USING WIKIS IN LITERACY TO ENGAGE

STUDENTS IN TEXT STUDIESShireen Richardson 201512523

Masters of EducationUnit EEL702

Participants will learn:

What a wiki is Reasons for using a wiki in literacy Ways in which wikis can engage students How to set up and use a wiki for student

engagement in text study Applications for wikis in text studies How to overcome barriers (real or

perceived) How to assess student wikis

What is a Wiki?

A web page that can be easily edited

One of many freely available Web 2.0 tools

It can be contributed to by its creator and any number of approved members

‘Wikipedia’ is an example of a wiki!

Features of a Wiki Editable by more than one person

Control of design, page structure, layout, text, visuals

Can easily incorporate a range of multimedia, text, hyperlinks, audio and visual media

Asynchronous

A range of privacy settings

User/editor history is available for each page

Discussion forums are available for each page

'wiki users can edit from within any browser - specialised knowledge of a web-composing program...is not necessary' (Lundin 2008)

I have found the best feature of the wiki to be its nature as a collaborative creative space, and particularly, a space where students can work together primarily as co-authors by collecting pieces of a project into a coherent whole.

(Harding 2007, p. 135)

Available WikisWikispaces http://wikispaces.com/

WetPaint http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/

Moodle http://moodle.com/

TiddlyWiki http://www.tiddlywiki.com/

PBWiki http://pbworks.com/

WikEd http://www.horde.org/wicked/

For an extensive comparative list of over a hundred available wikis, visit:

http://www.wikimatrix.org/

Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Providing students with skills for the

21st century

Greater depth and breadth of learning in English

Extending students’ existing ICT experience

Increased self esteem

Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Scaffolding learning

Varying levels of teacher control

Freedom of expression, representation, negotiation and choice

Collaboration can be easily monitored

Why Use Wikis in Literacy? Easy to use for both teachers and

students

Audience of peers for advice and criticism (Lundin 2008, Tarasiuk 2010)

Increased student engagement

Wikis and Engagement

What is engagement?

Take a moment to discuss your definition with the person next to you.

Wikis and Engagement Engagement relates to making connections

with the activity, connecting with other students, experiencing fun and excitement; as a result, deep learning occurs.

Engagement occurs with variety, student choice and constantly changing or increasing challenges.

Wikis and Engagement

“Student engagement is a rendezvous between learning and the digital tools and techniques that excite students.” (Educause 2009)

Wikis and Engagement Research Findings:

Increased student engagement

(Harding 2007, Luce-Kapler 2007, Morgan & Smith 2008, Wetzel 2008)

Increased student involvement, understanding and results (Gibbons 2010)

Students working in ‘own time’ (Gibbons 2010, Tarasiuk 2010))

Students enjoyed working with wikis (Mak & Coniam 2008)

Wikis and Engagement Research Findings:

Students found the wiki project fun and engaging, they

enjoyed the books they read...

I knew the students enjoyed the wiki after the project

was over because many of them continued using it for

other writing assignments. And just recently, I received

an email from one of the students I no longer have in

class asking for the name of our wiki website because

she wanted to use the format again for a project in

another class. (Tharp 2010)

Chinese Cinderella Project

How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the Chinese Cinderella Project

1. Signed up for a wikispaces account

2. Set up accounts for student wiki groups

3. Set up the Chinese Cinderella task wiki: http://chinesecinderellahy.wikispaces.com/

4. Introduced students to wikis

How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the Chinese Cinderella Project

5. Progressively introduced tools and skills

6. Established mini deadlines along the way

7. Set expectations and deadlines regarding the use of the discussion forum

Useful links for ‘How To...’

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour

http://help.wikispaces.com/

http://usingwikisfortextstudies.wikispaces.com/

Examples of Text Study Applications

Book Club

Literature Circles

Whole Class Text Study

‘Character’ Wiki

Case Study: Year 7 Girls‘Chinese Cinderella’

(click below)

Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)

Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)

Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)

Student Responses to ‘Chinese Cinderella’ (click below)

Other Examples of Wikis used for Text Studies

‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar: (McGlashan, L, Waldron, R & Purcell, S, 2008)

Click above to access link

Other Examples of Wikis used for Text Studies continued

Click above to access link

Perceived Barriers

1. No time to set up a wiki project

2. Wikis will be difficult or more time consuming to assess

3. I don’t have the technical ability for such a project, nor do my students

Perceived Barriers

4. Some students might not contribute at all, or might contribute unequally

5. Some students might become upset because they believe they are doing more than their fair share of the work

Perceived Barriers

6. My students’ responses are inadequate and not up to expectations

7. My students are not participating in the page discussions or are not participating in an acceptable manner

Perceived Barriers

8. I am concerned that my students with special educational needs will not be able to benefit from this activity

9. One of my student groups has had a major falling out and the students can no longer work together

Perceived Barriers

10. The wiki does not appear to be working

11. My students are disputing my assessment of their contribution to the wiki

12. Students are perpetually leaving tasks until the last minute – therefore, not much collaboration or discussion is taking place

Remember:

‘Just because a teacher builds a Wiki, does not mean that it will automatically engage students in learning.’

‘Planning for integration of Wikis requires rethinking teaching strategies and techniques to take advantage of their full potential.’ (Wetzel 2009)

How to assess a wiki

The wiki overall Group tasks Individual tasks Individual contribution to the wiki (collaboration) Individual contribution to wiki discussions

(collaboration)

Year 7 & 8 Wiki Assessment Template:http://usingwikisfornovelstudies.wikispaces.com/Assessing+a+wiki

Several components of a wiki need to be assessed:

Conclusions A wiki is a valuable tool in the classroom for

students to respond to text

Students enjoy using wikis

When used effectively, students are engaged

A wiki is not difficult to learn or use It is essential students use technology in

classes in order to prepare them for the world in which they live

Thank you for your participation

Please stay and ‘PLAY’ with a wiki by:

Working through the steps detailed in the handout

Having a go in the wiki ‘sandbox’

Exploring some of the wikis listed in the handout

Please complete the supplied feedback form

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Educause 2005, '7 Things you should know about...Wikis', Educause Learning Initiative, retrieved 20/08/2010, <www.educause.edu/eli>.

Educause 2009, Student Engagement, Volume 32, Number 4, 2009

References continued

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References continued

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References continued

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References continued

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References continued

Wetzel, D 2009, '5 Strategies for Using Wikis in the Classroom: Engaging Students in Technology Projects that Support Learning', Suite 101.com, retrieved 30/08/2010, <http://www.suite101.com/content/5-strategies-for-using-wikis-in-the-classroom-a124331>.

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References continued