Wiki love – a reflection

What I knew

The little bit that I knew of wikis (thanks to this great video recommended by the super-savvy Lyn Giebels) suggested that wikis are an accountable form of sharing information and contributing to an idea. I liked the fact that they are dynamic. I had a sense that because of the evolving nature of information on a wiki, it represented the most up-to-date school of thought on an issue or idea. They appeared to be a very democratic way of sharing ideas and information (when structured properly) because all class members can contribute as long as they have access to the internet.


What I wanted to know

Typical of me with a new piece of technology, I wanted reassurance that a wiki was reasonably simple to use in its most basic format. I remembered times in my own education when the excitement of a new piece of technology overtook the learning process or the content knowledge (the perfect example of where too much emphasis on “TK” inhibits the delicate TPACK balance).

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org


What I’ve learned

I learned very quickly that, indeed, engaging in a wiki is a very simple process, where it’s easy to forget that you’re not just working in your own word document, adding information around the existing text. Contributing to the mobile phones wiki was as simple as hitting edit, making your changes and then pressing save.

For the task to be effective from a pedagogical and content perspective, I can see that the scaffolding is really important. A blank sheet of paper, whilst potentially giving great breadth to the ideas people can contribute, could create a confusing mix of ideas or information, where little cohesive value can be drawn from the wiki. The question posed by Wendy and then scaffolded using de Bono’s six thinking hats provided the perfect mix of direction and flexibility for people’s ideas to be varied, but working towards a cohesive, reasoned argument.

There is a risk of over-writing somebody else’s text but with care, this risk would be minimised. To me the trade-off of being able to have everybody contribute is well worth small, and reversible, impacts of an accidental deletion.

The other thing I learned in the mobile phones wiki is the strange sense of achievement you experience from having engaged in a live document. You do feel like you’re part of something bigger when contributing to a wiki online.

What I now want to know

There were a couple of instances where people’s contributions weren’t visible on the Wiki after they had pressed “save”. As discussion proceeded it became obvious that if somebody else was posting at the same time, one person’s changes may not appear or be recorded. I am interested to know whether this is a product of the simple wiki we’re using or a universal issue?

Something I wanted to know (and 12 seconds after emailing Wendy Fasso, I received a positive response) is whether a wiki can be private so only certain people can view or add info? Wendy’s response was that, yes, until the wiki is published (the $1 process) it is, by default, private. And, better than that, you can invite five people to be members of it in that time too (W Fasso, personal communication, 19 March 2013).

I can see so many applications for a wiki in the learning environment but also in a small business environment. Now my task is just to convince three farmers that the daily work plan should be managed on a wiki….

 

 

A wiki for unfamiliar words

I am using Nanberry: Black Brother White for my literacy assignment and from time to time there are words or phrases in the text that could be unfamiliar to students (and indeed me!).

I would use a class wiki so that students, especially during home reading, could record the words that are unfamiliar either for review the next day in class or for collaborative learning, where other students can log in and offer their explanation or definition of a word (either from prior knowledge or research).

By the end of the book, the wiki will be a glossary of terms for future use, or maybe to share with other readers.

Post-button-o-phobia

I am both fascinated and frustrated by my confidence levels at this stage of study. I long for the interaction of the online tutes and I recognise how fortunate that I am that aside from a couple of hungry sheep or a bubbling saucepan, I have few things prohibiting me from participating in our tutorials. I realise this is not the case for so many other students.

I am enjoying the reading, not sure if I’m absorbing information the right way yet, but the concepts engage me. I’ve started a “buzzwords” A3 page that I add all of the new terms and concepts to so they’re all in one place – perhaps this could become a wiki? I know “buzzwords” sounds temporary and flippant, but I’m yet to think of another term that describes this new metalanguage.

But ask me to post something on a forum and I am useless. I faff around, re-read everybody else’s and then put something half-hearted up, that barely touches the sides of what is going on inside my head. Why do I find the forums so alienating? Am I overwhelmed by the existing responses? Why the attack of confidence now? How does this translate into a classroom environment?

This is the one area where I think I was a better student a decade and a bit ago. Because I hadn’t been beaten around the head by CEOs who, often and quite rightly, want changes to what I’ve written.

As I am from a background of professional communication, in my current role I normally write, discuss, re-write, provide a draft to a senior executive, discuss the changes, often get a legal opinion, then finally push send or publish. And that’s how my day goes. That’s why I pay for professional indemnity insurance, because often the consequences of my writing can have serious implications.

So, what a foreign experience this is, being able to put something up for the world to see that is reflective, questioning, a bit self-indulgent and potentially ..*cough*… not signed off by four other people.

Awareness is the first step when it comes to dealing with my strange phobia. And certainly a certain lecturer’s capital-lettered, exclamation marked encouragement helps. When I sent a very “sorry, hi, sorry, I’m not sure where this fits in but it’s kind of interesting” email, her immediate response was “SHARE!!!!!” So I did, and I am, and hopefully somewhere along the way, it will become natural. And then my students will reap the rewards of a safe, creative and connected learning environment.

Foundations of Success and Wellbeing - from a real live school!

I was lucky to be able to attend our local school to see the culmination of a day-long performing arts workshop last week. A small school that’s big on heart, the ever-enthusiastic principal had organised for parents and community members to attend the last 45 minutes of the day so the students could perform the ballet they had learned. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the Prep – year twos performed the baptism scene from the Nutcracker. The kids were as proud as punch of their new skills.

What brought it all home for me from a learning and teaching perspective, was the wrap-up that the principal did at the end of the performance. The principal seamlessly tied in all of the school’s Foundations of Success and Wellbeing (in this instance referred to as “Keys to Success”) asking the students for examples where, during their day, they had had to demonstrate confidence, resilience, persistence, organisation and getting along. For each foundation, or positive habit, the kids were able to identify where they had used the dimension to overcome shyness, uncertainty, or nervousness about the new skill, to be successful in their performance. By explicitly referring back to these foundations, the Principal is reinforcing the positive habits, and the students, even at Prep level were clearly engaging in the concepts. I loved her explanation of confidence, where you “just have to take a deep breath and give it a go!” Oh how much we could learn from this in our daily lives ; )

Here is a link for the You Can Do It! education resource that outlines the five "Keys to Success". There are some beautiful concepts in this document – have a look at "Howbadzzat?”. It’s an index for teaching resilience and encouraging students not to "make mountains out of molehills" (Bernard, 2013).