Group Tools 1- Wiki Reflection

My Wiki can be found here.

Creating a Wiki is the simple step. Following detailed Youtube videos helped ensure i was doing the right thing. However, after creating the wiki, i found it hard to navigate. I was extremely hesitant at the beginning and was quite unsure where to start. I didn't know what i should be putting on it or how to do that. After having a bit of a fiddle i realised it wasn't the 'Mount Everest' i thought it was going to be. (Although it did still involve a fair few hours!) I created a home page and put some videos and images which best described me and my interests. I have not in any way or shape mastered it! I will continue to learn and improve my skills.

Using Wiki's in a classroom could be a effective tool. This is on the proviso that teachers have an extensive knowledge of how to work a Wiki. For a teacher to have a broad understanding of Wiki's, one would have to spend countless hours experimenting and navigating. This would then have to be taught to the students so they can then complete tasks on a Wiki. This is the downfall of using Wiki's in education. In todays schools, time is of the essence! There is not enough of it to go around and teachers are struggling to teach the required content in the time limit. On the addition to teaching students how to use a Wiki, students would also need to be taught the Etiquette of using a wiki.

Here is an article referring to Wiki Etiquette.

Teachers using Wiki's in the classroom need to realise that it is a time consuming process. They must be dedicated in exploring Wikis and ensuring they use TPACK and correct Pedagogies to ensure students are learning.

From exploring my own Wiki, it is evident that anything can be altered. From titles, content, pictures, videos etc... Any user can write over or remove information, not just the creator. This could pose a massive threat to the progress and successful production in a classroom.

However, Wiki's can be a great tool in education. They are excellent for collaboration between other peers. They can also be used for assessment, research, brain storming and the sharing of knowledge and research.

In my teaching area of music i could use Wiki's for:

• Practice Quizzes (similar to those used for ICT in Learning Design)
• Get students to find and post Youtube clips in relation to content
• Post youtube clips and get students to analyse the style and composer
• Any questions students are unsure about, they can collaborate online with peers, outside of school hours

I have also included a SWOT analysis on my opinions of Wiki's in Education

Strengths

• Can be accessed outside school hours
• Collaboration tool
• Teamwork and class interaction
• Uploading a large range of different sources
• Connectivisim
• Caters for multiple different learning theories

Weaknesses

• Can look 'untidy' or 'messy' if not designed or maintained well
• Extremely time consuming
• Anyone can access
• Anyone can remove information 
• Only one person can edit at a time

Opportunities

• Engagement and Learning
• Allows teachers to ensure students understanding of content

Threats

• Could be used for cyber bullying
• Anyone can access and destroy
• Child online safety