Wikis in the Classroom

Wikis are sites that visitors can contribute to by editing and creating content without special restricted access. It is a live site with collaboration from visitors sharing information and resources. Wikis can be used in the classroom by teachers with other teachers, students with other students, and teachers with their students/parents.

The first example of wikis being used in collaboration with teachers is in the planning and development stages of their units. A large amount of time is spent in meetings planning lessons and sharing resources. Using a wiki would allow this same process to happen when the time is best for the teacher without any information being lost. Teachers can set up wiki pages for the unit and other team teachers would add their outlines, resources, or lesson plans. With this collaboration, questions can be posed, links, resources, and pictures can be shared quickly and a chronological timeline of the conversation is kept to refer back to when needed.

The second example is wikis being used student-to-student for projects or other group activities. After the teacher has created the wiki page, students will be able to collaborate in the creation of their project outline, add their own submission to the whole project without having to meet separately to put it all together. Students would be able to work outside of school when it is best for them. This would also give the teacher access to monitor the progress of the group and give feedback while it is being created.

The last example of wikis being used in the classroom is the teacher-student/parent relationships. Wikis can be used as a tool to get information to the students and parents after school without having to rely on the students giving the flyer to their parents. Links to forms can be added so parents have immediate access. It can be a home page for reminders, notes about the day, upcoming events, and parent questions for the classroom.

The possibilities are up to the teacher's creative imagination.

In this post, I'll explain copyright, fair use and the permissible amounts of copyrighted information that can be used by teachers/students. Dictionary.com defines copyright as "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work." This protects the right of the creator to be compensated for their work. These pieces of work must be written down and be creative. When thinking about what can be used in the classroom, teachers must remember that nearly everything original is copyrighted once created. Authors do not have to announce their copyright or display the copyright symbol to have their work protected. It is widely recommended to assume a work is copyright protected and ask permission before using.


There are situations where you are not required to ask permission. These situations would fall under the fair use rule. This doctrine is only allowed when the person is not using the work for the purpose of creating income for themselves. Work may be used within fair use when being used in an educational setting. When determining fair use, some factors must be considered:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. the nature of the copyrighted work.
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (Education World, 2015)

There are guideline educators have created that are geared towards their specific line of work. The guidelines allow them to copy:

• a single chapter from a book

• an excerpt from a work that combines language and illustrations, such as a children's book, not exceeding two pages or 10 percent of the work, whichever is less

• a poem of 250 words or less or up to 250 words of a longer poem

• an article, short story, or essay of 2,500 words or less, or excerpts of up to 1,000 words or 10 percent of a longer work, whichever is less; or

• a single chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper. (Education World, 2015)

The guidelines do not allow them to:

• make multiple copies of different works as a substitute for the purchase of books or periodicals

• copy the same works for more than one semester, class, or course

• copy the same work more than nine times in a single semester

• use copyrighted work for commercial purposes

• use copyrighted work without attributing the author. (Education World, 2015)

Welcome to my blog! This will be my home base for all things literacy and learning through literacy. This involves reading, writing, literacy technology, media literacy and more. I am a certified teacher in Early Childhood through Fourth Grade in general education and English as a Second Language (ESL). I hold a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Literacy/ESL and a Literacy Specialist Certification. I have taught Kindergarten through Second grade in Texas and overseas in Madrid, Spain. I believe in strong literacy programs and hold firm to the idea that all students can be successful.

Through this blog, I will share literacy resources, current research in literacy education from early childhood through twelfth grade, activities and games I love, strategies for parents to use at home, and everything in between. Through this technology course, I expect to collect new and improved ways of sharing my information with my readers on a platform that keeps up with the quickly changing times. Thanks for visiting my space and I look forward to seeing you back here soon!

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