Week 3 - Reflection

Unfortunately, for me I think that a wiki doesn’t have a use in a second grade classroom like mine. It requires a little more technical skill and knowledge than my students may have. They know how to use a computer, but there are rules and constraint necessary for effective classroom use of a wiki, and I don’t think my students would be able to do it. I like the idea of a wiki, but it seemed like it would be a difficult thing to get going. It may take a lot of work to get all of the content into the pages that you need.

I could think of a few different ways to use a wiki in the classroom. The first idea I had was a classroom powered collection of notes for the class. Everyone could contribute a little bit of their notes so that the class is able to come up with a sort of “master” set of notes that everyone could refer to and find the information that they need. The downside of this is that some members may do more work than others, and it may cause some students to not pull their own weight.

The next idea I had was very similar to the note idea, but would instead be a study guide that the classroom puts together. I could provide them with the study questions, and they could work together to answer all of the questions thoroughly. Often, you will find that some students are strong with some areas of the content and weak in others, and this would give them the ability to build on each other’s knowledge.

The last idea I had would only work for an upper-elementary class, possibly in the 4-6^th grade range. I would start a story for the class, and everyone can add a few lines. They add their own creativity and personality to the story. Sometimes, if the student is under pressure in class, they may hit a writer’s block and may not produce the same quality of work compared to having the time and space to sit down at home and write their part of the story.

I think that wikis have a lot of potential for many classroom situations, it is just that you have to find a group of students who are willing and able to contribute to the project.