Reflection of Chapter 4:
Chapter 4, Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All, was all about wikis and different ways they can be used in the classroom. One interesting fact I took out of the beginning of the chapter was what the word "wiki" actually means. I always knew that wikipedia is basically an online encyclopedia but I never really thought about what the wiki part of wikipedia actually means. As it turns out, the word wiki comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki-wiki" which means quick. Well, this makes sense since wikis can be a quick and easy tool to use. The chapter goes on about several different ways wikis can be used in the classroom. One way wikis can be used by students is for research. Just like using any website for research, this can be both good and bad. With wikis, anybody can post so students have to keep in mind that not all information is reliable. Just like evaluating websites, wikis need to be evaluated when being used for research. For this reason I think students should use wikis with caution when researching. Perhaps, using a wiki might be a good place to start research and get some ideas, but the research needs to go farther. On the other hand, I found some other great ways to use wikis in the classroom throughout chapter 4. One example in the book I liked was a classroom that used a wiki for science class to share results of experiments. I think this is a good idea because this way students are just one click away from the results all the others students got. I think another effective way to use a wiki is for classroom organization (like in EDU 331). As far as organization goes, Wikis can be used to share links to other websites or classroom blogs.
As an early childhood education major I probably won't be using wikis with my students. I could, however, set up a wiki to share links to homework, activities, and blogs, with parents. On the other hand, if I ever decide to teach higher levels I think using wikis in the classroom is an effective way to keep information organized and easy to reach for all the students in the class.
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