EDCI 5825- The Wiki!!

What is really nice about being introduced to all of this technology in class, is learning that there are so many sites on the Internet made to help out teachers or instructors of any type.  This week we focused on the Wiki stuff.  "A wiki is essentially a collaborative website. Wikis can be private in-house sites meant to serve a limited number of editors, or wide-open public sites where almost anyone can contribute" (EdTech Teacher, 2011). It is through this portal that we can connect and share virtually anything.  In the fist video on the EdTech Teacher page I liked how everyone can post the links to other pages that were dealing with the specific content.  It is impossible for one person to find every useful page on a topic, but if there are many people doing the same task the more efficiently it will be done.  Students even uploaded their own videos which is an amazing touch, and it can verify for a teacher if the students are actually understanding the material being presented.  I think this was my favorite use of the Wiki and how I plan to use it in my classroom.  Of course, I would be making the assumption that all of the students would have access to a computer either at home or in a library, I would like to make a Wiki page for my classes starting at the beginning of the year.  The Wiki would be our connection between all of the classes taking biology that year.  They could assist each other through the discussion page if I am unavailable at the time, or by adding information that we are learning to the page to solidify their own understanding, while putting it in terms that their peers are more likely to recognize. 
The scenario that I have playing in my head is that after I create the Wiki and get all of the students on the page, I plan to make one of the first homework assignments the task of adding a link to our Wikispace relating to the subject matter we are about to cover; for example, genetics, or the cell.  After they have posted their site I will require them to investigate at least 2 more that their peers would have posted and bring in comments and questions into class.  By doing this I believe I can get the students thinking about the upcoming material and prepare them a little more through some self inquiry.  If possible I could also for an end of a unit project have the students post videos of themselves as if they were teaching the subject matter to someone.  This way they would not only be reaffirming the knowledge on the subject, but familiarizing themselves with technology which is ever advancing. 


Reference:
EdTech Teacher (2011).  Teaching History with Technology accessed from http://thwt.org/historywikis.html