Working in a Wiki: A Reflection



Wiki'ing... My Thoughts

I think I've pretty much got this blogging thing down pat.  In fact I feel a little silly about how stressed I was about learning how to create one, because it turned out to be really quite simple.  So with slightly more confidence in my technological abilities, it was time to tackle Week 2 and a new challenge: participating in a wiki.

The very first thing I learnt about working on a wiki was a hard lesson.  Do not take twenty minutes to formulate your response while typing it straight into the edit page.  You will get edited over.  You will want to throw your laptop at the wall.  But don't.  Just type your response into a word document, then quickly copy and paste it into the wiki edit page when you're done.  Laptop saved, blood pressure stabilized   That was certainly the biggest issue I had when engaging in the wiki, but I was relieved to find a simple way to minimize that risk.

Once that little hiccup was sorted out, I felt quite confident contributing to the wiki.  In terms of the practical side (navigating the site and using the tools), I found it to be fairly straightforward, although I did find the format to be quite messy and at times hard to follow.  I'm not sure if this is a problem with the wiki as such, or just my unfamiliarity with the layout.

For our activity, we were asked to think about the pros and cons of using mobile phones in the classroom using de Bonos Six Thinking Hats.  Here's a quick overview of what the hats represent:

 Picture Source: Mindworx

I really liked using de Bono's Thinking Hats for this activity.  Using this scaffold forced me to think from different angles and perspectives, and compare my thoughts with the thoughts of other students.  It was interesting to see the ways that our opinions differed, and which aspects were the same.

In my understanding, learning through the use of a wiki is a fantastic example of the Constructivism model due to the fact that learning takes place via the contribution of many people, information is based on both their personal experiences and the information they have chosen to search for in order to relate the material (mobile phone use in classrooms) to wider concepts and theory (could they be implemented in a useful way).  It is the embodiment of Vygotsky's notion that learning is a social experience, embedded in culture.  It can be said that a wiki is in itself a socially constructed arena, with the content decided upon by its members.  With this inherent flexibility comes both positives and negatives.

Positive aspects of a wiki:

• It is always editable, therefore information can be kept fresh as new information emerges or viewpoints change.
• It is collaborative; anyone can have a say, this is especially helpful for those who do not feel comfortable speaking up in a face to face situation.
• The fact that it is online allows for working from home, and eliminates the need for students to meet face to face.
• There is no delay between putting the information out there and others being able to see it.

Negative Aspects of a wiki:

• As anyone can edit the information there is a potential for misuse or inappropriate content to be added, or legitimate information to be deleted.
• There is a risk of editing over other people's text, which is quite difficult to recover.
• The organisation of a wiki can get quite disorganised due to the fact that many people are contributing and may not know how to best format their contribution.

 Overall, I think that students would need to be well schooled in both how to use a wiki and keep it neat and organised, as well as the importance of online etiquette, but wikis could be successfully used to enhance learning in the classroom.  I can see great potential for wikis being used in schooling, in particular as a collaborative homework space.  I believe students may be more likely to complete homework tasks if done alongside their peers, in their favourite domain: cyberspace.