Wiki: An “Enhancing” Tool For Foreign Language Instructors and Students Jean M. Janecki University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Dept. of Modern Languages

Outline for this Presentation An introduction to the world of wikis What’s a wiki? What makes wikis a great learning and teaching tool? Wiki Projects Wiki projects for elementary, intermediate and advanced language, literature and culture classes Creating your own wikis Getting started with wiki software Pilot study data Assessment ideas About “soft security” Setting up your own wiki Terminology and Trivia

What’s a Wiki? Terminology & Trivia “A single page in a wiki is referred to as a ‘wiki page,’ while the entire body of pages … is called ‘the wiki.’” The name was based on the Hawaiian term wiki wiki, meaning "quick" or "super-fast". Sometimes wikiwiki or WikiWiki are used instead of wiki. The first wiki, the Portland Pattern Repository, was founded March 25, 1995

Key characteristics of wikis Documents and web pages are created collectively Pages are easy to create and update, similar to Word documents “Internal” and “external” links are simple to add Images and videos can be included Often wikis are open to the general public, but can be private Wikis can be made with open-source programs

What makes wikis a great learning and teaching tool? Students can create learning materials! Wikis allow a variety of authorship/ownership combinations Wikis break down the dynamics of traditional writing assignments Stimulates students interests in subject Wikis can expand both the audience and the participants in writing projects usage statistics The creative projects are endless Wikis break down the traditional dynamics of writing assignments  Students & Teachers may not be accustomed to this new freedom

Wiki as a Collaborative tool Students like the ability to collaborate any time anywhere The wiki facilitates, but doesn’t teach collaboration skills Students need help organizing collaborative writing projects Wiki management is ideally controlled by the students The “history” and “recent changes” tools can help with assessing participation

Wiki Projects Language classes Literature classes Culture classes Recipe book Make and correct a composition Create a story together Literature classes Exam review guide Reviews of stories Journal entries of characters in stories Culture classes Biography of famous people Travel guide Current events

Students’ Comments Best Features: “I think writing for an audience and a purpose is what wikis can add to the classroom experience” “Ability to communicate and share information” “Being able to edit constantly” “I like that anyone in the world can see the wiki” “The fact that you can personalize the wikis with pictures, videos, links, etc.” “It’s more fun to make than a paper” On ease and usage: “At first I was confused and had some issues-but now I can manage it easily” “The wiki was surprisingly ease to use in terms of creating, editing, etc.” Least Liked Features: “Formatting the pictures” “Hard to coordinate time with partner”

Creating your own wiki projects Wiki software Wikipedia article on wikis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki http://www.wiki.org Wikipedia list of wiki farms (a server or an array of servers that provides hosting for a wiki, or a group of wikis hosted on such servers. Wiki farms are also known as 'hosted wiki service providers'.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_farms Places to make your own wiki Wikispaces.com Pbwiki.com CALICO and IALLT Wiki

Tips for successful task-design Task-design and an assessment plan are crucial Try to incorporate text when applicable Allow experimentation time Ease into it Remember that collaboration is a skill Create guidelines (or let your students create them) Have an assessment plan and make it clear to the students Plagiarism and copyright can be an issue (Wikimedia Commons)

Assessment Options Use the History / Track changes feature Grade is based on participation Use page-emails / RSS to keep track of changes Use Discussion feature Self/Group-assessment Grade is based on S reports of their contributions and self-reports of what they have learned ???

Wiki-fy that writing assignment! Discuss ideas for wiki writing assignments: Which uses of the wiki seem most promising or interesting to you? Why? Can you think of a project that would work well for your class? Goal – Identify one project that might work well on a wiki. Think about: Successful writing projects you’ve used in the past Common challenges your students face

Questions? Jean Janecki: Assistant Professor of Spanish Dept. of Modern Languages University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 608.785.8329 janecki.jean@uwlax.edu