If you are thinking about really delving into “Wiki Work” with students, a good book to get is “Using Wikis for Online Collaboration” by James & Margaret West. I had the privilege of reading portions of this book and it was really helpful. In this book they pinpointed several characteristics that students should possess,and which many researchers have suggested are key to wiki success. These they placed under two main headings namely:
Cognitive or Prerequisite Skills
1. Writing & Constructive Editing Skills because the exercise should encourage writing not criticism.
2. Web Skills therefore students’ confidence about using the web need to be known
3. Group Process Skills such as shared leadership and conflict resolution.
Affective Value-base Behaviours.
1. Openness which is deemed to be the most challenging characteristic.
2. Integrity in terms of each student doing their part to the best of their ability.
3. Self Organization refers to one's own behaviour and how one responds to this mode of teaching.
Please feel free to post additional tips.
Hi Avril,
ReplyDeleteThis was very insightful- a good read definitely.
I've been thinking however, that yes wikis are perfect as tools for writing, but we can also factor in some vocabulary instruction there. For example, if a comprehension passage is being studied the difficult vocabulary that is discussed there can be internalised by getting the kids to work in groups and using the wiki, create passages with these words... Just food for thought.
Avril,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing me in the right direction for getting some help on wikis. It is the only Web 2.0 tool which we learnt that I do not feel comfortable with and have not had sufficient opportunity to use .I was able to access the book and found it to be extremely comprehensive. I am looking forward to experimenting with using wikis before and after September .Thanks for sharing