My first impression of a wiki is that it's a fantastic tool for collaborative learning. I think this forum is mostly reflective of constructivsm - it is a resource that encourages sharing of ideas and it is based on social interaction to help students to move beyond the 'zone of proximal development'. The De-Bono's Hats scaffold encouraged students to think about different perspectives on the topic, promoting higher-order thinking.
Benefits of the wiki - everyone has a voice and every voice is represented equally. In a school setting, students may feel more comfortable expressing an opinion or contributing ideas toward this type of forum, compared to speaking out in class.
Drawbacks - anyone can contribute anything they want. There's plenty of room for misuse of the resource to post potentially harmful material. Also, information added to the wiki doesn't have to be referenced or come from a reliable source. Facts and figures presented on a wiki could be totally incaccurate. This is often the case with sources such as Wikipedia.
I think wikis would make a great tool for use in the classroom, when monitored and controlled carefully.
Image source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/next/life-the-universe-and-wiki/2005/09/19/1126981972225.html
No comments:
Post a Comment