+ Writing for the World Using Wiki Technology to Promote Critical Inquiry and Social Action

Workshop Objectives: 1)Participants will learn what wikis are and how to set them up. 2) Participants will see examples of wikis being used in schools. 3) Participants will brainstorm ways that wikis could be used with their own students to foster critical inquiry and social action. Workshop Objectives: 1)Participants will learn what wikis are and how to set them up. 2) Participants will see examples of wikis being used in schools. 3) Participants will brainstorm ways that wikis could be used with their own students to foster critical inquiry and social action.

+ What is Web 2.0 Technology? The “Read-Write” Web A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. (modified from Wikipedia.org, “Web 2.0,” 2011) Examples: Blogs Discussion forums Wikis (Wikipedia) Social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace) Video sharing sites (YouTube) Twitter

+ Why is this exciting for teachers and students? Literacy is more important than ever. “Web 2.0 tools are beneficial in that they support and even entice students to become creators and not merely recipients of knowledge.”—Lori Langer de Ramirez, 2010 ALSO: Many of the things that make Web 2.0 technology exciting for students are elements that make for great instruction. For example, Web 2.0 technology is…

+ Collaborative and social! Web 2.0 technology highlights the social aspects of learning and writing. For example, through blogs and forums, students communicate with and write to each other. Through wikis, students write collaboratively to create a web page. For many years, teachers and researchers have recognized that learning is a social process. Writing for and with peers makes writing meaningful and provides social support. It makes students understand why we write, and for whom.

+ Authentic! Authentic tasks (like creating a website, making a video, or writing a blog) are real things that people do in the real world, and therefore are more engaging for students because they see their relevance. Authentic audiences are important for student writers, and the web allows students to reach all kinds of new audiences (other classes in the school, children in other cities and countries, and family and friends far away).

+ Motivating! Kids love technology. It is novel, and its importance in the real world is obvious to most students. Being able to write for authentic purposes and authentic audiences is motivating. Being able to connect with peers socially or write collaboratively has also been found to increase motivation.

+ Important! “A growing body of scholarship suggests potential benefits of these forms of participatory culture, including opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude toward intellectual property, the diversification of cultural expression, the development of skills valued in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship. Access to this participatory culture functions as a new form of the hidden curriculum, shaping which youth will succeed and which will be left behind as they enter school and the workplace.”—Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robinson, and Weigel, 2006

+ So, what kinds of Web 2.0 technology can we use with our students? This workshop will focus on: Wikis But this is just the beginning! At the end I will share resources for using other types of Web 2.0 technology in classrooms as well.

+ Wikis The word wiki comes from the Hawaiian wiki- wiki, meaning “quick.” Wikis are Internet based software that allow for the creation of websites that can be written collaboratively and edited by multiple authors. Some wikis are private, and only members can edit them. Others are public and anyone who wants to can come along and add or change content. om/video-wikis-plain- english/ Some examples of wikis in the real world:

Setting up a wiki: How difficult is it? Let’s do it! Common concerns: * Privacy settings (public, protected, private) * Students must have addresses to create separate user accounts

+ Wikis for Critical Inquiry Wikis can be used to foster critical inquiry projects in which students work in cooperative groups (or even individually) to investigate topics of critical personal, cultural, contextual, or political relevance to them. Examples include Creating a neighborhood map or encyclopedia Collecting oral histories Creating a virtual family tree Making a site designed to investigate a question of importance (e.g. How does US border policy affect Native American tribes that live along the US/Mexico border?).

+ Wikis for Social Action Wikis can become platforms for social action: by creating opportunities for educating others and disseminating information (making websites public, uploading videos and documents) by fostering dialogue across and between schools and social groups (eliciting comments from students at another school or members of another community) by creating a platform for student organizing (centralizing communication in planning events, etc.)

An Example Wiki Project Students: A fourth grade literacy group Time commitment: 40 min, 4 days a week, for around 8 weeks Grouping and topics: Students selected their own groups and their own topics within the larger fourth grade theme—immigration and how the border affects our lives. The groups broke down as follows: Indigenous People and the Border (3 students)Indigenous People and the Border The Adventures of Sin Fronteras Boy—a choose your own adventure (4 students)The Adventures of Sin Fronteras Boy Oral Histories of the Border (4 students)Oral Histories of the Border

Some unexpected advantages to using wikis: The history function is amazing! It allows for accountability and makes it possible to assess students as individuals as well as in a group. The page history also allows you to revert to previous copies of the page, essentially making it so that work that has been saved once can never been lost. The discussion tab allows students to make comments on pages that can then be read and responded to by other students. The fact that wikis can be worked on asynchronously makes it possible for students to work on them outside of class time or at home, making it possible to engage in these projects even if it is not possible for all students to have access to computers at the same time (and even with large groups).

Key considerations: Collaboration and collective ownership of writing: What does it mean when a page belongs to everyone? Safety: private, protected, or public wikis? Organization is different in hypertext environments—i.e. links versus transitions, connections to outside content.

+ Small Group Session Part I—20 min Divide into grade level groups (K-2, 3-5, middle school, high school). Brainstorm and write on chart paper 3 ways to use wikis for critical inquiry and/or social action in your grade level 2 questions or concerns Part II—20 min Share out and questions.

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