PBWorks and other Wikis

This week we were asked to look at PBWorks.  I believe I have been introduced to it before (many years ago).  I didn't use because I was new to teaching and was trying to keep my head above water...lol!  And at the time I had a hard to figuring out just how I would use it in the classroom.


What is are wikis and what are their affordances?
Wikis are a collaboration space.  It is a living space.  It is constantly under revision.  One of the biggest affordances of wikis is the collaborative nature of them.  With wikis being web-based they can be accessed anytime from anywhere.  For a teacher, it is easy to see the changes that have been made and who made them.  This is nice because the teacher can see how the work has been distributed (who has pulled their weight and who hasn't).  Wikis are nice because there are places to store files, images, etc.

I think there are two main learning theories that wikis can apply to:  social learning and constructivist.  In regards to the social learning theory, the students are collaborating, they are working together.  It is bringing students together and learning from each other.  Not only the content, but behaviors.  In regards to the constructivist learning theory, the students are constructing their knowledge by working with each and piecing their learning together instead of sitting passively in a desk being the "receivers of knowledge".  They are constructing the knowledge.  With the wikis, they are finding their information/discussing their information and creating meaning out of it.


PBWorks
As I stated before, I think that I have been introduced to PBWorks (many years ago) before but never used it because I was still new in my teaching and unfamiliar with the technology of the district.

Anyway,  I have come to PBWorks with a new perspective and definitely more experience.  I think one of the things I like the best about PBWorks is the fact that students don't have to have email addresses.  The teacher can create accounts for the students.  Here is one drawback though, once you create accounts you better print out the user names and passwords while the screen is up otherwise you have to "reset" the student's password.

One activity I could have the students do is their blogging here.  It is under one location and easy for the students to find.  The one thing that worries me is a student can "steal key" and edit someone else's page.  This is with the free edition.  I know that the owner/administrator can control access of pages.  But it is only with the premium edition.

As I am thinking about my design project which was over Author's Purpose I am thinking about ways that students could use PBWorks.  Some of the natural disaster projects I would have them do would lend well to PBWorks.  In specific I am thinking of the photo montage they have to do.  They can upload their pictures and create their "presentation" through a wiki.

Space with the free PBWorks is limited.  I only have 2 gig for files.


Wikispaces
I used Wikispaces a little bit in one of my other graduate classes.  We used the Wikispaces more as a "discussion" forum more than anything.  I do like Wikispaces except for the fact that people (students) joining HAVE to have an email.  Up until recently our students have not had email addresses.  And so I would not have been able to use Wikispaces in my classroom.  One feature that I have "played" with is the Projects aspect of Wikispaces.  This seems like a pretty cool thing to try.  This would be a good place for a novel study (the Reading teacher in me) projects.  There could be a space for each novel and each person reading that novel would have access to that book.  One nice thing is that we can set permissions.  So that once all projects are done and turned in I could set permissions so that all members can view the pages but only team members can make changes.  This would allow a "gallery walk" of projects.  I like the fact that I have to approve the membership for the wiki.  Or I can give a join code for the students to join.

Space with Wikispaces is limited also but I do get 5 gig with Wikispaces.


Overall thoughts
I think at this point if I had to choose between PBWorks and Wikispaces, I think that I would go with Wikispaces.  I really like the feature of PBWorks that I can create the student accounts but unless I pay for the premium version I can't keep someone from editing someone else's page.  Granted, I can see the edits that take place and can take action but there is not a way in the free version to safeguard against that.  On the other hand, Wikispaces does require an email.  At this point that would be okay.  I really like the Projects aspect of Wikispaces.  I also really like the fact that Wikispaces does give me 5 gig over the 2 gig of PBWorks. I think that for my classroom and functionality in my classroom, I would go with Wikispaces.