Using wikis to experience history

Action Research;history education;technology in education;community college;wikis

Martin, Vance S.

关键词: Action Research;    history education;    technology in education;    community college;    wikis;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/24084/Martin_Vance.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This dissertation is an action research study examining the use of technology toencourage critical thinking and digital literacy in a community college history class. Thestudents are responsible for researching course material and teaching the class. They then use awiki to contribute to and edit an interactive, online textbook that has been created by studentsover several semesters. The goal is to link more interactive technologies with what the authorterms socially democratic education, by empowering students to create knowledge andencouraging them to consider biases in historical writing.Two main research questions are considered, each with related sub-questions. First, whatdo students experience using an educational wiki and an open classroom? Are the students ableto think critically about history? The work of Giroux (1978) is used to discuss the criticalthinking that emerged in the class.Second, what are the relationships between the wiki and open classroom, and democraticeducation? How is that observable? What role does the teacher play? Is this a criticalpedagogy? Evidence of socially democratic learning is examined, and Freire (2009) is used toanalyze the presence of a critical pedagogy.Several issues are raised as the result of the study, and their implications are discussed.These include the loss of teacher control with this type of pedagogy, the need for a balancebetween allowing freedom for discovery and organizational structure, and issues related to trustand identity.