I loved the idea of using a wiki as a collaborative way of gathering notes, images, links, etc. on a research subject and then having students write their papers just from those notes. I think even elementary students could learn to do this but I worry about the citation requirements for responsible use being a bit much for them. If we're not too strict on the format, they can probably do that too. I think this idea came from David Loertscher's presentation at the 2007 AASL Conference.
A wiki could also be used to collaboratively write a paper, though a teacher would have to be sure specific roles are assigned and then track individual contributions to evaluate each student fairly. Such capability seems to be built in.
It could also be used for book reviews and long term projects. In particular, I am thinking of the Habitat Club I founded at my school several years ago. A wiki would have been a great way to record and share the progress of the club's projects. A lower elementary could use the blog to follow the course of a single seed from planting to full maturity with text and images.
This is definitely a post where I would love for others to throw in their ideas. What do you say? Please comment with more ideas or reactions or improvements to the ideas I've mentioned.
Thanks
Mitch, love your ideas! I have found that wikis are in such different shapes and sizes... no two are alike.
ReplyDeleteHere is a *great* site to keep your creative ideas flowing:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas2.cfm
Click on wiki walk on the left -- everything from 1st graders to social studies to collaborative writing!
Have fun ;-)
Thanks, Luka, for the comment, and extra thanks for the wiki lead.
ReplyDelete