Exploring wikis
Wikis are gaining popularity with teachers who recognise its power as a creative and collaborative tool. Teachers are exploring ways of integrating them into their teaching and learning. Some are sharing examples of pupil work, others are encouraging pupils to contribute to a class wiki.
Wikis are already being used extensively in education, though often for reading rather than writing. Wikipedia is often used as a source of information, for example, and has a specific schools section [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] organised by the subjects of the National Curriculum.
Activity 4 gives you a chance to explore some examples of how teachers and school advisers are using wikis. However, as pointed out in the e-safety section, teachers may decide to hide from view what their classes are doing so the best uses may well be hidden!
Activity 4 Field trip
The objectives of this course activity are to:
- look at some existing wikis that are used for learning and teaching
- share thoughts about how they are being used.
4.1 Looking at existing wikis Table 2 shows several examples of the use of wikis in primary schools. Go to the examples by clicking on the links. Reflect on how they are being used to enhance learning and teaching and on the way in which they are presented and structured.
| Key stage | Curriculum | What's this wiki about? |
| 1 | Maths | 'Primary Math' has been set up to enable students in Canada to share their maths learning with classes around the world. Students have uploaded images of patterns, numbers and shapes etc |
| 2 | English | 'Terry the Tennis Ball' is a collaborative story developed by students at a primary school in Australia. |
| 2 | Science | 'Sound and Light', a wiki by students, for students, based in the UK. There are examples of student work using a range of media from photos through to audio and video files. |
| 1-2 | English | 'And to think I saw it on my way to school' is a wiki developed by a cluster of schools in America inspired by a Dr Seuss book. There are examples of student work using a range of publishing tools. |
Reminder
Have you read and responded to introductions posted at the beginning of the course?
4.2 Discussing with others. Look at one or two of the examples above and reflect on how each of these have been set up and how they might be used. Go to the forum and discuss them with the other course members. The forum contains more specific guidance on the things to look for and think about. You should expect to go back to the forum at least three times to take part in the discussion.
Teacher Voice
“The tasks are challenge-based learning; the pupils are given experiments to do and they've got to decide how to record them and then post them to the wiki. Some of them make PowerPoints and put them into SlideShare so they can be viewed on the web. Some of them record on audio, some of them record on video." It helps, he says, to motivate children who are daunted by the idea of writing a whole report. John Johnston, class teacher, Sandaig Primary School (2008).
This extract was taken from Primary Pioneers.
Wikis and e-safety