Creating Wiki Develops Student Literacy Skills

Kids Study Literature Through Creative Writing Online

Oct 27, 2009

Students learn new ways of analyzing literature through "Wiki-Wire," a school project that lets them develop an online lexicon for the sci fi Softwire book series.

For a group of students at Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona, analyzing and writing about literature took on a new dimension when they were invited to create a “wiki,” or an online information site that can be edited and expanded by its members, for PJ Haarsma’s sci fi Softwire books, a series about teenage slaves on an alien world.

Dubbed “Wiki-Wire,” this independent school project has students analyze the extraterrestrials, alien worlds, and terminology in the books and develop an online lexicon of aliens, places, and terms to help newcomers understand the Softwire universe. As students develop this lexicon online, other wiki members can edit their entries or propose additions, letting students work collectively.

Teaching With Interactive Educational Activities for Kids

Wiki-Wire began when Kerri Mathew and Devon Adams, both Basha English teachers, gave a presentation at a 2008 Language and Literacy Conference on using new media and online tools such as wikis, fan sites, and web pages for teaching English language arts.

“Composition today is slowly being redefined,” states Adams, who notes that many kids now interact with literature through websites and message boards. “Composition is no longer pen and paper, composition is multi-modal, image, video, and audio.”

The presentation intrigued Dr. Jim Blasingame, an associate professor of English Education at Arizona State University, who introduced Adams and Mathew to Haarsma, who had been promoting The Softwire through new computer games to encourage literacy.

Haarsma spent two days at Basha in the late fall semester of 2008 talking about his books and writing process to the entire freshman class and a separate creative writing class. His talks so enthused the kids that when Adams, Mathew, and creative writing teacher Lindsay Palbykin proposed creating an online lexicon for The Softwire, forty students joined the school project.

Using Wetpaint.com, a free wiki hosting website, Adams and Mathew created a private wiki template – and then let students explore the technology and build the wiki on their own.

“One hundred percent of the wiki was made by the kids – every bit of content and formatting,” states Mathew. “The thing about a wiki is that it’s something a community builds – the idea is that it becomes a collaborative process where all the minds get together and ask questions, and correct each other, so it’s not one person owning the content, it’s this group of people that are interested that own that content.”

Developing an Online Lexicon

While some students contributed only a handful of entries to the lexicon, others, such as sophomore Taylor Collins and junior Corbin Averett, contributed dozens of entries – at one point going into competition with each other to see who could write the most.

“A lot of things we read through [the books] and look for details,” says Averett, who admits he wasn’t a big writer or reader before the project. “Sometimes we have to ask Mr. Haarsma for more information… We’re working on the different slang terms they use on Orbis, like burnin’ – we have to use context to figure out what it means.”

Currently, The Softwire Series Lexicon on Wiki-Wire contains over a hundred definitions of alien races, places, and terminology, complete with pronunciation guides and alien pictures taken from Haarsma’s Rings of Orbis online game. And although the wiki is still private due to it being a school project, Adams, Mathew, and Haarsma all hope to open Wiki-Wire up to more members in the future.

“Like anything else online, Wiki-Wire will expand and grow,” states Haarsma. “That’s what’s exciting about it. The next class will come in when Book 4 comes out. So it’ll be interesting to see the evolution of it.”

Sharing Wiki-Wire

In March 2009, the students and teachers involved in Wiki-Wire got a chance to share their work with the public at ASU’s multi-media Decision Theater. Along with Haarsma, who spoke about his future plans for his books, the students navigated their wiki for the audience, showcasing their online lexicon and other online features.

And while Adams made it clear to the kids that the school project was not for a grade, students will receive something more tangible – publication of and credit for their lexicon in the paperback edition of Haarsma’s third Softwire book Wormhole Pirates on Orbis 3.

“[My editor] was very excited about putting the lexicon in the book,” states Haarsma. “She loved the idea that it was kids that are fans of the books that are involved in an educational format to expand the universe.”

In the end then, Wiki-Wire has provided students with a unique opportunity to improve writing skills and experience literature analysis in a decidedly unique way, through online learning tools.

Adams, Devon. In Person Interview, Wiki-Wire: YA Lit Meets the Future. ASU Decision Theater. Tempe. 28 March 2009.

Averett, Corbin. In Person Interview, Wiki-Wire: YA Lit Meets the Future. ASU Decision Theater. Tempe. 28 March 2009.

Haarsma, PJ. In Person Interview, Wiki-Wire: YA Lit Meets the Future. ASU Decision Theater. Tempe. 28 March 2009.

Mathew, Kerri. In Person Interview, Wiki-Wire: YA Lit Meets the Future. ASU Decision Theater. Tempe. 28 March 2009.

AIC 101

The copyright of the article Creating Wiki Develops Student Literacy Skills in Teaching & Technology is owned by Michael Jung. Permission to republish Creating Wiki Develops Student Literacy Skills in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.