WIKI's PMI

Back in Week Three I touched on Wiki's.  Wiki is short for Wikispaces which is an online page that allows students to collaborate and share information.    The follow PMI (Positive, Minus and Interesting) is of the value of using Wikispaces as a learning tool within the classroom context.

 Positive:  

Students can create records of the group work; 

Students and teachers can see which students added or edited information (to know which students participated or not);

Able to upload pictures and videos;

The teacher can scaffold the material or point students in the right direction;

If one student is away from class, students can still work on assignment rather than "oh, so-and-so has the information but he's at home sick"

Minus:  

Technology failures (Computer usage on that day);

Some students don't contribute;

Two people can't edit the wiki at the same time;

If a student doesn't have the internet at home, this can limit their input which could be regarded as lack of input (which may not be the case);

Students can infringe on copyright issues with videos and images;

Students can be self-conscious of their work being 'publicly' displayed and would feel safer discussing with peers in a familiar, safe environment such as verbal group discussion.

Interesting:

There is a history tool so that if work is accidentally deleted it can be retrieved

.

•