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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Thing #16 Wikis

I enjoyed learning more about Wikis. I have been very curious about them, knew a little bit about Wikipedia, but really didn't understand how it all worked together. I guess the true test will be if I can actually start one on my own - perhaps a idea for staff development.

I went to the sandbox and wrote my entry. I changed the color and the text, but forgot to put a link in the message. Anyway, adding information was very easy.

I would like to use a wiki as a collaboration tool between the teachers at my school and me. It would be a great way for us to have "conversations" about what we want to do in the library. I know my staff, and I will have to convince them that this isn't just "one more thing added to their plate," but that it is a way to make collaboration and arranging meetings easier for everyone.

I can also see trying to set one up for better communication with the students. When they are in the library, they all want to talk to me at the same time, and they all have great information to share. This may be a way for me to be able to hear what all of them have to say - especially when they are wanting to discuss books!

I can see the pros and cons about using Wikipedia for research. I am always reminded of the episode of the Colbert Report when he went to Wikipedia and edited information to make a certain animal no longer on the endangered list. He just made things up and added it to the elephant webpage. If some child was using Wikipedia for research, they wouldn't have their facts written correctly in their report (until someone caught it and corrected the information). It's a great way to introduce using reliable resources for research.

3 comments:

Grendel said...

Good ideas and well worth exploring. Are you setting up a wiki for any of those things? I have read posts from other players about their wikis, but I am still learning how to put mine together. I think it will be useful beyond expectation when I finally structure it to do what I want!

Terry said...

I also read about an elementary teacher who had his class create a wikipedia entry for a local historic site. It was factual but brief. Then they watched as others, with more knowledge, fleshed out the entry with more information. They know that they started that entry! I thought it was interesting. Never looked for SBISD in Wikipedia...

Mrs. K Lewis said...

I think having a wiki for staff communication is a great idea! I will help support and cheer it on from the teacher front! Let me know if you want help setting one up for MWE. There are even ones available for educators without advertisements.