Assignment 3 – The Importance of Wikis in K-12 Education

 

I am reminded of the movie Forrest Gump. In his telling of his third visit to the White House to meet President Nixon, he states, "I went to the White House, again...and I met the President of the United States, again."

I have personally held a dislike and distrust of Wikipedia in general. In my general use, I have found errors. At a One Day University workshop, it was stated that the average Wikipedia contributor was male and between 16 and 22. After the Tea Party movement erupted, the term tea-bagging was being used pretty freely  in some circles. I went to the Urban Dictionary for answers. Urban Dictionary is an interactive site, allowing users to add or update definitions. While I was pretty shocked at the original definitions for this term, I was appalled by later definitions, added to reflect some users disgust of the members and movement.

In a classroom, or a controlled environment, Wikis would lend a positive addition. In Web 2.0, Solomon and Schrum describe three options provided by Wikis: allowing others to edit work, earlier versions of work are kept (and can be reverted back to), and the instructor can keep track of all of the entries. With group collaboration, this would allow two situations. First, the students who have a weaker student in their group can mentor and move him (or her) along. The students in the group would not have to worry that the other student will "hold them back." Thus, we don't get groups which segregate by grade point average. Second, we avoid the student who reflects Sheldon Cooper (of The Big Bang Theory). Sheldon would think nothing of taking the Wiki and rewriting the entire file "to suit his needs." I do like that teachers can keep track, and mentor students in a Wiki's proper use. Being able to revert is critical.

I have used the Wiki's stepsister, the Google Doc. In its usage, I found it awkward to use. If another user is editing, the document would jump and sputter, with some additions never making it into the document. According to Web 2.0, this could not happen, since only one person can edit at a time. I would hope all group members have each other's phone numbers, since I would hate it if a student went to bed without closing the document.

I have again included six Wikis for this discussion:

WIKI	Type	Use
Bard Queens Computer Science	A Wiki for Computer Science	Intro to Scheme and Netlogo
LEGO Mindstorms	A WIki for a Computer Science Class	Robotics
Artificial Intelligence	A WIki for a Computer Science Class	Artificial Intelligence
Parkside Electronics	A WIki for a Computer Science Class	Computer Electonics
Java Programming Basics	A WIki for a Computer Science Class	Java Programming
Resources for IB Computer Science	A Wiki for Computer Science Teachers	Sharing Ideas

 

The choice of these Wikis was simple. Most reflect courses being taught here at St. Francis Prep. There are a few Wikis that do not match 100%, but what they do is show how my department and I can implement this technology into our classes.

I joked earlier that I am writing a paper much like the last assignment. What this exercise shows is a comparison with the last tool, blogging. I would be more willing to incorporate the Wiki rather than the blog. In the end, education should focus on what students walk out of the classroom with. Wikis seem to focus more on the factual and less on opinion. While I may ask, "What do you think?", and expect them to answer based on fact, I do not think I could handle blogs with their inherent "stream of consciousness."

Wikis are not wastes of time. That is, unless the instructor fails to monitor the process, making it an irrelevant and negative experience.