restrict access to your Wiki to only the group members that you want to view it. The other downfall that the article stated was that a wiki has a collaborative bias that is based on the values, perspectives, and opinions of its main users at that time. For example, if a Wiki was created in the 1950’s on equal rights, then the perspectives, opinions and resources listed on it would probably be drastically different then if the wiki was created today on the same topic. To keep this from happening today, I think it is important for teachers or media specialist or whomever is in charge of the wiki to continually add new resources just as you stated in your post. Lastly, I really think that Dave Foord’s STOLEN approach is a great way to keep an active and up to date wiki! Each of portion of the acronym plays a major role in keeping users of a specific wiki coming back, especially the engagement piece.
Response to Team 4 (Courtney West Team 4)
ReplyDeleteI love your approach to treating the wikis like a Barnes and Nobles store. I think that it is very true for technology that is ever changing. Wikis can be very intimidating and stressful for teachers who are thrown to do something that they aren’t comfortable or familiar with using. Personally, it would really make for a bad day for me. But treating it like a store, where you can browse and find your comfort zone is a great way to get teachers to try something different. I loved the example from the English class where students can collaborate and post their work to share and possibly help others that may be struggling. I feel that wikis can become a great teaching tool if used correctly. It allows for students to have more control of their learning verses the teacher having all the control. There aren’t any assigned leaders, so all students can have an activate part in the learning process. Teachers can easily pose math riddles and have students work together to solve the answer. In the library, the media specialist can use wikis to have students write reviews on books. Many times good books get overlooked and students spend too much time on books that lack the information they need, because no one knows anything about them. By having a student write a review, it helps other students to know if they should invest time in that book or move on to another one.
The use of Wikis have brought a variety of discussions to the forefront. Is this the best tool to use and in what circumstance should it be used? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this database and who would benefit from its use? In light of all of this issues, I believe that you brought a very important point to consider. In many cases, the selected participants or administrators for that Wiki site will represent a specific school of thought. This is something that we should consider when researching information on any subject. Each and every website, blog, journal has an agenda and even though there may be an attempt to present a bipartisan platform, our strongest inclination will always shine through. In light of this, we must put forth every effort to read as many resources as possible to gain a broad view of the topic in discussion.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea in using one of the media specialist roles in supporting the media center changed how I viewed using Wiki in the media center and the school as a whole. The little bit on how to get some more student traffic into a media center is a smart because we have to change with the age that we live in which is more technology and social media based. I thought your idea of a flipped classroom was interesting. I could see this being done in a media center where the media specialist can do what you described when it comes to researching and using the different tools any media center would offer. I have a new way of looking at using Wiki in the classroom and media center once I become a media specialist.
ReplyDeleteLorraine,
ReplyDeleteI loved your analogy to the Barnes and Nobles Bookstore browser. I have always been one to believe that you learn best by experimenting. I think the most effective way to learn is to allow the student to move at there own pace to begin with and not make alot of demands on how or when something should be done. If this is something you use in SLMC then I commend you and would love to see your wiki page and see how you have it set up.