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USING WIKIS IN LITERACY TO ENGAGE
STUDENTS IN TEXT STUDIESShireen Richardson 201512523
Masters of EducationUnit EEL702
Participants will learn:
What a wiki is Reasons for using a wiki in literacy Ways in which wikis can engage students How to set up and use a wiki for student
engagement in text study Applications for wikis in text studies How to overcome barriers (real or
perceived) How to assess student wikis
What is a Wiki?
A web page that can be easily edited
One of many freely available Web 2.0 tools
It can be contributed to by its creator and any number of approved members
‘Wikipedia’ is an example of a wiki!
Features of a Wiki Editable by more than one person
Control of design, page structure, layout, text, visuals
Can easily incorporate a range of multimedia, text, hyperlinks, audio and visual media
Asynchronous
A range of privacy settings
User/editor history is available for each page
Discussion forums are available for each page
'wiki users can edit from within any browser - specialised knowledge of a web-composing program...is not necessary' (Lundin 2008)
I have found the best feature of the wiki to be its nature as a collaborative creative space, and particularly, a space where students can work together primarily as co-authors by collecting pieces of a project into a coherent whole.
(Harding 2007, p. 135)
Available WikisWikispaces http://wikispaces.com/
WetPaint http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/
Moodle http://moodle.com/
TiddlyWiki http://www.tiddlywiki.com/
PBWiki http://pbworks.com/
WikEd http://www.horde.org/wicked/
For an extensive comparative list of over a hundred available wikis, visit:
http://www.wikimatrix.org/
Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Providing students with skills for the
21st century
Greater depth and breadth of learning in English
Extending students’ existing ICT experience
Increased self esteem
Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Scaffolding learning
Varying levels of teacher control
Freedom of expression, representation, negotiation and choice
Collaboration can be easily monitored
Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Easy to use for both teachers and
students
Audience of peers for advice and criticism (Lundin 2008, Tarasiuk 2010)
Increased student engagement
Wikis and Engagement
What is engagement?
Take a moment to discuss your definition with the person next to you.
Wikis and Engagement Engagement relates to making connections
with the activity, connecting with other students, experiencing fun and excitement; as a result, deep learning occurs.
Engagement occurs with variety, student choice and constantly changing or increasing challenges.
Wikis and Engagement
“Student engagement is a rendezvous between learning and the digital tools and techniques that excite students.” (Educause 2009)
Wikis and Engagement Research Findings:
Increased student engagement
(Harding 2007, Luce-Kapler 2007, Morgan & Smith 2008, Wetzel 2008)
Increased student involvement, understanding and results (Gibbons 2010)
Students working in ‘own time’ (Gibbons 2010, Tarasiuk 2010))
Students enjoyed working with wikis (Mak & Coniam 2008)
Wikis and Engagement Research Findings:
Students found the wiki project fun and engaging, they
enjoyed the books they read...
I knew the students enjoyed the wiki after the project
was over because many of them continued using it for
other writing assignments. And just recently, I received
an email from one of the students I no longer have in
class asking for the name of our wiki website because
she wanted to use the format again for a project in
another class. (Tharp 2010)
How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the Chinese Cinderella Project
1. Signed up for a wikispaces account
2. Set up accounts for student wiki groups
3. Set up the Chinese Cinderella task wiki: http://chinesecinderellahy.wikispaces.com/
4. Introduced students to wikis
How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the Chinese Cinderella Project
5. Progressively introduced tools and skills
6. Established mini deadlines along the way
7. Set expectations and deadlines regarding the use of the discussion forum
Useful links for ‘How To...’
http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour
http://help.wikispaces.com/
http://usingwikisfortextstudies.wikispaces.com/
Examples of Text Study Applications
Book Club
Literature Circles
Whole Class Text Study
‘Character’ Wiki
Case Study: Year 7 Girls‘Chinese Cinderella’
(click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)
Other Examples of Wikis used for Text Studies
‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar: (McGlashan, L, Waldron, R & Purcell, S, 2008)
Click above to access link
Other Examples of Wikis used for Text Studies continued
Click above to access link
Perceived Barriers
1. No time to set up a wiki project
2. Wikis will be difficult or more time consuming to assess
3. I don’t have the technical ability for such a project, nor do my students
Perceived Barriers
4. Some students might not contribute at all, or might contribute unequally
5. Some students might become upset because they believe they are doing more than their fair share of the work
Perceived Barriers
6. My students’ responses are inadequate and not up to expectations
7. My students are not participating in the page discussions or are not participating in an acceptable manner
Perceived Barriers
8. I am concerned that my students with special educational needs will not be able to benefit from this activity
9. One of my student groups has had a major falling out and the students can no longer work together
Perceived Barriers
10. The wiki does not appear to be working
11. My students are disputing my assessment of their contribution to the wiki
12. Students are perpetually leaving tasks until the last minute – therefore, not much collaboration or discussion is taking place
Remember:
‘Just because a teacher builds a Wiki, does not mean that it will automatically engage students in learning.’
‘Planning for integration of Wikis requires rethinking teaching strategies and techniques to take advantage of their full potential.’ (Wetzel 2009)
How to assess a wiki
The wiki overall Group tasks Individual tasks Individual contribution to the wiki (collaboration) Individual contribution to wiki discussions
(collaboration)
Year 7 & 8 Wiki Assessment Template:http://usingwikisfornovelstudies.wikispaces.com/Assessing+a+wiki
Several components of a wiki need to be assessed:
Conclusions A wiki is a valuable tool in the classroom for
students to respond to text
Students enjoy using wikis
When used effectively, students are engaged
A wiki is not difficult to learn or use It is essential students use technology in
classes in order to prepare them for the world in which they live
Thank you for your participation
Please stay and ‘PLAY’ with a wiki by:
Working through the steps detailed in the handout
Having a go in the wiki ‘sandbox’
Exploring some of the wikis listed in the handout
Please complete the supplied feedback form
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