Planning to use a wiki

The objective of this course activity is to understand some of the theoretical and research-informed models behind the use of wikis in teaching and learning.

Read the following articles and highlight any key points that appear pertinent to your context. You will use these points in your planning in the next activity.

• ‘Collaborative learning the wiki way’ [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   Engström and Jewett (2005)
• ‘The potential of wikis in the classroom’ Fountain (2005)
• ‘The good, the bad and the wiki’ Wheeler, Yeomans and Wheeler (2008)
• ‘A five stage model for the use of a wiki’ Wheeler (2008)

The objective of this course activity is to produce a plan for the use of wikis in your classroom.

You will need to download the planning sheet.

How might you use a wiki in your own teaching? What would you be intending to do and with which classes or groups of learners? Go to the course forum  and discuss this with other participants.

Having discussed this with others, complete a planning sheet for your own use.

The planning sheet is to help guide your thoughts on how you might use a wiki in your own teaching. It prompts you to consider:

• the context of the use of the wiki – which class, level, topic, how long etc.
• the purpose of using the wiki – what are the learners using this technology for (share ideas, joint planning, share presentations, add to and share collated resources etc.) – you may find the five-stage model of Wheeler (2008) useful here
• the pedagogical issues raised by Fountain (2005) and Engström and Jewett (2005) when considering the use of wikis in the classroom
• the learning gains or learning intentions (Curriculum Corporation, Australia)
• what impact you expect the use of a wiki to have (e.g. greater motivation, more collaboration, greater understanding of a topic etc.).

Once you have completed the planning sheet you should post it in the forum for others to help refine your ideas.

The objective of this course activity is to identify a tool for your use of a wiki in a school.

Firstly you need to find out if you can use a wiki tool as part of your school learning platform. If this isn't possible, the TeachersFirst website provides a list of wiki tools for educators and guidance on their use.

For a very simple 'first taste' of using a wiki with other people, you could try Webnote. 

No passwords are required and it is easy to start a single page wiki by typing a name for your wiki in the field 'Create or Load a Workspace'.