Why Wikis?

Reynard, R. (2009). Why Wikis? Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/02/04/Why-Wikis.aspx.

As the title suggests, this article is about why wikis are useful tools in our classrooms. The article focuses on three main idea: Constructed Knowledge, Collaborative Writing, and Public Ideas. Constructed Knowledge is about moving beyond the memorization of facts, and actually showing students how to use those facts to construct an argument. Without meaning, facts are boring and useless. The interactive nature of wikis helps students construct knowledge. Collaborative Writing is also a big part of wikis. It allows groups to split up writing tasks and come up with group goals. Everyone works in their groups on specific tasks, allowing each student to bring their own unique strengths to the table. Public Ideas decreases the feel of private ownership that may come from writing an essay alone. Others can edit the wiki and improve on its content, making the ideas no longer private, but shared and mutually agreed upon. The author says that this encourages discovery.

I plan to use wikis in my future classes. I think ideas like the ones in this article will definitely be helpful to me in planning how I want to use them. Obviously collaborative writing is something that a wiki makes very easy. I would have to plan for my students to work in groups, and give them time to brainstorm and organize. I would also have to make the public nature of their ideas clear. I would show them that if someone else edits their wiki entry, it is not a personal attack but rather an advancement of knowledge. I think using wikis well can be very beneficial for students, and can allow them to learn in new ways.