Wikis in the Media Center

Until a few months ago, I had never been involved in creating a wiki.  I had looked at a few as informational references, but I had never added any content to one.  My first experience was creating a pathfinder with a team of other soon-to-be media specialists.  We were concerned with the presentation of the wiki; so each of us was responsible for a page.  However, we were all gathering resources to add to the pathfinder, and those resources were often part of the content of other team members’ pages.  Instead of uploading our information directly to the wiki, we posted to a chat board or emailed other team members.  We then individually sorted the information for our respective pages and uploaded them to the wiki.  We were able to edit our pages or others’ pages on our own time from different locations.  We even simultaneously edited the content while discussing our work through a chat room.

Pathfinders or research guides are one of the common uses for wikis.  A media specialist, in collaboration with teachers, can establish a wiki for a particular subject area or unit of instruction.  One suggestion by Boeninger (2007, p. 32) is that the creator should add the initial content and establish the wiki’s structure.  Then other users can update and edit the content as well as add new information.  For pathfinders, the media specialist can begin the wiki with collection resources and links to online resources.  Teachers can continually add other lesson ideas and resources and even use the wiki to request additional media collection items. 

The schedule for the media center can be posted on a wiki, and teachers can sign up for times to bring their classes to the media center.  The wiki can allow them to designate what their classes will be doing and enables the media specialist to collaborate with each teacher.  The posted schedule lets administrators and patrons know the busiest times in the media center.  If volunteers are available, they will be able to see when the most help is needed.  The wiki can also contain basic procedures for operating tasks, such as checking in and out of books.  Teachers and volunteers will be able to assist with these functions when the media specialist is occupied in teaching a class of students.  

A media center wiki is a great way to promote events.  Teachers can share what they are doing in their classes, especially those involving the media center.  New books can be highlighted to promote reading.  Students and faculty can submit book reviews.  Students in Literature Circles can post thoughts on a book they have read and comment on each other’s postings.

Wikis were originally designed as tools for collaboration.  Media specialists can instruct students on creating wikis which they can use for group projects.  Students can individually or collectively add their input anywhere or anytime as long as they have an internet connection.  Special software is not required.  Students can also work with other students who attend another school.  Wikis provide students the opportunity to collaborate with students from another state or even another country.  With different time zones, students may not be able to meet at the same time, but they can upload and edit information anytime.   They can also submit video or other images to share with their partners.   The technology department of Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia, has been recognized internationally for student achievement, much of which has been showcased through wikis.  The school’s wiki, http://westwood.wikispaces.com/, provides links to a number of school programs, including student-created wikis.  The Digital Law Wiki, http://digiteen.wikispaces.com/Digital+Law, was developed with students in Austria and Qatar to promote digital citizenship.  

Membership in a wiki can be limited to a particular grade level or subject content area or extend to others within the school district or community or even a broader range, such as members throughout a region or state.  Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, has an excellent wiki for its media center (http://ahsmedia.barrow.wikispaces.net/).  Students can request to join the wiki to be a part of the collaboration.  A Wiki Charter details expected “wiki etiquette” for participation.  This wiki contains much more information than a typical media center website.  Enabling students and teachers to upload information directly saves the media specialists’ time and provides more thorough coverage of the media programs.

Why should you use a wiki for your media center?  Wikis can be organized by subject, category or hierarchy and are usually searchable.  They provide flexibility, can be used for a variety of functions, and can be edited by anyone at anytime from anywhere with an internet connection.  Find a group of patrons who will contribute to your wiki and give it a try.  Good luck with your wiki!

References

Barrow County Schools. (2013). Apalachee High School Media Center’s Wiki [wiki].  Retrieved from http://ahsmedia.barrow.wikispaces.net/

 

Boeninger, C. F. (2007). The wonderful world of wikis: applications for libraries. In Courtney, N. (Ed.), Library 2.0 and beyond (pp. 25-33). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Lamb, B. (2004, September/October). Wide open spaces: wikis ready or not. Educause Review. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0452.pdf

Westwood School. (2013).  The online space for students of Westwood Schools [wiki]. Retrieved from http://westwood.wikispaces.com/

WikEd. (2008). Wiki in a K-12 classroom [wiki]. Retrieved from http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/articles/w/i/k/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom_6eb3.html

Blog 2: Wikis

Blog 2:  Wikis

A wiki is a website that allows community users to create and edit the content.  It is edited via a web interface.  Users can update the content without the permission of a specialized web authoring software or advanced HTML coding skills.  Wikis are strengthened by the involvement of the community.  They cannot thrive on low community participation.  Wikipedia brought on the popularity of wikis when it was introduced in 2001.  According to Wikipedia, it is the largest reference website on the Internet.    Wikipedia was and still is scrutinized by the academic community.    Academics are quite skeptical about the validity of its resources.  They have recognized that it serves as a great example of wikis can be used to facilitate communication and promote collaboration among users.                                                  

What are your thoughts about using Wikis in the Media Center?

Wikis are an excellent tool for Media Center.  The best uses for wikis in the Media Center are to make them relevant to research and group assignments.  One great example for the use of wikis is research guides.  This would be especially useful for group assignments/projects.  It’s a good place to post tips for getting started with research.  Templates for the assignment could be placed on the wiki website to help students get started (outlines, sample papers, etc…).  Students doing group projects could post/share what they’ve gathered during the research process to ensure that there are no redundancies.  Any member of the group can make additions to the wiki and edit the wiki to remove items that are no longer of use to them.

How can they be used most effectively?

Wikis are most effectively used when they can be applied to an assignment or classroom activity.  Wikis are an excellent way to make students hold themselves accountable for their work.  It makes them proactive about completing their work in a timely manner.  It always makes them proud to have a place of their own to work with their classmates and document their progress as they move forward with the assignment.

Are there drawbacks to Wikis?

The thing most people like about wikis is the idea that you add, edit and delete materials freely.  If authorization is not required by the members, the site information can be placed in jeopardy.  If this is the case, some sort of web manager will be needed.  This contradicts the idea of ease of use for wikis.  Managing a wiki could be time consuming.  Wikis are also collectively biased. User’s opinions can become embedded in wiki.  When this occurs, unbiased perspectives are not considered in the issues being discussed.

Thoughts on Wiki Readings:  Particularly strong or particularly weak?

Decatur High School Library wiki page was particularly weak.  There wasn’t any information there.  When I arrived at the site I felt like there was no direction. Where do I go?  What is the purpose of this wiki page?  Appalachee High School Media Center’s wiki page was very strong.  It was filled with information.  The links on the left side of the page were relevant to the site.  The wiki page was welcoming.  It made me want to the explore more.  The more I explored the site, I noticed that there were too many item on the main page.

What elements need to be present to move them toward being active spaces for collaboration?

Both wikis are lacking the visibility of teachers input in the development of these wikis.  There is no mention of classroom projects/assignments.  There needs to be a link or a platform for assistance with research. 

Tapping Into the Hidden Potential of Podcasting

Podcasts have many uses for a seemingly infinite number of topics. They can provide entertainment, information, tips and techniques, instructions, and more. As I searched through many different podcast sites and resources, I was able to see how podcasts can richly contribute to the field of education. Teachers and administrators may tune in to podcasts and podcast forums for a wealth of ideas and solutions for education and technical issues. Podcasts have the capability of connecting schools and educational systems worldwide in a professional network. The value of such a network is that educators may be able to resolve common issues or expand learning capabilities by learning what other professionals have done in their systems. I can see that podcast technology has the potential to exponentially broaden the reach of scholarly journal content and research efforts.

Some scholarly journals (not just in the field of education) are experiencing financial strains as academic and public libraries struggle with their financial strains and are not able to renew print subscriptions of such journals. One remedy was for libraries to join in a consortium to share the resources among a group of subscribers for a discounted price. Podcasts could somewhat alleviate issues of financial constraints because much of what is required to podcast is available freely on the internet.

Having a professional network of audible information that shares solutions to problems, new ideas for teaching/training/professional development, and free or low-cost resources for educators and educational systems is golden. Publishing these types of podcasts with well known stations like Podcasting-Station.com and PodcastingNews.com can quickly grow the listener base and evoke more contributions from listening professionals.

Podcasts

Podcasts can be used in many different ways in the library media center setting. I will highlight some of the different ways I found most useful. But first I wanted to share some interesting facts I learned about podcasting.

The word podcasting comes from the words “broadcasting” and “I-pod”. This is interesting to think about because it is truly incorporates the features of a radio broadcast and the ability to download onto your personal device. Another interesting thing I learned was that in order for something to be considered a podcast, a RSS feed must be present. The podcast must be connecting to an RSS or it is not a podcast, it is just an audio file on the Internet. Technically, podcasts only contain audio information. If they contain more than they are considered enhanced podcasts or vodcasts (video casts).

One way to use podcasts is to distribute library news. I think this is a very good idea because it is practical for the classroom teacher. Our media specialist sends out a monthly newsletter through email. I will be honest, most people in the school do not read it. It is one more email that they have to read the information is not high on their list when they are going through email. If you created a podcast for teachers about different aspects of your media program, they could turn it on and listen to it while they completed other tasks. It would not have to be long, but if I could listen to the new items in the collection while I cleaned up my classroom or got ready for the next day after school was over, I would be more informed about what was going on in the media center.

Another way to incorporate podcasts into your media center would be by interactive podcasts. This is where people would listen to the podcast and then they could go on a scavenger hunt or enter a contest. The podcast could be used to excite students and faculty about something special in the media center. By making it interactive, the students and faculty are able to feel a part of podcast. Also, by creating a scavenger hunt, it might bring students and faculty into the library. Having students create this type of podcast might be fun. By incorporating students, other students might more likely to come visit the media center.

Finally, one way you could use a podcast is by doing a booktalk. Here you can highlight new books and materials in your library. By putting on a podcast, young elementary students can listen to summaries of different books online to help them chose a book. Also, as I said above, teachers might be more willing to listen than read.

Overall, podcasts can be very useful in your media center. However, there are a few things that to remember after I listened to a few different podcasts from schools on the web. First, if you are using music make sure the music makes sense and is not too loud. Having snippets of music in between different parts of podcast is fine, but having the music come in between every sentence is weird. Also, have some type of introduction. Just starting in without any introduction is not very helpful because it takes the listener half the podcast to figure out what this is all about. Finally, used varied sentence structure. A podcast can get very boring if you use the same type of sentences. With a varied sentence structure, the podcast is much more enjoyable. Podcasts are a good tool to use in the media center. Good Luck and Happy Podcasting!