Evaluating Wikis on Reading and Writing

I evaluated two writing websites developed by teachers for their students: Mrs. Badgley’s Wikispace (http://mrsbadgley.wikispaces.com) and Mr. Sheehy’s English Website (https://sheehy-english.wikispaces.com).  Mr. Sheehy’s students are identified as high schoolers; Mrs. Badgley’s are not specifically identified by grade, but I would assume by the content that they are middle schoolers.

Mr. Sheehy’s wiki is visually striking. It is clear and readable, with high contrast between the text and the background. Good use of graphics and layout (white space, columns, photos and captions, etc.) is appealing and draws the reader in. It feels familiar, like a magazine. The home page starts with a joke, which puts the student reader at ease, and provides learning goals as well as a block of quick access keyword links to tools and instruction.

The navigation bar is well organized and links to various readings, assignments, syllabi, extra credit options and a writing workshop. What the website does not seem to do is create a place for interaction and collaboration between students.  One is left with the distinct impression that this is Sheehy’s show and he is calling the shots.  His lessons are great. He has created some wonderful learning opportunities here, but it is very one-on-one oriented. I don’t get a sense that anyone beyond Mr. Sheehy can edit or expand the parameters of the wiki. While I enjoyed looking at his creative lessons, I wasn’t sure they were taking advantage of Web 2.0. Most of it could be just as easily done with traditional paper and pencil.

Visually, Mrs. Badgley’s wiki is lackluster. It is text heavy, with simple black type in one column on a white background. The boarder, where you find the navigation bar, is fuschia with purple lettering in a small type. Maybe younger eyes don’t have as much trouble, but I have a hard time reading it. There is very little in the way of graphics or pictures to liven up the page or make it more engaging. 

What Mrs. Badgley gets right from the start is spelling out her purpose for the wiki, “to provide a place for students (of all ages and needs) to collaborate to create useful collections of information.”  Her intention from the start is to get the ball rolling and get out of the way.  She defines what a wiki is and addresses how to join the site and post or make changes, leaving the impression that she does not intend to call the shots as much as to facilitate. Mrs. Badgley’s wiki navigator bar links readers to writing assignment pages as well as collections of useful links and tools for learning things such as creating HTML tags. The wiki encourages a lot of student writing but also emphasizes the importance of learning to edit. Searching through the editing changes shows that students have worked together to meet the objectives of the assignments.

Each of these wikis is a helpful example, both for what it does right and for what is lacking.  Ideally, I would strive to combine the attributes of both into my own wikis. Perhaps this serves as an example of the value of collaboration. If Mrs. Badgley and Mr. Sheehy would collaborate with each other, both their wikis would benefit from the strengths of each teacher.