So what the heck is a wiki? Why would you want to use this particular technology in your classroom? A wiki is a collaborative website that allows anyone to input, revise, and collaborate to create an web accessible source of information on virtually any topic. According to the online Free Dictionary, http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/, Wiki is an acronym for "What I Know Is" .
Some wikis commonly used in an educational setting include Wikipedia.com, schoolcomputing.wikia.com, schools.wikia.com, and schoolpedia.com. The danger in wiki use from an educational standpoint is the reader's inability to validate information as it is contributed from a variety of sources, some legit, some not so legit.
You may choose to use wikis such as Wikipedia to teach your students critical analysis skills. Ask them to research a particular topic on Wikipedia and on a typically legit resource such as Grolier Online or Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Ask your students to evaluate the information provided on both sites. Have them critique the content, the ability to edit, the legitimacy of the information presented. This exercise can be invaluable in demonstrating to your students that Wikipedia, while offering a wealth of information, is not necessarily a resource that you would allow for a research project.
Check out more educational uses for wikis in the K-12 Classroom at the Wiki in a K-12 classroom wiki.
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3 days ago
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My county allows students to have wiki accounts and we have used a wiki as an end of the year wrap-up activity. Students in fourth and fifth grade chose two teachers to say thank you to. They talked about how this teacher had helped them over the school year. Then, we saved the pages and along with other projects made for the teacher, we burned the wiki pages to a CD. This was a very structured activity and turned out well! We didn't have to worry about the validity of the information like you mentioned on Wikipedia. Since it was structured and students were aware of the rules we didn't have a problem with inappropriate comments. We found it was a great way for them to work on their typing and editing skills!
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