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3.3 Wikis

This week we’re looking at wikis (see the readings below) including what they are and how you might make use of them in your teaching. Wikis can be useful for collaboration or just as a central repository for information. While you’ve already learned about using Google Docs for this, wikis can often support more than simply text, allowing users to embed images and other media as well.

There are a variety of public wikis available for accessing information that others have posted, but you can also create wikis for use in your classroom. One of the options for creating a wiki is Wikispaces Links to an external site. (there is a specific version for teachers called Wikispaces Classroom). Here is a tutorial video that shows how  to edit wikipages, add files, add images, embed content and create new pages on Wikispaces Classroom.

Wikispaces Classroom - Tutorial 3

Readings

Discussion Post

For this discussion, reflect on the three tools presented this week: student response systems (including backchannels), Google Drive, and wikis. Post a reflection of no more than 250 words. Some questions you may wish to answer in your reflection include:

  • Do you have previous experience with any of these tools?
  • If yes, what were your impressions with their effectiveness?
  • How might you use one of these tools in your teaching? 
  • Are there benefits in learning how to use these technologies (e.g, Google Drive, wikis) for students' lives outside of school?
  • Should Wikipedia be used as a reliable source of information for students (and teachers)?

Respond to the posts of other participants in the course. Try to keep your responses under 200 words.