Thing 9 - Wiki Wiki!

I think the concept of the Wiki is great, but I think security and "vandalism” must be a big issue. The sites I visited were protected and you either has to be part of a select group, or at least sign up, in order to edit and/or post. Some would allow you to post, but then it’s just a blog, isn’t it? I had trouble deciding if they were websites, wikis, or blogs. There were good ideas out there though. The “Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki”, http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page , had a lot of good information for librarians and IT people. It wasn’t as user friendly as others, but I could see it as a wiki rather than a one person website or a blog. In “Kyli and Brittney’s wiki space” and “Brittany’s Space”, http://bjordan.wikispaces.com/ , the students organized class notes to help study for English class. This would be great as a wiki for group study. Other group members can correct wrong information, fill in missing information and express opinions. It ends up being a great study guide! The “Study Hall site, http://studyhall.wikispaces.com/ , was excellent too. Homework is easily displayed and accessed. Different teachers hyperlinked subjects titles to pages where they put in helps, homework, links, and notes for students. It was easy to get around in.

On one wiki page, http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm , I found an idea I may try at school. It is for “Where is Wanda Wiki” an online version of Flat Stanley. The third grade teachers at my school have their students send out Flat Stanley’s and track where Stanley visits. I’d like to coordinate that with a Wanda Wiki. I’m thinking of sending her out in an email to a couple people and asking them to write on the wiki page and then forward the email to a couple more people. We can track it in computer class. I am concerned about appropriate information being added since we are an elementary school. When I make a wiki, I’ll see if I can get it to work.