Shireen Richardson 201512523
Masters of Education
Unit EEL702
Participants will learn:
What a wiki is
 Reasons for using a wiki in literacy
 Ways in which wikis can engage students
 How to set up and use a wiki for student
engagement in text study
 Applications for wikis in text studies
 How to overcome barriers (real or
perceived)
 How to assess student wikis

What is a Wiki?

A web page that can be easily edited

One of many freely available Web 2.0
tools

It can be contributed to by its creator
and any number of approved members

‘Wikipedia’ is an example of a wiki!
Features of a Wiki

Editable by more than one person

Control of design, page structure, layout, text, visuals

Can easily incorporate a range of multimedia, text,
hyperlinks, audio and visual media

Asynchronous

A range of privacy settings

User/editor history is available for each page

Discussion forums are available for each page

'wiki users can edit from within any browser specialised knowledge of a web-composing
program...is not necessary' (Lundin 2008)
I have found the best feature of the wiki to be
its nature as a collaborative creative space,
and particularly, a space where students can
work together primarily as co-authors by
collecting pieces of a project into a coherent
whole.
(Harding 2007, p. 135)
Available Wikis
Wikispaces http://wikispaces.com/
WetPaint http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/
Moodle http://moodle.com/
TiddlyWiki http://www.tiddlywiki.com/
PBWiki http://pbworks.com/
WikEd http://www.horde.org/wicked/
For an extensive comparative list of over a
hundred available wikis, visit:
http://www.wikimatrix.org/
Why Use Wikis in Literacy?

Providing students with skills for the
21st century

Greater depth and breadth of learning
in English

Extending students’ existing ICT
experience

Increased self esteem
Why Use Wikis in Literacy?

Scaffolding learning

Varying levels of teacher control

Freedom of expression, representation,
negotiation and choice

Collaboration can be easily monitored
Why Use Wikis in Literacy?

Easy to use for both teachers and
students

Audience of peers for advice and
criticism (Lundin 2008, Tarasiuk 2010)

Increased student engagement
Wikis and Engagement
What is engagement?
Take a moment to discuss your definition
with the person next to you.
Wikis and Engagement

Engagement relates to making connections
with the activity, connecting with other
students, experiencing fun and excitement;
as a result, deep learning occurs.

Engagement occurs with variety, student
choice and constantly changing or
increasing challenges.
Wikis and Engagement
“Student engagement is a rendezvous between
learning and the digital tools and techniques that
excite students.” (Educause 2009)
Wikis and Engagement
Research Findings:

Increased student engagement
(Harding 2007, Luce-Kapler 2007, Morgan & Smith 2008,
Wetzel 2008)

Increased student involvement, understanding
and results (Gibbons 2010)

Students working in ‘own time’
(Gibbons 2010, Tarasiuk 2010))

Students enjoyed working with wikis
(Mak & Coniam 2008)
Wikis and Engagement
Research Findings:
Students found the wiki project fun and engaging, they
enjoyed the books they read...
I knew the students enjoyed the wiki after the project
was over because many of them continued using it for
other writing assignments. And just recently, I received
an email from one of the students I no longer have in
class asking for the name of our wiki website because
she wanted to use the format again for a project in
another class. (Tharp 2010)
Chinese Cinderella Project
How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the
Chinese Cinderella Project
1.

Signed up for a wikispaces account
2. Set up accounts for student wiki groups
3. Set up the Chinese Cinderella task wiki:
http://chinesecinderellahy.wikispaces.com/
4. Introduced students to wikis
How I Set Up and Used a Wiki for the
Chinese Cinderella Project
5. Progressively introduced tools and skills
6. Established mini deadlines along the way
7. Set expectations and deadlines regarding the
use of the discussion forum
Useful links for ‘How To...’

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour

http://help.wikispaces.com/

http://usingwikisfortextstudies.wikispaces.com/
Examples of Text Study Applications

Book Club

Literature Circles

Whole Class Text Study

‘Character’ Wiki
Case Study: Year 7 Girls
‘Chinese Cinderella’
(click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese
Cinderella’ (click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese
Cinderella’ (click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese
Cinderella’ (click below)
Student Responses to ‘Chinese
Cinderella’ (click below)
Other Examples of Wikis used for
Text Studies
‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar:
(McGlashan, L, Waldron, R & Purcell, S, 2008)
Click above to access link
Other Examples of Wikis used for
Text Studies
continued
Click above to access link
Perceived Barriers
1.
No time to set up a wiki project
2.
Wikis will be difficult or more time
consuming to assess
3.
I don’t have the technical ability for such a
project, nor do my students
Perceived Barriers
4.
Some students might not contribute at all,
or might contribute unequally
5.
Some students might become upset
because they believe they are doing more
than their fair share of the work
Perceived Barriers
6.
My students’ responses are inadequate and
not up to expectations
7.
My students are not participating in the page
discussions or are not participating in an
acceptable manner
Perceived Barriers
8.
I am concerned that my students with
special educational needs will not be
able to benefit from this activity
9.
One of my student groups has had a
major falling out and the students can
no longer work together
Perceived Barriers
10.
The wiki does not appear to be working
11.
My students are disputing my assessment of
their contribution to the wiki
12.
Students are perpetually leaving tasks until
the last minute – therefore, not much
collaboration or discussion is taking place
Remember:
‘Just because a teacher builds a Wiki, does
not mean that it will automatically engage
students in learning.’
‘Planning for integration of Wikis requires
rethinking teaching strategies and techniques
to take advantage of their full potential.’
(Wetzel 2009)
How to assess a wiki
Several components of a wiki need to be assessed:

The wiki overall
 Group tasks
 Individual tasks
 Individual contribution to the wiki (collaboration)
 Individual contribution to wiki discussions
(collaboration)
Year 7 & 8 Wiki Assessment Template:
http://usingwikisfornovelstudies.wikispaces.com/Assessing+a+wiki
Conclusions

A wiki is a valuable tool in the classroom for
students to respond to text

Students enjoy using wikis

When used effectively, students are engaged

A wiki is not difficult to learn or use

It is essential students use technology in
classes in order to prepare them for the world
in which they live
Please stay and ‘PLAY’ with a wiki by:
 Working through the steps detailed in the
handout
 Having a go in the wiki ‘sandbox’
 Exploring some of the wikis listed in the
handout
Please complete the supplied feedback form
Thank you for your participation 
References
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