As we have seen in previous posts, the Net Generation students use the Internet and many online tools as a learning aid, and they are collaborative learners. Another online collaboration tool that can be used with Net Generation Students is a wiki. Christy shared a link with us to the Flat Classroom Project wiki, where students across the globe collaborate and share information on one site or wiki.
A wiki is simply a collaborative website which users can edit or contribute to as long as they have editing access. A teacher or group of students can easily set up a wiki on a number of sites, such as WetPaint, PbWiki, and Wikispaces, that offer free space to build educational wikis. A wiki can be kept private and only invited users can have viewing and editing access. Students can use the wiki to create pages or sections on specific topics and subjects they are studying. They can also use the wiki as a collaborative tool for sharing links and resources or even planning and writing out papers.
Teachers and students are finding many creative ways to use wikis to enrich their teaching and learning. Here are several examples of teachers who are using wikis both with their students and as part of their own professional development:
| Wiki Link | Subject | Description |
| Chemistry with Mr. Olson | Chemistry | This classroom has built a wiki around all the chemical elements in a periodic table. Teach element has it’s own page with a profile including: atomic structure, electrons, properties, compounds, history, etc. Students are encouraged to post images and videos to support content. |
| English Place | English Literature | Students post their work and informational reports to the wiki. They provide links to information and sources directly in the text of their pages. |
| Mr. Armstrong’s US History Wiki | US History | This wiki links to a history class web page, blog and podcast. Mr. Armstrong uses the wiki to post assignments, unit objectives and reading pages. |
| Classroom Google Earth | All Disciplines | A sharing resource for teachers who share how they are using GoogleEarth in their classrooms. |
| History Happening | Asian History | The Shanghai American school 9th grade class explores Asian history. |
I had a great time exploring these wikis. I especially enjoyed “Chemistry with Mr. Olsen.” Each student was assigned an element and the task of creating a profile page for each element. This is a great way to get students involved in learning content by building it. The profile page on Sodium is particularly descriptive.
“History Happening” provides another terrific example of how students can work collaboratively to build content. The students use the wiki to record everything they are learning about China including geography, their own photos of China, and a forum discussion. I noticed on some pages such as a section on the rise of civilization in China, that the students were assigned different colors so that their changes could be visible to all team members. As I read through this site, I could see how the wiki actually helped personalize learning for many of the student contributors.
One of the keys to a wiki’s success as educational and collaboration tool is that the content is so easy to edit. You don’t need special software or tools, and all changes are recorded in version control. Thus, if you make mistakes you can easily revert to an earlier version. The ease of use is well demonstrated in the video “Wikis in Plain English.”
Can you think of more ways to use wikis to collaborate with your family, teams or workgroups?
Places to get free wikis:
[...] Using Wikis with Net Generation Students [...]
[...] that Net Gen students are comfortable with. Many of the course assignments are completed in a wiki. In these assignments, the participants share content with each other or develop content together [...]