Reflection+on+Creating+a+Wiki

 Creating a Wiki, afforded me the opportunity to experience a Web 2.0 tool that was much more interactive than the common blog. A wiki is a place where people can express their thoughts and ideas anytime and receive feedback from other members of their community. It is not as polished in appearance as a but, can be viewed as a living document (Warlick, 2007). Wikis can be used as a communication tool between teachers, administrators, board members, parents, and students. School policies, assignments, curriculum, and more can be adjusted and altered to come to a community consensus about what is needed in the school.You could utilize it as an educational tool to work with students on a KWL chart, a book summary and analysis, a country profile, or posting a math problem and having other students find their mistakes. Students could make a living word wall for terms they are learning in class using their own definitions, pictures, drawings, and video or audio clips to come to an understanding or to show their understanding.

A Wiki allows teachers and students to incorporate linguistic, visual, and auditory techniques from the physical classroom into one location that is accessible from any location with internet access. The word wall that was previously trapped on the classroom wall is now available to the students with multiple examples and definitions where ever they are. Such a tool is essential for students of all learning styles, ability levels, and English language learners. It also expands the examples beyond the basic picture, and allows the inclusion of video and audio files, which moves it past the traditional word wall. In addition to offering a forum for policy discussion and educational activities, a wiki can facilitate an online learning community since people can contribute at their own pace, and when an idea strikes them rather than in a limited amount of time. Many people prefer to work on their own time table, and a wiki allows people to mull ideas over at their own pace. It can also increase honesty in contributions, as ideas can be submitted anonymously. The counter point to that is there is an increase amount of distractions from outside factors. There is also a risk of increased misunderstandings due to lack of body language and tone of voice which assist in meaning.

I think one of the biggest challenges is getting people to utilize the tool. They may be reluctant to sign up, or may not check the site or participate in updating the information. A wiki takes more self-motivation to participate in than a face-to-face meeting. For those not use to interacting online there will be a learning curve, and it is possible that site traffic will build slowly over time. If this process takes too long, then the conversation will not be productive and may lose the early participants. As an administrator, you can make participation mandatory, but this runs the risk of causing resentment of the new tool. A compromise position would be to start with volunteers, and distribute a summary of the gains made to the rest of the staff. This could motivate them to join in several ways: they want to have a say in the discussion or they begin to see it as a useful and productive enterprise. 