I wanted to experiment more with wikis and kids, so I set up a class wiki site with the open-ended statement, "China is...". As an example and to set the tone for their work, I put in a picture of myself with some fourth graders in Bangxie village from my summer travels, and then I added a paragraph describing impressions of China from the experience and a link to a web site about Yunnan province with a map. The following week, I gave the kids the following assignment.
CHINA IS: Go to the Wikispaces site (davidandbeccasclass.wikispaces.com). Login using your personal password. Add something to the wiki.
• It can be a full paragraph that you write yourself.
• It can be a link, file, image, or widget. You need to add at least three sentences about why you chose it.
• You must put your name and the date above your addition.
I had created user names and passwords for each student. We had a dedicated class period for explaining the assignment and to demonstrate on the ActivBoard how to add material to the wiki. One student, having read our class work list over the weekend, had her assignment ready, so we added that and then modified a few things as examples. Giving clear directions proved more complex than it seemed, so I was glad Becca and I were both familiar with Wikispaces and wikis. The kids were excited. I gave them their individual passwords on slips of paper and admonished them that they needed to keep them secure. I acknowledged that I could track changes and which login had made them. If it looked like a particular kid, then it was their responsibility, even if someone else, also in the dog house, had used their login. They took it to heart. In addition to normal kid procrastination, we had issues with people editing at the same time, which led to one significant erasure by one student of the work of five others. Everyone took it in stride, and I gave the five an extension to go back and add their ideas again. The perp was very careful from then on, even calling me the next week to check before he saved anything new. Lessons learned by us all.
The next week, in fact, they went back and commented on one another's additions within the wiki page. They knew better what they were doing the second time around. It was tricky to check to be sure all thirty kids had posted a substantive comment and then to see if each of them had made five substantial comments about others' original comments. Actually, it's probably not trickier than checking kids' work in the past, but I have to go through their work differently.
I think I'd start with an even simpler wiki project next time, but the kids and I really got our feet wet, learned some skills, and created something substantial.
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