Wikis

Columbia creates fake 'wiki' sites to promote classroom discussion
http://media.www.dailyvidette.com/media/storage/paper420/news/2006/09/07/News/Columbia.Creates.Fake.wiki.Sites.To.Promote.Classroom.Discussion-2259691.shtml


Wikis, as represented by Wikipedia, are web pages that that can be edited collaboratively by a group of people remotely via the internet. Editing of web pages are quick and easy compared to web pages editing and publishing. . Wiki is either accessible to public to view and edit, or it can be private wiki where it acts as a platform for collaboration and information sharing for certain users. This means that the content of the website is owned by the community, not by individual. Every member has the same privilege to edit the content of the website. In addition, most wikis have people watching over the sites for instances of abuse and misinformation.

A study by the science journal Nature found Wikipedia was almost just as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica. Wikis are beginning to become popular and Columbia University has begun to use them in their classrooms. The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning has designed a number of wikis to facilitate conversation in classes.
Columbia’s Student Government Office is developing a wiki, called Project Athena. It would basically begin as a brochure and then would evolve into an insider's guide. Depending on how much inference their will be by the office, they say the site could eventually turn into a campus-wide study guide. This means, class notes could be posted, however, those involved in Project Athena would like it to be somewhere information on the University is shared and not on classes.

Vice president, Michael Diamond, of the junior class says that plans to pre-approve every post has been avoided. However, "Since it's so student-based and student opinion, we don't want it to be restrictive because that will make it slower," Diamond said. "We don't want people feeling like we have to edit it. We want as much information circulating as possible, but our foremost concern is that information is accurate."

Wiki technology relates to teaching and learning in a variety of ways. Wikis encourage group social interaction and collaboration. In addition, they support asynchronous communication allowing users to contribute at a time, and from a place that suits them. It’s easy to contribute and teachers can also comment or monitor progress and see the variety and level of student contributions.

In my opinion, I believe wikis are a great tool in the classroom. Columbia University is taking advantage of the opportunity and using it as an information filter and communal storage space where children, as a class, can share important knowledge that will help them as a group to move forward in what they know. I also believe learning is most effective when we, as students, are involved in the construction of our knowledge and wiki makes that possible. Wikis allows flexibility and ease of use. Who doesn’t like that?

I’m interested in what the future holds for wikis. Further research would be helpful to know from which grade it works best with and what grades should be avoided. Could it become something like youtube where users can upload videos? Will they be able to control false information? I would also like some research on what’s the most effective way to teach students in each grade level through the use of wikis.