All of these issues could be
addressed by setting very explicit instructions prior to beginning the
assignment. I would recommend using a rubric with very specific guidelines. The
groups would receive points for the research part. The teacher should outline
her expectations for that part. Then set clear expectations for how she wants
the wiki pages to look as well as the content posted on the their wiki page.
The rubric should be easy for the students to understand that if they post a
picture that is not relevant to their research questions no points will be
received. Also, points should be issued for revising and editing the work of
their peers to resolve the matter of students being reluctant to edit each others work. The good thing about wikis
is that the teacher can easily monitor everything that the students are doing.
The problems that Jane is having
seem like common problems among sixth grade students. One problem in that
classroom would be the fact that the students who work hard to write something
will be upset if someone decided to completely delete their entry. This would
be a difficult situation to handle given that students take pride in their work
and often many students try their best and it may not be the best work but it
is the best to their ability. In this case the teacher should set guidelines as
far as not completely delete someone’s entry but instead offer suggestions and
then give the student the opportunity to read the suggestions and edit their
entry.
Another situation that must be
addressed as well would be the students that are copying information directly
from other websites. Before doing any kind of research it is important for the
teacher to discuss plagiarism with the students. They need to understand what
it is and how to avoid any issues involving plagiarism. These students are in
sixth grade so it is essential that they understand it early on and do no grow
accustomed to copying things directly from websites. I would recommend having a
lesson in which she lets students know what the consequences are of
plagiarizing and how to avoid it. She should continuously remind the students
whenever they begin a new wiki assignment. This will help them throughout their
academic careers since many college students have issues with plagiarizing.
Overtime I think the students will
know exactly what the teacher expects of them and she will begin to see more of
what she envisioned when she planned using wikis. Once the students get into
the routine of collaborating on a research they will be able to easily work
together to produce a great wiki page.
These are resources that can be
viewed in order to get more information on how to use wikis.
https://elearningindustry.com/how-to-use-wiki-in-the-classroom
http://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2015/10/28/edtech-tip-working-wikispaces-classroom-
http://helpcenter.wikispaces.com/
http://www.techforteachers.net/wikis-in-the-classroom.html
Claudia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that Jane needed to set the expectations and elicit instructions in order for the activity to run smoothly. I believe one of the hardest parts of being a teacher is classroom management. Unfortunately, Jane did not seem to have some for this activity. Like you I agree that she needed to have clear expectations. I also believe that the rubric would have been very helpful. Students would know what they needed to look for.
Hi Claudia:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your problem recommendations, such as the first one about to set guidelines to avoid that someone delete the work of other students. This guidelines must include responsibilities into the group. The idea is to create some strategies that use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of the subject. Each member of a team is responsible of learning what is taught which create an atmosphere of achievement.
Jorge Villarreal.