How+to+Make+It+Work


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==**How to Make Wikis Work** ==

You might think this page would be the about the nuts and bolts of wikis but actually a wiki, or any other 2.0, won't work unless it is grounded in a firm pedagogical belief of how to create an atmosphere for collaboration in the classroom. So how it works really begins by understanding the larger picture. 

When using wikis one must think of the desired outcome that is to have students collaborate and create knowledge through a process in a 2.0 medium. As I read our paper, " I Don't Care Do Ur Own Page ," I saw several times where this experiment broke down and therefore so did the student collaboration and learning experience.

First, the students were knowledgeable with the tool so that using it would be easy. However, students were not modeled the collaboration process. If 2.0 applications are placed into the classroom without a properly- scaffolded teaching philosophy, students will treat them as a traditional ‘ole’ bristle board’ type of group project. Grant stated, “. . . students imported the existing practices of school as they perceived them” (p. 111).

Secondly, the students had problems sharing and building from each others' ideas. This is another trait of collaboration that has to be taught and expected by teachers so the students can work together. Grant said the students “decided to focus on the task rather than the collective engagement with ideas, and did not set themselves or perceive a clear goal. . . . [so a] charge of shallow constructivism could be leveled at this project” (p. 112). Much thought has to be given to how to create a “knowledge-building” (p.112) community as it is easier to fall back on the continuing practice of “institutionally cultivated individual ownership” (p. 113) as we have traditionally seen in schools even during group projects.

I believe this will be a huge area to overcome as teachers are used to knowing outcomes, setting assignments and having students complete the task for a grade. I call this holding out hoops for students to jump through. Seldom do I see teachers who ask students to set their own goals that are twice as hard if they have to set the goals collaboratively for a whole group! We have a long way to come as our students seldom decide on goals for themselves and even more seldom work together in a ‘sharing and building from each other’ atmosphere.

Thirdly, the article states my worry. Teachers saw the level of dependence that students had for teachers guiding the activity. Grant reminds us that the role of the teacher is not about stepping back and letting the students go to work -- the teacher has a significant role to play as facilitator in the process according to the students’ Zone of Proximal development. The teacher also has to ensure that the project is happening for an authentic purpose, with an audience in mind to make it meaningful for the students.

Grant's paper offers this conclusion for schools and educators: “The real potential. . . is not in introducing the software, but. . . on the value of collaborative learning and collective knowledge-production, the development of attitudes and cultures. . . that support such approaches to learning, and how to organize education and assessment to support these attitudes and practices” (p. 115).

Now if you want to understand the nuts and bolts of the wiki Jennifer Wagner's slideshow provides good information. media type="custom" key="5631993"