As I was learning about wiki's, I was thinking about how I could use these as an instructional tool and it came to mind that the PBL project I took part in last semester was pretty much a wiki. The only difference is how it looks and how it is delivered. I got to thinking that maybe I could have all the students create their own wiki in the form of a massive research project due at the end of the semester that counts as 20% of their final exam grade. This particular "thing" really speaks to me because I wrestled in high school. How, you might ask, can I make such a leap? Wrestling is an individualized team sport. All the team points are scored by the individual in their respective matches, and, it is the only sport where, on paper, a team can lose, but, when the scores are fully interpreted and things that are out of the control of the team (like forfeits) out of the score, the losing team ends up winning.
Where am I going with all this?
What is interesting about wiki's is that it is one document that is the collective work of multiple people that are easily identified and verifiable. In other words, If the project suffers, it is easy to see who is to blame for the failure. So, the class can work on it as a group, but, it will be graded individually based on the quality of the information and the amount contributed. Is it possible to do the same thing in other formats, sure. But, using a wiki eliminates all the "he said, she said" and allows me to tell at a glance who did what and who didn't do anything, and, it would create a different dynamic as far as group projects go because the students wouldn't just be working in groups of three or four. They would be working as a class or, possibly, as a community. By using the wiki format, I could make a bigger project for more advanced students that crosses single classroom boundaries and allows all of my classes to work together. All of this might seem idealistic, but, I really think it could work!
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