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Wiki ideas for math, science, history and literature courses

Idea with a Post-it noteA wiki is a collection of collaboratively authored web documents that has many class uses.  In our last post, we discussed general wiki ideas; today we’ll get specific with suggestions for Math, Science, History and Literature classes.

Math

  • Calculus or statistics space for difficult problems so students can collaborate to find solutions and see different approaches to the same tasks.
  • Applied concepts where students discuss and illustrate the actual use of concepts in daily life.
  • Detailed and illustrated descriptions of mathematical procedures with examples of daily use.

Science

  • Students create a taxonomy of living creatures including illustrations.
  • A repository of experimental designs and lab reports for a chemistry class.
  • Detailed and illustrated descriptions of scientific processes or observations from field sites, such as water-testing in local streams or weather observations.

History

  • A mock-debate between candidates on specific political stands.
  • Detailed and illustrated descriptions of governmental processes.
  • A documentation of local historical buildings, events, or people within a community.

Literature

  • An online poetry or writing tutoring center facilitated by students.
  • Students write scripts for a Shakespeare scene reset in the 21st century and explain the differences in literary devices then and now.
  • A catalog of musical styles, musical instruments, fashion, or phrases used in literary readings.

Photo by Flickr user JLA Kliché / Creative Commons licensed BY-NC-SA 2.0


About the author

Cheri Crabb, PhD, Academic Technology Consultant with TLT, has a career in academia focused on instructional design and development using integrated electronic media systems for blended learning.

Also posted in Collaborate, history, literature, math, Moodle, Moodle Musings, online, science, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off on Wiki ideas for math, science, history and literature courses

The Moodle wiki

Post-its on a wallA wiki is a collection of collaboratively authored web documents. Wikis were named from the Hawaiian term “wiki wiki” which means “very fast.”   Indeed wikis are a quick method for creating content as a class, group or individual.  Wikis don’t have a center of control but rather the community edits and develops content directly in a browser, without any knowledge of HTML.   A wiki is created with a front page and authors add subsequent pages by creating links.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an example of the world’s largest wiki. A class can use wikis to build a subject based resource that can be continuously updated.

General Wiki Ideas

  • Group project space for students to brainstorm, record research, store images, videos, files and create outlines for projects, research papers or presentations.
  • Study guides made by students/groups on lecture notes or units of study.
  • Vocabulary lists and examples of the words in use, contributed by students.
  • Epicenter of the class displaying all assignments, research papers, presentations, projects, rubrics, etc.
  • An annotated collection of examples and illustrations showing real-life connections to materials read and discussed in class; a virtual library of resources, or a collection of book or journal article reviews.
  • Travelogue from a study abroad or service trip.

Next week Moodle Musings will have specific ideas about using a wiki in History, Literature, Math and Science.

Photo by Flickr user @boetter / Creative Commons licensed BY 2.0


About the author

Cheri Crabb, PhD, Academic Technology Consultant with TLT, has a career in academia focused on instructional design and development using integrated electronic media systems for blended learning.

Also posted in Collaborate, Moodle, Moodle Musings, online, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off on The Moodle wiki

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