wikis and blog reflection

Wikis and blog Reflection

                I put together a wiki for both of the classes I am teaching this trimester right before the school year started.  With my economics class the wiki is more of a class site where they can get assignments when they miss class, a way for parents to keep up with what is going on in class, and a place for announcements.  My sociology wiki has the same components as the economics wiki, but I have also added a discussion portion.  I decided to go with the online discussions for sociology because of the size of my classes.  I have two classes of 30 and high school students are not always the best about discussing in class and with 30 students it is easy for someone to sit back and allow others to talk for them or they may be too intimidated to speak up.  The online arena allows everyone the chance to speak and it forces those who would otherwise choose not to participate to have to add their voices as well. 

                After two weeks of school, it would appear that the economics wiki has been forgotten by most students.  I am not surprised by this and I think when it is needed it will serve its purpose, but at this point feel like a waste of my time to have made it and to maintain it.  At the same time I realize I am getting back out of it what I put into it; which really was not that much time and effort and as the year progresses I might change how that site is used.  I do know that when we get further into the trimester I will be using the site more in class with lessons that are being done.  In the past I have used the schools common folder to post papers and links for students to use in class.  The problem with that folder is that everyone has access and anyone can delete things or save over them.  If I use my wiki as the platform instead I will eliminate those problems.

                The sociology wiki has had a mixed response from students.  The students are nearing the end of their first discussion on the wiki and the results, academically, have been good.  I still have students who voice their discontent with using technology instead of just discussing in class, but the majority of the students have enjoyed the online discussion.  They feel that they have more of an opportunity to say the things they want to without feeling pressured by their classmates to hurry up or having to limit the depth of their response.   From a teacher stand point the quality of discussion is much better than it would be if we just had the discussion in one class period.  I do not give the students very much time to work on the discussion in class, but I have not had anyone come to me to express concern over having enough time or opportunity.     

                I have been toying with the idea of having my students create wikis for the fictitious cultures that they create when we discuss culture and socialization in sociology.  In the past I have had them make posters to display the information for their “culture”, but I think that the wiki will help organize the information better and it might give them an opportunity to create more examples.  For example I can see my students using photoshop or even vokis to create artifacts from their “cultures”. 

                I have not used blogs with my students yet, but I can see the potential for using them.   Not only could I have students read blogs that are written by others, but I could have my students use blogs to complete their discussions.  By having my students read blogs written by other people they are being exposed to other people’s opinions, and they will be given the opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills.  One of the most difficult lessons to teach students is that they cannot take information at face value and leave it at that, but with the use of blogs it might be easier to teach this point.  In blogs, it tends to be easy to pick out opinions based on facts and those based on emotions and prejudices.  

                By having my students use blogs for discussion, I would give them a forum where they have time to think before they put their thoughts out where others can see and comment.  I could have my students post weekly reflections similar to what we are doing in this course and I think it would give the students a better feel for how everyone else is handling the class.  Sometimes I think that students feel isolated when they are not understanding the material and that can lead to frustration if they feel like they are the only one who does not understand.  If they know other people feel the same way it might make it easier for students to seek help and create a better bond between classmates.