No rest for the Wiki -ed - Reflection

Once again participating and creating a wiki was all a new concept for me. Not to say I havent used Wikis before though, I have used Wikipedia and Wiki Answers, numerous times and  sometimes they really have been invaluable to me but never had I edited or created one until just recently.  A task I am still getting to grips with because one thing I seem to forget is that anything I put on my wikispace can be edited if I give permission for people to do so. 

While looking at Wiki's analytically I  was going to untake a PMI and thought I might do some research and see what others had to say about Wiki's in a classroom.  What should I come across in this research none other then a WIKI dedicated to wiki's in the classroom, that included a list of the PLUS or Pros and the Minus or Cons.  Probably a much more thorough and comprehensive list then I could have ever come up with alone.  So instead of undertaking the PMI, I decided to compared Blogs and wikis through a SWOT analysis on my wiki here.

Once again Wikis are a great way for student to use the learning theories of connectivism and constructivism.  I think they are a great way of encouraging social interactions and colloboration amongst students.  While they also allow students to respond when they are ready,giving those reflective learners the opportunity to reflect before answering or participating.  Students are actively involved in creating and constructing knowledge when they are using wiki. 

Looking at both the wiki and blogs both generally and  within a classroom setting through the SWOT analysis, for me, I feel that wikis are better suited to group activities and colloboration so would be an effective tool in group projects or assignments.  A great example of one such wiki is the Wikispace, Terry the tennisball.  While I think that blogs are more suited for individual reflection work.  In essence, they could be usd in conjunction with each other to ensure that students have understood the learning outcomes.  Like we have done in our own exercise of using the Wiki and then reflecting in our blog.