Research Article Critiques

Critique of First Article
In the article, an information skills workout: wikis and collaborative writing, the authors Drs. Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, who both teach at the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, discuss how wikis can be used for collaborative writing projects in schools.

Considering I wanted to create a Writer's Workshop for a Language Arts learning unit, specifically incorporating technology by using weblogs and/or wikis, this article was exactly what I needed for further research. The article reviewed wiki basics and characteristics, which we have already learned in this class, but then, gave me new ideas of how I can teach this technology to my students.

Initially, I thought I would just explain what a wiki was to my class and we would start immediately in on our project. This article gave me ideas on how to explore wikis first to further educate how wikis:
* have accurate and inaccurate information.
* can easily be edited (open-editing).
* are unique and collaborative.
* have simple coding.
* are evolving.

The article then further clarified how valuable wikis can be in collaborative writing (my sandbox unit). The basics were covered on wiki setup, content, links, discussion and editing, history and citations. Finally, wikis and learning and other ideas for wikis were presented. I especially liked the ideas relating to Language Arts, collaborative writing, and the dynamic journal or notebook wikis. All of the latter, I can incorporate into my own classroom and learning unit.

Critique of Second Article
In the article, wikis and literacy development, author Keith McPherson proposed the question: Can wikis be valuable resources for developing strong literacy links between the school library and the classroom?

After explaining the basic wiki, he described two major types of wikis of interest to educators:
1. those created in the classroom by teachers and students (classroom-based wikis).
2. those not created by students and teachers (public wikis).

I liked the example of wikis McPherson listed, specifically the classroom-based wikis. It is always valuable to research other resources before you create your own (i.e.: in our blogs).

Another noteworthy section of this article is the resource available to check reading levels on wikis. All you need to do is copy and paste the text your student may be trying to read (1,000 words or more) into a readability test. For more information visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch-Kincaid_Readability_Test)

Interesting Tidbits
* Wikipedia has an average readability of grade 12
* Wiki junior has an average readability of grade 8

Finally, McPherson concluded by discussing Internet access, learning objectives, and information quality. Overall, this article was extremely helpful in learning how to incorporate wikis into the classroom in real teaching and being able to explain this medium to students more comprehensively.

Resources:

Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2007, June). an information skills workout: wikis and collaborative writing. Teacher Librarian, 34(5), 57-59. Retrieved July 13, 2007, from Professional Development Collection database.

McPherson, K. (2006, October). wikis and literacy development. Teacher Librarian, 34(1), 67-69. Retrieved July 13, 2007, from Professional Development Collection database.