Activity 10.1 - Part 1 - Wikis and second language learning: What's all the fuss?

Wikis and second language learning: What's all the fuss?

There is currently a lot of interest in wikis for educational purposes. What is a wiki? Is this interest valid? What is all the excitement about? A review of current literature suggests the following general reasons for this interest and its relevance to students.

A wiki is essentially a website that

• is easy to create, easy to author, easy to use (like an online virtual word processor) .. thus students of almost any age can help build
• supports dynamic content; this can come in many different digital forms (not just text but pictures, slide shows, audio and video as well) all of which can be added, arranged, edited, reviewed and commented upon by some, any, or all students ..
• promotes reflection, review and revision of one's work; ..individual students can find, filter and assemble digital content that reflects their interest, and understanding of a class assignment .. and review, revise it if their ideas or understanding of concepts change as a result of interactions with their peers
• promotes collaboration with peers .. thus students can not only share their own understanding of a project but review the work of their peers to then learn from one another, negotiate understanding, collectively construct meaning and then work as a group to collate this work and then present it as a finished group presentation
• promotes tracking of development .. students can view a history of the wiki's revisions to track what revisions were made, when and by whom .. to make comparisons between iterations .. and track their development / learning
• is free and accessibile 24/7 .. thus students can work individually or as groups at home or at college
• can be made available to a real audience .. thus students can opt to present their finished presentations so that they can be shared with a real audience whether that be the class, the school, the region, the world AND invite that audience's reviews and comments

(video)


A TV like commercial for why an educator might want to use a wiki. (alwaygolf, 2007)
Duration - 1:12 min

Sources

alwaygolf (2007) ‘Teaching with WIKI’, YouTube, [online] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=mdOKUeT0O-o (Accessed 15 January 2009).