Why+Use+Wikis+in+Education?

The simple answer to this question is, "Why Not?"
Do you know your students? Are you aware of how their lives (out of school) are framed and influenced by digital technology? Today's students are of a generation that has been reared by multi-media and is used to multi-tasking (they want to do everything "wiki-wiki"). Traditional non-digital educational tools just don't cut it in terms of engaging students in the curriculum and content. Students who are used to networking on their MySpace and Facebook sites, who are comfortable texting hours each day, who "Tweet", are more comfortable working together in today's learning environments.

Add to that the push for teachers to incorporate more collaborative learning experiences (constructivist methods) into their pedagogy. This is where wikis, and other Web 2.0 applications, come in.

So here is my personal experience with wikis. ..

One of the courses I regularly teach at Towson is //**ISTC 201 - Using Information Effectively,**// an undergraduate, general education requirement. The course centers around the role of research in education. One of the department requirements for the course is that students engage in a group project in which they present research they have conducted on a specific current topic in education.

After several years of having students research their topic and give oral presentations, supplemented by PowerPoint slide shows, I realized that students were no longer interested in that "passe" technology and longed for another option. After reading about wikis and experimenting with one in a graduate course, I decided to try them out in my undergraduate course.

I have used wikis to highlight student work, such as projects with technology; as "portfolios" for individual students; and as sites where groups work together to produce an informative website.

**Here are some examples**:

http://istc301spring2011.wikispaces.com/ - this wiki is "Under Construction" as my current students work on their projects in ISTC 301.

[] - this wiki, though somewhat dated, was an early effort by ISTC 201 students and has been used by my colleagues in COE as a reference site on the NCLB act (**Note**: I no longer use the Wetpaint wiki site as it has too much advertising and the organizers charge to have ads removed)

http://urbaneducationspring2010.wikispaces.com/ - this is a wiki created by my ISTC 201 class in spring 2010 on aspects of **Urban Education**.

http://fall2010istc201.wikispaces.com/ - here is another created by an ISTC 201 class that investigates aspects of **Technology Use and Society**.

[] - this wiki showcases work done by students in my graduate class, ISTC 541, in fall of 2010. This wiki is housed at [|http://pbworks.com]