What+is+Wiki?

=**What Is “Wiki”?**=

1. Introduction
The Tech Terms dictionary defines a wiki as, “A Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is theWikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit. The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase, "wiki wiki," which means "super fast." (http://www.techterms.com/definition/wiki, 2011) The first wiki was created by Ward Cunnigham in 1995 in Portland, Oregon. I have not yet used wikis directly in my classroom this year but I have used them in the past to organize volunteers, carpools and fundraisers for my competitive indoor winter color guards. Parents would sign into the wiki and sign up for various volunteer positions and would let each other know what competitions they can drive to and how many kids they could take with them.

2. Impact on Education
Even now, in 2011, group work in the classroom still takes the form of Posters, Dioramas, and the occasional PowerPoint Presentation. With the introduction of wikis in the classroom our students will learn how to collaborate with their classmates with modern tools in a way that will serve them as they grow into adults and head to college. One of the advantages to using this kind of technology is that students can work on collaborative projects both inside and outside of school and not merely during the 45-55 minutes the students are in their class that day. Ideas for wiki projects could include, “book report wikis, “what-I-did-this-summer” wikis, brainstorming wikis, poetry wikis, notes-from-class wikis, sixth-grade wikis, history-of-the-school or –community wikis, formula wikis, wikis for individual countries they might be studying, political party wikis, exercise wikis. . .” (Richardson, 2009) The applications are limitless once students know how to utilize a wiki in their learning.

3. Issues and Implications
I feel that the biggest issue slowing down increased use of wikis in the classroom, at least at my school, is the over the top firewalls that are in place on all student computers. Many districts are so afraid of what our children could be exposed to that they shelter then from just about everything under the sun. There are also quite a few educators out there who will not acknowledge wikis, Wikipedia specifically, as reliable reference sources. This has the potential implication of further slowing down the development of wikis in education. Another issue is the ability of authors to erase information or vandalize a wiki by adding irrelevant text. The good news about this issue is that most wikis require authors to join the wiki and will keep a running record of who makes changes and when they were made.

4. The future
Wikis have great potential for collaboration among students. On a large scale educators are slow to change especially when it comes to implementing technology in their teaching. It will be very important for teachers, administrators and school boards alike to understand the value of using wikis in the classroom as well as the importance of having more computers available for students to use so that this kind of innovation can actually make its way into our students’ learning. As I was doing some reading on wikis this week I ran across a cute little prayer that I found quite appropriate for this topic. “//Please grant me the serenity to accept the pages I cannot edit,// //The courage to edit the pages I can,// //And the wisdom to know the difference.” -The Wiki Prayer// (Richardson, 2009)

5. Resources used for this assignment.
Tech Terms Computer Dictionary. (@http://www.techterms.com/definition/wiki) Webopedia. (@http://www.webopedia.com/index.php/TERM/W/wiki.html) Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.