Thing #16... Wikis

~in Hawaiian, wiki wiki, means fast; a wiki is a social text~

I can't believe that wikis have been around for such a long time and I am finally learning about them. What a precious time saver that can be on a personal level! When I watched the video, I realized that from now on I would never use emails again for who brings what at parties! That is social software at its best, as far as I am concerned. No more nightmare coordinating a school faculty party and the confusing list of cross-referencing emails! Wikis rock!

Classroom use? Since wikis are basically collaborative texts where people can add, remove & edit content to share knowledge and thus construct meaning together, I can see using it as a great brainstorming tool --a virtual KWL chart of sorts. The fact that you can keep up on what has been changed and by whom is also great for a class project based on collaboration and sharing knowledge on a certain topic, and it keeps everyone accountable!

I really like the way Mr. Miller's Wiki 10 English is set up for his students and I would probably use his framework as a start-up in my own class. He has students compile descriptions of story elements and provide supporting text via a wiki which then allows the students to share and add on using one single document. I also liked another way Mr. Miller used technology: he used his blog Miller's English 10 Classroom Blog to post writing assignments and his students wrote their reflections as comments. However, after reading Meredith Gorran Farkas' Wikis: A Beginner's Look, my only concern is that she suggested that wikis might not be the best tool if one tends to be a "control freak," which I think I am at times...

Participating in a wiki is indeed as simply as edit -write- save! The first one I went to was the Library Blogger Wiki and I added Library2Play under Professional Expert blog! :) Then I went ahead and added my thoughts to the SBISD Library Future Wiki sandbox which was a piece of cake too! I was wondering... Is PB wiki the best farm out there to use?