Sharing Ideas: Developing Wikis

Sharing ideas: developing wikis

Course information

Learning outcomes

Course schedule

Introduction

The reflective cycle

Introducing ourselves

Guide

Guide

Introducing wikis

Wikis and e-safety

Discussion

Exploring wikis

Reminder

Thinking about structure

Finding relevant examples

Planning to use a wiki

Using the wiki for teaching and learning

Reflection

Reminder

Discussion

Discussion

Shared learning

Evaluation and certification

References

Acknowledgements

Course information

You will need access to:

• a computer with a web browser
• a class/group of pupils – groups could be within classes, whole classes, or groups across classes (e.g. clubs) and schools (e.g. clusters of schools or in collaborative projects).

Duration of the course: 20 hours over eight weeks

• Online total: 13 hours
• individual: 9 hours (e.g. reading, doing quiz, editing personal wiki)
• collaborative: 4 hours (e.g. forum discussion, editing communal wiki).
• Offline total: 7 hours
• face-to-face: none
• workplace: 5 hours (setting up and using wiki with pupils)
• independent study: 2 hours (supplementary reading, reflection and documenting evidence for future accreditation).

Learning outcomes

Professional and reflective practitioner skills

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

• incorporate the use of a wiki with learners in their school and subject contexts as appropriate
• reflect on, and discuss, the impact of the use of a wiki on learning.

Practical skills

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

• edit a wiki page
• select a wiki tool appropriate for intended use
• set up a wiki
• incorporate text and other media on a wiki page
• manage users (authors, reviewers etc) of a wiki.

Knowledge and understanding

At the completion of this course, you should be able to demonstrate:

• that you know what a wiki is
• that you know what wikis may be used for in education
• an understanding of the issues involved in using wikis in the classroom.

Cognitive skills

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

• critically review the use of wikis in educational contexts and share these reviews with others
• discuss different ways in which wikis might be used in learning contexts in schools.

Course schedule

Table 1 Course activities

Introduction

This is a course of eight weeks duration with 20 learning hours expected during that time.

We will begin by looking at existing wikis with an emphasis on those used in educational contexts; these range from generic websites like Wikipedia to those created and used by teachers for specific learning purposes in their classrooms and with their learners.

You will discuss the issues that this raises in terms of e-safety and learning and teaching.

The course will provide guidance on creating and using wikis and you will set up your own and trial it with some of your pupils.

You will either use a wiki on your school’s learning platform or, if this is not available to you, we will explain how to sign up to use one of the free online wiki services.

Throughout the course, and especially after you have used your wiki with your pupils, you will share your experiences with other participants.

The reflective cycle

Vital courses are based on a cycle of professional reflective practice as shown in the diagram below.

This cycle draws on, and develops, personal and professional knowledge bases. The latter may be seen in the literature, resources, policies and other materials that are used to inform practice.

Throughout the course small icons will indicate the stage of the cycle being addressed.

NB Prof/Pers KB = Professional/Personal knowledge base

Introducing ourselves

In the first parts of the course we will introduce ourselves and introduce the ideas behind the use of a wiki, including reviewing a couple of existing wikis to see how they are used in teaching and learning. But first we need to know who else is on the course as we will be sharing our thoughts and experiences with each other.

Activity 1 Getting to know others on the course

30 minutes during the first week of the course, plus another 30 minutes to respond to others (1 hour total, online)

The objectives of this course activity are to:

• get to know the other participants on this course
• begin to think about how wikis are used (by using one).

Guide

You will find more information on the use of wikis in thisWiki guide

Guide

You will find more information on the use of forums in this Forum guide

1.1 Introduce yourself by going to the course wiki and adding something about you on your group page. You will be asked to add an image and link to a website that says something about where you live or work.

1.2 Who else is on the course? Look at the other pages in the wiki, reading what others have written. Go to the Introductions discussion in the course forum and meet the other members of the course. Briefly tell them why you chose this course and share your experience of using the wiki.

End of activity.

Introducing wikis

Learners often need space to share ideas and/or resources, or write together. This course looks at the use of a ‘wiki’ (a website which can be added to and edited by any number of people) for these purposes.

So what is a wiki? A wiki is a website for sharing and developing ideas, materials, plans etc. Any page of the website can be changed by anyone (sometimes usernames and passwords are needed, sometimes edits can be anonymous). Only one person can edit any one page at one time but as soon as they have finished and saved, anyone else can then edit it.

Activity 2 So what is a wiki?

30 minutes the first week of the course (online)

The objective of this course activity is to develop your understanding of what a wiki is.

Watch this video from Commoncraft for a brief introduction.

Wikis in plain English

If the video does not appear then there may be firewall/filtering issues. The video is less than five minutes long and you are advised to watch it on a machine that is not filtered if possible, or read the alternative description linked below.

For an alternative description of a wiki please see this resource (Becta 2010).

Thinking about the features of a wiki shown in the video, note down any first ideas of how you could use a wiki in your teaching.

Add your notes here.

End of activity.

Wikis and e-safety

E-safety is an issue to be considered whenever young people use the Internet. In this part of the course you will think about how a wiki can be used safely and ethically. This is particularly important given that anyone can edit any page on a wiki - but only if they have been given permission.

Activity 3 Wikis and e-safety

1 hour (online/private study) during weeks one and two of the course

The objective of this course activity is to begin to understand some of the issues and options you have to ensure a safe use of a wiki.

Go to this resource on e-safety.

What would you do as a teacher to enhance the safe use of wikis?

Note down your answers and then look at the discussion that follows.

Discussion

If using a wiki within a school, it is critical that its use is reflected in the school acceptable use policy (AUP). You might want to refer to your schools AUP. What does it say about the use of self-authoring / collaboration tools such as wikis? Does it need to be amended in light of this activity? If your school doesn't have an AUP you might want to download AUPs in Context: Establishing Safe and Responsible Online Behaviours. This publication provides a number of prompts and action points to help schools to develop effective AUPs

When you’re creating a wiki there are usually options to password protect it, to restrict access to specified users, or to make some areas public. There is always a facility to look at the history of changes to content and to see who has made those changes. These facilities should be referred to by the AUP.

A Wiki Warranty can also be used within the class to provide a focus and to reinforce e-safety using wikis. This example can be modified for use within your class or school.

Another merging issue is the ethical use of wikis and the ability for co-authors to easily overwrite or delete the contributions of others. Vandalism or An Accidental Overwrite: A Wiki Warning by Oliver Dreon Jr. (2008) is an interesting example of what can happen.

Safety tips when using wikis:

• Educating pupils that they are responsible for any anything they may write or edit is a good starting point for using wikis safely and ethically.
• Anyone can edit any page on wiki. They can also see what anyone else has written on a wiki – but only if they have been given permission. Think about what permissions users need.
• When you creating a wiki there are usually the options to password protect it, to restrict access to specified users, or to make some areas public.
• There is always a facility to look at the history of changes to content and to see who has made those changes.
• Remind pupils not to include personal information about themselves (including photographs), other pupils, staff or family members that can allow someone to be identified or located geographically.

Want to find out more? (Optional)

Here are some useful websites about e-safety. These examples do not refer specifically to wikis but they do provide a useful introduction to e-safety and many of the issues that schools need to consider.

This programme, based at Parkwood Primary School in Bradford, demonstrates five key messages which underpin its whole school approach to e-safety.

Know IT All provides a suite of education resources designed to help educate parents, teachers and young people about safe and positive use of the internet.

Thinkuknow is a website about e-safety for pupils, teachers and parents. You’ll find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it. There are games and resources you can use in the classroom.

Digital Citizenship website is about building safe spaces and communities and how to manage personal information. It provides resources and games for classroom use. The cyberbullying resources are particularly useful.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) delivers a multi-agency service dedicated to tackling the exploitation of children. This website provides guidance for teachers, caregivers and professionals.

Teacher voice

“… we've been thinking about e-safety quite a lot at my school. We had an e-safety week, where children took part in a wide range of activities. I also ran a meeting for parents … it really raised their awareness of the issues. One of the sites I showed to the parents was Think U Know. …It uses the excellent Cybercafe resources, which I've been using for many years as part of my Internet Safety lessons at the start of each year”.

Mark Warner, primary class teacher in Kent.

You can read more here about e-safety and the GlobalDover Wiki Project (2008). This is an optional activity.

End of discussion

End of activity.

Exploring wikis

Wikis are gaining popularity with teachers who recognise its power as a creative and collaborative tool. Teachers are exploring ways of integrating them into their teaching and learning. Some are sharing examples of pupil work, others are encouraging pupils to contribute to a class wiki.

Wikis are already being used extensively in education, though often for reading rather than writing. Wikipedia is often used as a source of information, for example, and has a specific schools section organised by the subjects of the National Curriculum.

Activity 4 gives you a chance to explore some examples of how teachers and school advisers are using wikis. However, as pointed out in the e-safety section, teachers may decide to hide from view what their classes are doing so the best uses may well be hidden!

Activity 4 Field trip

1 hour (online) during weeks one and two of the course for each part of the activity (2 hours total)

The objectives of this course activity are to:

• look at some existing wikis that are used for learning and teaching
• share thoughts about how they are being used.

4.1 Looking at existing wikis Table 2 shows several examples of the use of wikis in primary schools. Go to the examples by clicking on the links. Reflect on how they are being used to enhance learning and teaching and on the way in which they are presented and structured.

Table 2

Reminder

Have you read and responded to introductions posted at the beginning of the course?

4.2 Discussing with others. Look at one or two of the examples above and reflect on how each of these have been set up and how they might be used. Go to the forum and discuss them with the other course members. The forum contains more specific guidance on the things to look for and think about. You should expect to go back to the forum at least three times to take part in the discussion.

End of activity.

Teacher Voice

“The tasks are challenge-based learning; the pupils are given experiments to do and they've got to decide how to record them and then post them to the wiki. Some of them make PowerPoints and put them into SlideShare so they can be viewed on the web. Some of them record on audio, some of them record on video." It helps, he says, to motivate children who are daunted by the idea of writing a whole report. John Johnston, class teacher, Sandaig Primary School (2008).

This extract was taken from Primary Pioneers.

Thinking about structure

Wikis, like any other website can have different structures to suit different contexts. These range from a single web page to a series of linked web pages both of which can be edited by individuals or groups of people.

The structure of any wiki used in a learning context may well be derived from the way in which learning is structured in classroomswith groups and tasks represented by different wiki pages. On the other hand the use of a wiki allows for learning and sharing to go on over time, not constrained by ‘the lesson or session’, and to go on over space not constrained by the physical buildings.

The structure of any wiki used in a learning context may well be derived from the way in which learning is structured in classrooms – using groups and tasks to be represented on pages for example. On the other hand the use of a wiki allows for learning and sharing to go on over time, not constrained by ‘the lesson or session’, and to go on over space not strained by the physical buildings.

Figure 1 Hierarchical, with a main menu page, all can edit any page. Pages maybe organised by activity, topic etc.

Figure 2 Matrix, all pages link to each other, anyone can edit all pages. Maybe one page per activity, topic etc.

Figure 3 Groups, with a menu page, only those in the group can edit the group’s pages

Figure 4 Groups, with a menu page, only those in the group can edit the group’s pages. Individual pupils in their groups have their own pages, with perhaps some where only a single pupil can edit.

By looking at other examples of wikis and seeing what other people are doing and thinking about how to use wikis, you will be able to generate ideas about how you might structure and use a wiki to suit your own context.