I enjoyed viewing some of the wikis that were being used in classrooms. The difference between a wiki and a blog is that a wiki can be edited by adding to it, changing, or deleting items by different members of the Wiki. A blog on the other hand only allows for people to make comments on other people's posts, without being able to change or add to them.
There were some examples given for Wikis that I wondered if they would have been better suited for a blog. Student book reviews is one that comes to mind. A book review is after all, someone's personal opinion. It doesn't make sense to edit someone else's opinion. Instead, you would explain whether or not you agreed with that opinion, adding any extra thoughts you had on the subject.
In a classroom setting, I think Wikis would be useful in the following ways; help students get organized concerning class assignments, supplies, etc., writing, revising, and editing, closure at the end of a lesson for students to express what they have learned about a topic.
Should Wikipedia be used in the classroom? I use it personally all of the time. I have never given much thought to the accuracy of the information. I would introduce the concept to students that Wikipedia is viewed as a controversial source of information. A good follow up activity would be to give pairs of students a topic to research. Tell them to use two sources, one should be Wikipedia and the other a more accredited source. Next they organize their info. by comparing how the two sources were alike and different in the presentation of their facts. Students would present their findings to the rest of the class. After all of the presentations were made, we would discuss and reach a class consensus on how valid a source of information Wikipedia actually is.
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Ooh, I like the Wikipedia lesson idea! What a great lesson in credible sources! You could also, as a class, edit a wikipedia page to show the students that anyone can change the content of the pages.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right about the difference between a blog and a wiki; wikis are much more "open" and collaborative in nature, whereas blogs are dominated by the owner and usually express the opinions of the writer while allowing for comments from other individuals. I tend to think of a blog as an individual project and a wiki as a group project.
I agree that many people use wikis when a blog would probably be more appropriate (and vice versa), and I think it's probably because they feel comfortable using a particular program. I also think that's the appeal of wikis and blogs, though; they're easy to use and can be used for a variety of purposes.
Great job--Thing 5 complete!