This article documents a presentation at the 2008 TESOL Convention in New York City on April 3, 2008. Find the PowerPoint abstract, slides and handout here.

The World Wide Web has available applications and services that allow users to easily post original content. Many call this trend Web 2.0 or the read-write Web. To get an idea of just how extensive this trend is, click on this link to view a trend map. Looking at the lower left corner, you will see Wikipedia, the largest and most well-known wiki, an encyclopedia that allows users to edit its content.

Wiki is the short form of the Hawaiian phrase “wiki wiki,” which means “fast.” A wiki is a Web site made of wiki pages, or Web pages. A wiki is a powerful, free Internet tool that allows users to quickly create Web pages organized into Web sites without special training. The Web page editing screen has recognizable formatting tools as shown below from www.wikispaces.com, a large educational wiki provider.

Although the tools are limited, wikis have a number of exceptional capabilities that enhance Web page creation for educational use both individually and collaboratively. This article focuses first on the features of wikis and second on their use with student-created research projects and portfolios. Four features commonly available from Internet wiki providers are the discussion tab, the history tab, privacy choices, and uploaded media files.

DISCUSSION TAB

Each Web page in a wiki or Web site has a discussion tab that allows readers and creators to have a running dialog about the corresponding Web page. This takes the appearance of a discussion forum where replies are posted under the comments preserving the original threads. In the screenshot below, you can see that the threads are listed with the most recent on top.

When a user clicks on one of the links under Subject, the screen looks like the one below, showing the username, user’s profile photo, date, and time in addition to the main text of the comment.

The comments are useful for peer and self-evaluations as well as those of teachers and parents. This and these two examples are from the K12 Online 2006 Conference wiki competition.

HISTORY TAB

The history tab attached to each Web page records the name, time, and date each time a user saves:

Each saved page has a link to that version represented by the date and time. When the link is clicked, the deletions are highlighted in red and the additions in green as seen below. A “revert to this version” button on the page also allows a user to resave the Web page in a previous version. Participants easily track the changes and avoid losing anyone’s work, invaluable during distance collaboration. Classroom teachers can also tell who contributed to the Web page if it is assigned for work outside of class.

PRIVACY SETTINGS

Privacy settings determined by the teacher or organizer include public, protected, and private. Protected allows anyone to view Web pages but only members can edit the pages whereas private permits only members to view and edit. When the material is sensitive, password protection at the private level gives everyone peace of mind.

DOCUMENTS, IMAGES, SLIDE SHOWS, VOICE RECORDINGS, VIDEOS

You can upload documents (.doc), images (.jpg), and voice recordings (.mp3) to your wiki by clicking on the tree icon on the toolbar. Images show directly on your Web page and documents and voice recordings show as hyperlinks that the reader clicks. You can also link to videos (e.g., YouTube) and slideshows (e.g., SlideShare) published by others. To do this, click the TV icon on the toolbar and follow the instructions for the correct media.

STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

In September 2007, several high school classes from Cairo American College contributed to a wiki dedicated to Peace Day activities. In Web design class, students chose a related topic either individually or in pairs and developed a Web page based on their own ideas formulated through research. A rubric guided the students’ efforts.

Examine Saad’s exemplary work. You can see that he created an interesting, well-thought-out Web page that includes a video and the required citation of resources. His ideas are in his own words and easy to follow, through his use of subheadings to get the reader’s attention.

STUDENT PORTFOLIOS AND RESPONSES TO CLASSMATES

In Yearbook class at the end of quarter 3, when all the yearbook spreads were completed and at the publishers, the students were asked to reflect on their yearbook work on their Web page of the CAC Yearbook wiki.

The reflection included a thumbnail image of each spread and the answers to five questions:

1. For which deadline was the spread?
2. What do you like best about this spread?
3. What did you learn doing this spread?
4. What risks did you take?
5. How would improve this spread knowing what you know now?

The rubric below guided the students’ efforts. Find the complete rubric at our wiki.

Students were able to look at examples of student reflections from Yearbook 07, the previous class. Adriana’s reflections met the criteria at the A level, because she detailed her journey over the previous three quarters in a thoughtful way, highlighting her risk-taking and progress. The thumbnails help the reader visualize descriptive comments.

After their reflections were complete, students commented on their classmates’ reflections by using the discussion feature of the wiki. The rubric below shows that thoughtful comments are required about one spread, including an understanding of the classmates’ reflection as the writer was required to agree or disagree with the classmate’s statement. Find the complete rubric at here.

Again, the students used the exemplary work of the previous year to inspire them. Tienjen’s comment on Adriana’s Spirit Week spread is one such example. She is thoughtful in commenting on three aspects of the spread and agreeing with Adriana’s own reflection on color.

CONCLUSION

A quick review of the Cairo American College Peace Day and Yearbook wikis shows that wikis have strong potential as course management systems, like Blackboard. Teachers can post assignments, attach handouts, and list links to resources. This article looks beyond those capabilities at two ways students can contribute to wikis by creating Web pages on a research topic or portfolio reflections. Student contributions are made easier through powerful wiki features including discussion and history tabs, privacy settings, and use of sound and video media. Students create these Web pages quickly and share them with their class or larger community. With free wiki providers for K-12 education like www.wikispaces.com, teachers can experiment with wikis at no cost and harness the potential of Web 2.0 for their own classrooms.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bellizzi, Dominick. 100,000 Wikis in the Classroom [wikispaces.com wiki]. Tangient. http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K

Davis, Vicki. (2006, Oct. 30). Student Data Storage - Needs & Methods [k12wiki]. K12 Online Conference. Retrieved from http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com/Student+Data+Storage-+Needs+and+Methods

Davis, Vicki. Wiki Grading Rubric. K12 Online Conference 2007. Retrieved from http://k12online.wm.edu/WikiGradingRubric.pdf

Popinchalk, Jocelyn. (2007, Oct. 27). [CAC Peace Day wiki] Cairo American College. Retrieved from http://cacpeaceday.wikispaces.com

Scholz, Celeste. (2007, Sept. 30). HS Web Design [CAC Peace Day wiki]. Cairo American College. Retrieved from http://cacpeaceday.wikispaces.com/HS+Web+Design

Scholz, Celeste. (2007, Nov. 26). Reflections 07 [CAC Yearbook wiki]. Cairo American College. Retrieved from http://cacyearbook.wikispaces.com/reflections07

Celeste Scholz, currently consulting for World Bank, has been a language teaching specialist for many years. She has presented at regional and international conferences since 1992, while working in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, and Egypt. She has served as on-the-job course developer, technology integration specialist, head of department, and team leader, and taught technology, ESL, language arts, and publications.