Sharing

=**Please add your ideas (and any links) about how you would use a wiki to support language learning.**= Please add your suggestion at the TOP of this list directly underneath this message. Thank You! Hi Teachers, I think I would use the Wiki for collaborative writing. I've done something similar with one of my advanced writing classes. I think in the future, I would like to try this in my classroom. Ellen Reading is a difficult skill for anyone, but especially for an ESL student. I would create a wiki and list some microskills that should help students be more aware of when reading to aid memory and comprehension. For example, 1) is there a **picture or illustration** that could suggest what the text will be about and so activate students' schemata; 2) is there a **subtitle** that would suggest a contrasting idea to the main idea expressed in the title?; 3) **scan and skim** to get an idea of how the argument/topic is developing; 4) look at **paragraphs**: are they short or long (good for evaluating sustained concentration; 5) look at the **glossary**: a quick read of the words and their meaning will aid comprehension before reading; 6) **guess meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases in context** instead interrupting reading and searching the words or phrases in a smartphone dictionary. These are some of the essential microskills of reading. Happy reading everyone! Silvia F. Hi, I am looking forward to creating my first wiki for Canadian Citizenship ESL activities. A difficult subject area for Canadian ESL students is learning about the geography and place names of Canada. On my Wiki, I would have a map of Canada master page. Each province and territory name would be hyperlinked to its own page (ex - Ontario page). The students would have editing access to one of the provincial and territorial pages. They would be responsible for finding and inputting information about that province or territory, and for linking to pictures and short videos about the province. The pages would be open for viewing (not editing) by other members of the class. Depending on the language level, the students could also create a quiz for other viewers to complete after viewing their page. Sharon Hi there! In my EAP class, students practice research skills. One of them is to gather data from primary sources, specifically through interviews. I set up a class wiki to have students collaborate on interview questions. Then in class, I open the wiki and students get into partners and role-play. Afterwards, we reflect on what kinds of responses were given and if the questions really targeted the content we wanted. They are encouraged to go into the wiki again and edit, revise, add, delete, etc. Dave Greetings! This is a time of reconciliation with indigenous peoples of Canada. There is often little contact between refugee and immigrant communities and first nations people. Local teachers at an indigenous high school, Amiskwaciy Academy, have expressed interest in collaborating with instructors at MacEwan University. Indigenous and EAL students, after meeting each other in person and getting to know each other a little, for example by sharing about a meaningful object each has brought, could begin to share on the wiki. This could be done in pairs, but shared with all students with participant approval. Topics could be around themes or reflections on daily life or narrations about significant people in their own personal lives or those of people in their community. Video and audio could also be shared. Another perhaps better idea would be for students to co-create the wiki together and themselves decide the content and organization. Anne Marie Hi,I created my first wiki when I started working in a local LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) program. I once had my T-LINC (technology-based) class do mini grammar presentations. They used our class wiki to collaborate and upload their documents to share with the rest of the class. In addition to this, we had Citizenship preparation activities on our wiki and PBLA tasks. By the end of the term, it was a very comprehensive class tool. Michèlle Hello, After teaching essay writing for a while, I find that a wiki would be an excellent tool in having students reflect upon a topic and write thesis statements. Not only would publishing their thesis statements online make them more aware of the task, but it would also allow collaboration among peers where they could reflect and or improve each other’s work. Moreover, the entire essay could be elaborated into this type of an activity where students read and edit each other’s work. Not only would they conceptualize the structure of the essay but also on a variety of ideas.

Erna Response: The benefit of having access to other's work and sharing comments / editing/ brainstorming etc all can be managed well asynchronously on a wiki. Hi there,

One way to use a wiki site in a language classroom is as a place for learners to share assignments from a novel study. They can upload video and links to other websites that support the themes in the novel. As well, they can support each other's understanding of the novel by using the wiki as a place to ask questions or clarify the plot of the novel. Instructors can also post and direct the input on the page.

Rebecca Hi everyone, I am an online English and Portuguese teacher and I just learned about wikis through the course I am taking in Teaching and Technology. Based on what I've learned about wikis, I think it could be used in many kinds of projects and activities to improve students' writing skills like: writing a story in groups, creating vocabulary lists, posting articles and asking students to make comments to them, creating discussion forums, etc... I also liked the convenience of sharing one simple page and avoid using e-mail for group tasks. It's much simpler! Cinthia Ferreira Response: So many possibilities that don't require high end technology skills to maintain. The alternative to email sharing is an excellent example.

Hi Everyone, I teach English for Academic Purposes, and am new to wikis – thanks for all the useful ideas and advice written here. I’m going to try using them for students to write feedback to each other about their research papers and seminar discussions. If each student has his or her own wiki, it will allow all the class members to contribute cumulatively about the same paper or reading or topic. Diane Response: Each student can have their own wiki or you can give each student a page in one class wiki. Both solutions have worked for teachers I've worked with! ___ Hello everyone! I usually ask my students to write a story based on the new vocabulary words in the unit as groupwork. I can ask students to collaboratively work on their story on a class wiki. That way it motivates students to use their phones/tablets in a positive way in the classroom which hopefully will motivate them and give them a self of accomplishment and ownership when published. It's a good way to see everyone participating. Abdulwahab Ahmed Response: Tasks that can be done on students' own mobile devices can allow them to be engaged and working collaboratively in a new way in the classroom. Just be careful about the use of multiple students on one wiki site at a time - divide the task into different pages or assign groups or partners their own space to work in. I will often create multiple "group work" pages (group A, group B etc) so that each is editing their own area only while working at the same time. I teach LINC so it's continuous intake. It would be very helpful to students and teacher(s) to have a log of all each day's topics, lessons, worksheets, and highlights or challenges. A wiki would be a good tool for this. I could develop a template with some drop down menu choices. Students could be assigned the responsibility of updating the wiki. After some lessons in class as to how to navigate the wiki, I could make a schedule of responsibility, assigning each student a particular week that they had to update the class wiki. This would serve as a good resource for students to review what has been done in class, and also make students more accountable and aware of the topics and themes being studied in class. Laura Response: I like the idea of using it as a log to review content - and having the students take turns to be responsible is a great way to maintain the content and pass on some ownership of the page to the students!

I have heard and read about the use of Wikis in ESL classrooms, but I have not yet tried using these in mine. After reading all the ideas that have been posted here, I am feeling a lot more confident of using Wikis for my class. I plan to use this for my writing class to write an essay. One way of doing this would be to divide the class into 5 groups and assign each group one paragraph of the essay. Students can collaboratively write the essay and edit their peers’ work. I hope it will be a successful project.

Supriya Response: It is a tool that you can use with students without a lot of training. If they can send an email, they can participate on a wiki. A writing task like this should work well, I would set up a new page for each group so that they can work on their own page without disturbing the process of the other groups. Then you can post them all together.

Hello everyone!

I am just learning and becoming familiar with wikis. I often teach an EFL course called ENGL 104 Technical Communication. In this course, each group of 4 students produces a short research paper on a different engineering problem in Saudi Arabia. A proposed solution is suggested based on research data, a survey and interviews. I would have each group work on this assignment through the use of a wiki as a tool for writing this group research paper. In this way, students could collaborate in one locale without having to always meet in person or rely on emails. If appropriate, I would also ask each group to share their work on their wiki, via the wiki link, with the other groups for advice and possible contributions.

Donald

Response: Just remember that a wikipage is not designed for multiple users as the SAME time. So you can have them coordinate their time to post outside of class or give each student or group their own page to work on before combining results.

Hello!

A big thank you to everyone for sharing your ideas for using Wikis in the English learning classroom. I really appreciate how the collaborative nature of Wikis encourages learners participation in the course curriculum and direction.

At present I teach a LINC literacy class to people with limited education (up to 4 years formal education) and little computer experience. I'm hoping to create a secure environment online with the Wikis where we can play with copying single words/sentences, tables, and images. One activity which may be useful for literacy students is to give students a list of words/sentences about any given topic from which they choose and re-type the sentence in the Wiki. For example, if the topic was food. One student could type the words in a list separating the words based on whether they are fruit or vegetables. The next student could go in after and check their classmates work, adding more words or changing the words that are placed incorrectly. It's a starting activity which would encourage critical thinking in both language and digital literacy. I think I'll try it. Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes. ;-)

EnglishintheWoods

Hello everyone,

There seems to be infinite uses for a tool like wiki. But for one activity: Needs Assessments. Since we're assessing after each activity, why not invite learners to visit our wikispaces and actively participate in their own assessments by asking them to respond to activities presented and offer suggestion or direction of future activities and/or materials. Allread

Response: A good suggestion. Maintaining this throughout the course will allow the instructor to take the temperature of the students along the way.

Hello fellow ESL teachers! Your wiki ideas are great ! - Thanks! I am going to use some of them. Wikis are such a fantastic collaborative tool in an ESL classroom. It challenges our students to actively produce content rather than passively consume it. So, with the collaborative in mind, my idea is to have 4 or 5 **student written Reviews/recommendations wikis that are updated weekly** - all on a different practical theme such as: BEST websites for learning English" or " Cafes /restaurants in Milton with free Wifi" or "Best and Worst Movies " or "Best Grocery stores with Halal" - the different types of wikis could be endless, but the teacher could ask the students which types of things they would find useful to be reviewed (restaurants and movies are popular with my students) This type of exercise is practical as a resource for students and as a way for students to offer and write their recommendations in English. I would do this as a Monday/after the weekend activity when they are fresh from a variety of experiences out on the town and have their opinions at the ready! The students can then choose which "Review Wiki" to contribute to and also browse a few to see what others have (just) written and perhaps add their comments/recommendations. ~Cheers! Marcella Corroeli Jager

Just as we are creating a collection of ideas for using Wikis, I think I would use a wiki to collect my students’ tips for language learning. I consider study methods a very important part of the development of a course, and I am constantly suggesting tips to study grammar structures or strategies for oral expression, etc. Having a page in which students post their experiences with a strategy or recommend this or that study technique, can be beneficial for all students in different ways. On one hand, they are practicing writing while sharing their thoughts about how to learn a language; on the other hand, reading about the learning experiences of others can lead them to self-assessment and to adopt a number of study techniques. Maritza

Response: //It is a useful exercise to reflect on how they learn and I’m sure it will be informative for you to see what your students rely on to help them learn. //

I'm just learning and getting familiar with wiki. It is a great tool. I'll use it for a class news letter to begin with or post a weekly news article and students can comment about it. It can be a fun way for the class to actively participate in creative writing. Geetha

//Response: A weekly news article would be an engaging way to get students to read and write while using current meaningful texts! Great idea Geetha!//

Hi...Wikis are a great collaborative tool in an ESL classroom. It could be used as a catch all for students to record ‘what we did today’. This could serve as a joint journal highlighting the day’s events in the classroom. It would be helpful for the absent students or those that felt like they missed something in class. It would be student driven, so a forum for students to help each other. It may be assigned to a specific student or group each week with other students adding what may have been missed as needed. Another option could be creative story building. A story topic or outline would be provided and each student, or group of students would be responsible for a different story element to create one cohesive narrative. (ie. Location, protagonist, antagonist, plot, conflict, climax, solution…)

Patti

Hello, I would use wikis as a collaborative tool for class vocabulary learning. The students would create a list of vocabulary from the unit they study in class and will be asked to collaborate to describe word families, parts of speech, make sample sentences or create their own exercises with this vocabulary. They can also add comments to the descriptions from other students.

Nataliya

//I'm just learning about wikis. I think it is a good idea to use wikis for students to share ideas on a particular subject they are interested in. For example, students can exchange their opinions and experiences about job skills, interview preparation, and/or any job related issues. Later, they can use their notes for writing a paragraph or a group presentation. By doing this, ESL students practise all four skills plus use of technology.//

//Iryna//

Hello All, When engaged in web research most of my students will immediately jump to Wikipedia (frequently the sole source of their information). Instead of trying to get them to look at other pages I think using the "wiki" brand might bear better fruit. By using a wiki they can move from passive to active. Active means engaged which in turns means motivated. I have been using the Moodle platform because that is the only platform approved by my school. However, I think I might convince the school administration that wiki is more user-friendly and learning-friendly environment because it is more likely to activate student interest. I am especially impressed with the collaborative use function. The students really need to see that working together is possible in an online environment which too often is mired in chat and entertainment function. For other technologies that you can use in the classroom have a look at this blog [[@http://edtechpower.blogspot.com/|]]. Its a great starting point for the journey into technology in education. I am going to use this space as well as the previous hyperlink in a presentation to my department chair in an effort to wean her off of a moodle-only diet. phoebe_english

Hi everyone,
 * Claudie**

I, too, like the collaborative nature of a wiki and the multitude of uses it could have. I've used it to collect information on similarities and differences in greeting people in students' cultures vs Canadian culture and to have students outline pros/cons/tips on online meetings. I could also see it being used for pre-course work such as course expectations, classroom rules, etc. The wikis I've used have been built in to the Moodle platform and not so easy to use, so it's nice to learn about some more use-friendly options.

Tracy D

I might try using a class wiki this month to support the health theme we are working on. We are making posters for student groups to present. Perhaps students could collaborate online and add links, ideas, and images as they go. Lucy

There are so many different uses for Wiki in an ESL class. Collaborative research projects can include virtually any topic: History, geography, nature, plant-medicine, health, current events, or any subject your students are interested in. This is great for motivation and easily adapted for the unique make-up of your students. It's versatile, too. You can use movies, music, charts, or numerous other visual delights to create discussions and collaborative group work. I like the idea of test preparation and study guides, too. Students could collaborate on what they expect will be included in up-coming tests. Or, students can work in small groups creating study guides for each semester. They can build on the rubric to create the content of the course in study guide projects.

Karen Scott-Murray

**Lots of great ideas for how to use the wiki with your class! The adaptive, flexible nature of how you use it for each group is key.**


 * I'm just learning about wikis now, even though I've been quite interested in them for some time. I really like the collaborative nature of the wikis, and would like to get my Japanese students to explain things about where they live, in English of course, on a group wiki. I think it would work well in that it would be a subject that they are familiar with, but they have to use English (not so easy!) to do so. That type of local knowledge would really benefit people coming to live or sightsee in the area.**


 * rachellesensei**


 * Response: The idea of building up a wiki with knowledge familiar to the students but with the need to share in English is good. The purpose involves an authentic need to communicate and their desire to promote and share makes the activity meaningful. The wiki provides an easily editable method to do this for the Japanese students.**


 * Wikis are very good for language learning for many reasons. They create an environment for learning which is resourceful and technologically interactive. An organized source of dealing with information that is available with the touch of a button. They can be updated and provide an effective and engaging method of student problem-solving.**
 * Wikis also allow the instructor of the class to have ample time to monitor their students' progress and deal with them on a more needs related basis. I think they are an effective and productive alternative to face to face teaching (of course the two must be used jointly)**


 * Ben Ji**

Hi there, When teaching beginners, a Wiki would be a useful tool to help with learning new words and the correct pronunciation. Instead of each student recording the teacher say a list of vocabulary words, a chapter in the class Wiki could contain this recording. To accompany the audio a reference image would be included. Between classes the students could listen to the words and repeat the vocabulary as many times as necessary. Also, a Wiki would be good place for students new to Canada to learn about the diversity of Canadian culture available in their specific location. This list could include links to cultural events such as the Highland Games or the Caribbean Festival. Kathleen

(response) Kathleen, that sounds like a great way to use a wiki! I'd really like to try this in the future. (rachellesensei) Highland Games


 * Wikis can be a useful tool when working with case studies or problem-based learning exercises, as these are often group efforts. After reading and analyzing a case study or problem, students can collaborate on their wiki to analyze the situation and negotiate a solution. The wiki can then be used to create a document that reflects the solution – either individually so that other students can comment on it, or as a group document, such as a report which students can craft and edit together. Another advantage of this kind of exercise is that it prepares students in some ways for the type of teamwork many of them will experience in the workplace.**


 * I think it’s important, however, that whenever possible wikis be used in conjunction with more traditional face-to-face group work. Wikis can provide great scaffolding for active, meaningful class and group discussions.**


 * Paul**

Greetings all,
 * Most students know Wikipedia so adding a wiki gives them a chance to see how this powerful collaborative Internet tool works. This would add to their knowledge of the real world ("realia"!) I would be letting the students know that I have high expectations from them all - the tech savvy students and the computer challenged. Through this task they would all become more confident in using the computer. (Some might need strong support - I might manipulate group membership to include at least one strong "webhead")**
 * One way of using a wiki is to collaborate on solving a problem, or doing a task.**


 * It is a good idea to know something about a company before going to a job interview so I would use a wiki to give the students practice on finding and compiling information about different companies (also Canadian workplace information.)**
 * Theme: Employment**
 * Topic: Looking for a Job**
 * Sub-topic: Interview preparation**
 * Objectives: 1. Students will become familiar with a few of Canada's top companies.**
 * 2. Students will know how to research a company as part of preparation for a job interview.**
 * 3. Students will use the 4 skills - reading, writing, speaking, listening and will become more confident in using the computer.**


 * I would divide the students into groups (ideally 4 members ) to research top Canadian Companies. The groups would be able to see each others wikis as they develop but would not be able to edit them.**
 * PART ONE: Each student would suggest one aspect of a company that they would think would be important to research to help them in their job search and at an interview. and create a question for this. [Question form would be pre-taught/reviewed]. The questions would be posted in a class wiki. The students would not be able to see their classmates questions until all the students had posted their questions (or the deadline had been reached).**
 * PART TWO: The students would decide in class which four questions they should research. In groups they would discuss how they would research the companies.**
 * PART THREE: The questions would be posted in the wiki and each group would work on the research. (They would be encouraged to use weblinks, images, etc.) They would decide if everyone could post answers to all questions or if one person would be responsible for one question - but the others could add/edit the answer. The groups would be able to see the other groups work, but not be able to edit.(This way the students would all learn from each other, and would be reading the material posted - if they wanted to)**
 * PART FOUR: After the cut off date/time had been reached the groups would prepare a presentation using the material they had gathered. [Guidelines for giving presentations would have been pre-taught.} (There is good material in the LINC 5-7 Activity binders)**


 * Claudie**


 * Response: Making deliberate choices in your group makeup is very helpful if you have a variety of technology comfort levels in the class. Building a resource is a great project idea and they could certainly see the relevance to their own life outside of the class. Great suggestion!**


 * I think Wiki is a useful tool in ESL class. If we provide a balance and a variety of activities, then our lessons will appeal to students with different learning types. Wiki engages students on a practical level where they can gather information and document their work. The class is divided into groups and each group brainstorms environmental issues and climate change. It is great because it helps students practice their skills by peer editing. **
 * Dori **


 * Response: Definitely an advantage of using a wiki is the ability to promote collaborative nature of learning within writing projects as well as other types of class projects! I like that you recognized the benefit for different learning types. **

Group Project Decorate and describe your favourite room** 1. Students are divided in groups of three or four and are given a group assignment. Group one - Design your favourite kitchen. Group two - Design your favourite living room. Group three - Design your favourite bedroom. 2. Select the pieces of furniture that you would like to use. Use the provided pictures. You can download some pictures from the internet in advance. 3 Describe your favorite room. Write a short paragraph, 5-7 sentences, using the prepositions below. in the right/left corner, beside, opposite, in the middle of, on the other side Neli Radeva
 * Hello everyone,**
 * If you teach LINC 1-2 class, I have an idea for a group project that I would like to share with you.**

I think that it would be great to use wikis for a variety of class projects. One project that I used to assign was a small group presentation plus a poster. Now the small groups (which could be 2 to 4 students, but 3 is the best) could create a colorful wiki instead of a poster. The task was to summarize a newspaper article, list 5-6 key words with definitions and examples from the article, and prepare 3 to 5 questions for the audience, both factual and opinion questions. Each part of the project is assigned to one of the members of the team, but they must collaborate to ensure they understand the article and the vocabulary as well as to coordinate the content. Now, the article could become an online resource, or they could research the related topic more deeply to include other points of view and their own opinions. (Ideas: Current events/Local news/ Legalizing Marijuana/Technology in the Classroom/ The Impact of Social Media on Relationships, etc.). The second idea is to write book reports and collaborate on creating questions and quizzes for classmates. The classmates could exchange comments on the book as well as reflect on their learning through group work (reflections could be made private). Finally, wikis could be used to plan a class party, a field trip, or a community research project.

Marina Sokolova

Response: The uses of a wiki for collaboration and development of content, shared resources etc is endless. You've shared some great ideas for a language class that would encourage writing and use of language via a wiki.

The idea of the yearbook got me thinking of using wikis to create a monthly or perhaps weekly class journal or newsletter, with each student participating as reporters and editors.

Also, I've enjoyed group short story writing exercises, in which students start a story and then the page circulates around to every student for a timed, short writing session. The story is finished when it is returned to the originator. Wikis could be the perfect venue for this fun, creative exercise. Previously, I used old-school pen and paper, and often students couldn't read each other's scrawl- the wiki would solve that issue. Leslie Smith

I think the wiki is a great tool for a class to explore a theme or start a project together. I wonder though, how the validity of a wiki would stand up to a more youthful socialized digital experience such as facebook (as these days mini-wikis exist inside Facebook's platforms). I only say this because it seems that youth these days only use their digital devices in very limited capacities with limited scope. That is not to say that what they are doing is limited and out of touch though. In fact, the social networking realm, in my opinion, is very in tune with what we are trying to achieve in teaching digital literacy. A wiki, by definition, is a shared space where ideas can be posted and expressed. In my opinion, social networking platforms do that already, but add more to the picture. Maybe it is a dream to think that one day students can log in to FB and do school work (wouldn't that be great if they could!?), but part of me believes that the battle to keep FB out of classrooms cannot be won.

FB a FAD?

Future of FB?

Chris Brown

Response: The debate over Facebook is a heated one. I appreciate the options / format and how that is possibly more appealing. My questions arise not about the types of activities but the student’s reaction to bringing what is their personal domain into a mandatory educational practice. If they were allowed to block access and taught how to do that in regards to aspects of their personal profile, then using a page that would then be integrated to the students news feed etc might be an attractive option. The same would apply to the instructors – who as adults may have content they are unwilling to open up to their students or cross over into their professional roles. Design options allow for distinctions to be made now – so Facebook may become a more attractive option as a tool for education.

I think wikis could be an excellent place for students to create and maintain a list of vocabulary words. This may be especially useful for EAP students who are constantly bombarded with new vocabulary. Students should be encouraged to contribute new words, including a definition, word forms, and example sentences.

Danielle

I really like your idea of students creating their own list of vocabulary. It is an excellent strategy for students to manage the overwhelming AWL. Students who are invloved in creating the lists and giving each other feedback are more likely to increase vocabulary retention. In addition the new words are more likely to be introduced in a meaningful context when they are shared by classmates. I think that students would benefit from creating their own exercises such as fill in the blank or multiple choice. The exercises could draw on the example sentences submitted by students.

Marie Noelle

Hi all, I like the idea of having pronunciation tutorials linked to the wiki. To take the year book idea to a different level, I think that setting up individual student pages with discussion tabs would be a great way to get students to post journal entries and have others comment on them. I like the idea of having pages of links devoted to a particular subject, so that students don't have to type in url's. For low level students it's an easy way to surf for different subjects without getting overwhelmed by the internet. Inserting widgets like Hot potato exercises is a fun way to get students using their right brains to learn language. Keltie Coad

I would use this wiki to post a new word every day; students then have to comment in the target language and use that new word.

I think a wiki is a great place to start a student yearbook! New students could be added at the end of every term and students could update their bios as they progressed through the levels.

I would use Wiki for pronunciation tutorials.

Sample Link below is "th" voiced and voiceless sounds. Several sites also have practice exercises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag4qoNzEH4w Deborah Ricketts

Yes those are good ideas. I would like to see students submit their questions and other students could answer them. They could edit each other's writing and they could develop practise exercises for each other to complete.

Bonnie White

Here is a simple exercise for sentence stress Sentence Stress

I think wikis could be a great place for students to explore creative writing. For example, as a class students could decide on a theme. Once this has been established, everyone begins to contribute to an ongoing story (perhaps on a weekly basis). Students should incorporate class vocabulary as well as specific grammatical structures they've been learning. Each student submits their entries by e-mail to the instructor (maybe for evaluative purposes). Students may contribute something new to the plot, or they may completely change something that somebody else has written. Towards the end of the course/semester, students turn their story into a script (either for television or the cinema). Finally, students act out their class drama.

Christopher Kapoor

I think wikis could be a great place for students to develop their own version of an academic word list each semester. It could be set up much as a word journal for the whole class to access and study.

Karen

Response: Something I have seen teachers have success with. A great use of collaboration.

I love the creative writing ideas! I work with adults and they like to have assignments that are employment related. I would use a Wiki to provide cover letter and resume templates. I would encourage students to publish their cover letters and resumes as well as jobs that they are interested in. As well, students would be encouraged to publish jobs that they find that others might be interested in.

Brenda

I love the idea of wikis being used to generate ideas for creative writing. This would work well for theme based-writing at any level. Students can incorporate new words they have learned and incorporate it in their writing. Sometimes at the lower levels I have them write in groups. One simple line at a time and the best part is they help another. In the end they have completed a group project and feel good about it.

Julie

I think wikis can be very useful in a writing class. Students can be invited to work in groups; one group would have to write an essay; other groups would comment on the essay structure and contents. They might suggest new arguments to support the ideas, better ways to logically connect the paragraphs, or simply correct mistakes. This activity would allow the students to develop critical thinking and, possibly, boost their creativity. There is a drawback, however; to participate in this work, all students in the class should be confident computer users, and this is not very likely when you teach a class of new immigrants.

Olga

Response: I have found that my students - level 5 LINC are actually quite computer - that is their computer skills are much better than their writing skills. I like your idea re: writing class. Another idea would be to have students use this platform to write about the themes/topics of the day i.e. Famous Canadians, First Nations, Geographical Regions etc. This would inspire them to write and learn about Canada at the same time - an important part of the LINC and ESL curriculum in Canada. Other writing ideas might include formal business letter writing - letters of inquiry, letters of complaint, thank you letters etc. Students could correct each other and respond to these letters.

Lisa

I have used journals in class. I have used this exercise with LINC levels as low as level 2. I think wikis would be an excellent means of extending the journal exercise. Students might be able to share their entries and other students can post their comments on the wikis in this way. I never correct their journals for spelling or grammar, rather I extend the conversation using their errors in my entry. I find that they get more out of my corrections if they go back and check their mistakes. They know I comment with their errors in mind so they are quite keen to see my entries. It is a more dynamic approach then the more traditional writing lesson. I also find that it acts as a positive reinforcer. My students enjoy looking back at their entries and see their own progress. I would love to hear from anyone who uses this approach or others with journals.

Marla

Response: This sounds like a perfect fit for a class wiki. Now they would write for a wider audience than just their instructor and so the writing becomes more meaningful. The collaborative nature of a wiki allows for you to design the task to stretch the value of the writing.

Hello Everyone!!

I would use a Wiki to have my students share their experiences about our monthly in-class presentations. They can share tips and ideas on how to present effectively and also how to get over the jitters of presetting in front of their classmates. One of their biggest concerns is the time allowed for presentations, 15 – 20 minutes. They think is too much and hearing from other could put them at ease.

Victor Charun

Response: T he idea of using the wiki to take a “temperature check” and share strategies and information could be useful for all.

HeIlo, Christmas is coming and I was wondering what to task my ESL Microsoft Office class as a project. We have a large bulletin board in the hall for our exclusive use and I thought we could display the twelve days of Christmas as we count down to our winter vacation. I'm going to set up a class Wiki for this project and have pairs of students responsible for one component of the project. Our Wiki will be used for collaboration of the pictures and text needed for each component of the song. Once our collaboration is complete, those responsible for the first day of Christmas will post the words and picture of a partridge in a pear tree, the second on the next day and so on until we reach the twelfth day of Christmas. Hopefully, the other students in the school will monitor our bulletin board daily to see the story develop. All the brain work, however, will be done on a Wiki!

Teddi Koppers

Hi!

While Implementing the PBLA, I find Wiki a great place not only to have students share their ideas, develop creative thinking, create lists of new vocabulary or idioms they have recently learned and so on, but I also find it fit for peer or self-assessment followed by teacher’s assessment. One of the strategies to enhance progress is this kind of assessment. Peers assess each other’s tasks (or each student assesses his/her task) and then the teacher will check it and discuss achievements and weaknesses with the students. It's a very democratic way of assessment which contributes to independent learning and success. Another thing I can use Wikis is to discuss movies we watch in the class. Almost every Friday we watch a movie which is related to our theme and students are given movie related tasks. I think, Wiki can be a perfect fit for such kind of discussion.

Dhurata Sinani

Response: Peer assessment is another great idea for using a wiki with your students. Be careful with using a wiki for a discussion if it is happening at the same time. The tool we used for synchronous editing (grammar revision in titanpad) would be better if the students are posting at the same time. Or you can create a page for each student to write their class work on and this would allow for editing without affecting other's work.

Hello! I'm new to the idea of utilizing wiki pages for my students but am very impressed with how easy and accessible it is. I am thinking of introducing my class to Wiki as a project, a collaborative bulletin that would outline where students have come from and what they hope to learn in the new semester. It will be exciting to see what they come up with and how they adapt to using this tool. Thanks for all the tips and ideas!

R.A Malhas

Hello.

Thanks to all the posters above for some great ideas. I would use a wiki at the beginning of semester as part of the get to know each other process as well as the start of the 'family' unit. Students could post a bit about themselves and their families, and reflect on various ideas as we work through the unit and learn about different types of family structure and family traditions.

L.A.