October 13: wikis

I have used wikis in my classroom at a very introductory level. I have syllabi posted, links, expectations, etc., and I have used it for online literature discussions as a differentiated way for students across classes and teams to have a richer discussion than they could with me or with only one other student in their class. I required students to post a minimum of 3 high-level questions using Blooms Taxonomy, one discussion topic per chapter, and 2-3 vocabulary words per chapter. Students were able to create their own novel dictionary with vocabulary words, have discussions which were pertinent to them, and get their questions answered or challenge others.

I’d like to repeat this process with a larger group, 143 students and with multiple books related to the theme of prejudice. I’d also like to add an online roleplay where students assume the role of a character from the book and/or outside fictitious character and discuss a specific question from their point of view. I found our course’s use of this powerful and think my students could gain a great deal from stepping into another’s shoes/POV.

I’d also like to have students keep a blog with post-discussion reflection that I could subscribe to.

Another wiki use would be to discuss a controversial topic and be required to take sides and post one’s links to support their opinion with research. This would be a great way to bridge understanding of rebuttal concept and help students to write a collaborative research paper before they are expected to write one of their own.