"Negotiating and Creating Truth"
I am entirely intrigued by the idea of wikis. Having used Wikipedia numerous times myself to research online, I am a bit cautious about using it in the classroom. While needing to ensure privacy and other safety precautions is inherent, it also seems that the idea of ownership and validation through publication would be skewed a bit for both parties involved.
As Will says in his book: "Every day, thousands of people who have no connection to one another engage in the purposeful work of negotiating and creating truth" (62).
That is great in theory, but in a classroom where effort and application are measured by who does what work, the community effort challenges the traditional ideas of grades and the whole of the grading process.
How, for example, would using wikis in a literature classroom, where students are reading and writing creatively, give them an advantage over group discussion? I can definitely see the use of blogs, but wikis seem to be less of a tool and more of a reference. Or, would it suffice to say that wikis will eventually replace in-class discussion with the availability of more technology in homes?
It also seems interesting when considering ownership when asking about authorship and plagarism. Just because a student submits ideas and pages of information onto the wiki, that doesn't mean it was his work...I know, the same goes for papers and essays and such, but...it would seem so EASY to forge or borrow ideas from someone else, pass it off as his own, and then receive a grade for participation without repercussions. After all, how can you prove it was his work or someone else's?!
Too many questions.
I am entirely intrigued by the idea of wikis. Having used Wikipedia numerous times myself to research online, I am a bit cautious about using it in the classroom. While needing to ensure privacy and other safety precautions is inherent, it also seems that the idea of ownership and validation through publication would be skewed a bit for both parties involved.
As Will says in his book: "Every day, thousands of people who have no connection to one another engage in the purposeful work of negotiating and creating truth" (62).
That is great in theory, but in a classroom where effort and application are measured by who does what work, the community effort challenges the traditional ideas of grades and the whole of the grading process.
How, for example, would using wikis in a literature classroom, where students are reading and writing creatively, give them an advantage over group discussion? I can definitely see the use of blogs, but wikis seem to be less of a tool and more of a reference. Or, would it suffice to say that wikis will eventually replace in-class discussion with the availability of more technology in homes?
It also seems interesting when considering ownership when asking about authorship and plagarism. Just because a student submits ideas and pages of information onto the wiki, that doesn't mean it was his work...I know, the same goes for papers and essays and such, but...it would seem so EASY to forge or borrow ideas from someone else, pass it off as his own, and then receive a grade for participation without repercussions. After all, how can you prove it was his work or someone else's?!
Too many questions.
posted by Dawn Larson | 12:51 PM
3 Comments:
Maybe for now wiki's should be utilized as a form for creativity and fun rather than a forum for students to try and be experts. That latter, as you point out, opens up a can of worms whereas the former might be more manageable. I.E. rather than have the students wiki about John Irving have them wiki about their cheerleading team. Of course, such a project wouldn't survive on real wikipedia....
Oh well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading
!!!! KES
Now did I need code to make that link active?? In the past that hasn't been necessary on the comment function. KES
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