I agree that a wiki is a great way to share and collaborate on line. It can have many uses, such as reporting news events as they happen. It allows for corrections to be made, so if one person recounts an event inaccurately, then someone else can correct the errors, thus ensuring that the news event is portrayed wihout error. But we are at the mercy of those publishing the news. Yes, corrections can be made, but what about the person who checks the wiki before any corrections are made?
I always view things in terms of "how can they be used in a math class". I can picture presenting a lesson on a wiki, but I'm not sure how interactive it would be. Much of the time spent in high school math class is spent on developing skills that can be used in various situations. As I've said before, I don't think that teaching math allows for the broader use of wikis as easily as other subjects. I do like the fact that different pages can be created on a wiki, thereby helping to organize the subject matter. But I find that the process of editing isn't always reliable. A method that works one day doesn't necessarily work the next. And sometimes the buttons in the edit mode don't perform the operation that they are supposed to.
Strategies for Wikis in Math Class is a site that has some good, concrete ideas on how wikis can be utilized. I will certainly investigate the suggestions found there. I think that I will be able to find a way to use wikis in my classes.
I liked the link you provided. One of the suggestions listed was problems of the week. Could we possibly write a problem that forces students to collaborate and pull from different sources to solve the problem? I like this idea.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion that struck me was glossary of mathematical terms. Could we have students write and edit each other's definitions of important mathematical vocabulary and include images that illustrate their definitions? This might acutally be fun in geometry class.
I agree with you that making math interative on a wiki is a hard task that requires some extra thought. I am going to check out the link that you posted. I like the comment that Grover made about perhaps incorporating a problem of the week that would require students to collaborate. I am a special education math teacher and I know that the process of editing will not always be reliable. Many students need prompts and cues when working out a problem, so having the option to revert a wiki back to an earlier draft is defintitely a good feature! I know that Microsoft Word has the Equation 3.0 tool. I am wondering if you know if this option is available on a wiki when typing? For example, sometimes an exponent, or square root symbol may need to be utilized in a problem.
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