Chapter 4
We've probably experienced as much with wikis so far using our class wiki as this chapter talks about, but let's read chapter four and see if it prompts any new ideas or questions. It's OK if this response is shorter than some of your other responses to the reading assignments...
SarahM is using a wiki at school for a "50 states" project (see her wiki page on our class site)...what are some other cool application ideas that you have come up with?
posted by Terry @ 11:13 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I discovered Wikipedia last year and it’s been bookmarked ever since. I was unaware what the wiki portion of the title meant, but later figured it out (okay, someone told me). I instruct students about Wikipedia and its nature and advise them to use it as a starting point in their research. What I find appealing about the site are the in-depth entries and the detailed links. However, what I find most amazing is the cost and the currency: it’s free and updated daily. My brand new encyclopedias that were purchased for $2,000 can’t compare to that (by the way, when I say brand new I mean one and a half years old). I don’t claim to be an expert in much, except my religion and the consumption of chocolate, thus I’ve always been a member of the Let-the-experts-deal-with-the-vasts-amount-of-information-They-have-the-credentials- I-don’t Club. At least, that was until recently. What struck me (after reading it several times) was Richardson’s statement that we all can make a contribution to the “sum of human knowledge” (62). It finally dawned on me that I am quite knowledgeable about two topics and thus what I know is probably more accurate than the Powers That Be and Publish Print Materials. Why shouldn’t my knowledge be shared with other? If Trekkies can do it, why can’t everyone? I think this is what lies at the heart of wikis.
I did enjoy the humor weaved throughout this chapter. If you can laugh while reading about something that intimidates and slightly confuses you then you’re in for a good read. What I found useful were the instructions on how to set up a wiki and maintain it, especially in the case of “vandals,” and the examples of wikis used in education. There are some great ideas listed. At the moment I’m favoring blogs over wikis but I can see how they can be a useful tool in any curriculum.
i opened a bottle of Kona beer last night (hey- it's my summer vacation!) and on the underside of the bottle cap there is a Hawaiian word with it's English meaning and guess what the word was!... WikiWiki which means Quick! as Richardson reports on page 59.
I've been spreading the word about wikis because people should know about them. Richardson's definition is so simple, "a wiki is a website where anyone can edit anything anytime they want."
I started my wiki for the 5th graders after Pam Berger's talk back in March http://fremontcharter.wikispaces.com/
But now I have the same question as some of you, which would be better for research-posting, a blog or a wiki? My initial thought is a wiki would be best because the teacher/parent/admin/LMT can comment directly ON the page rather than post to the comment page like we do here. Everything is upfront and more easily editable. I (think) I still feel like that after working with this blog. Wikispaces was easy to set up, although pbwiki was too. I just looked at jotspot.com and it only takes 30 seconds to set up. For my fifth graders i'd only let them "edit" each other's reports by adding their comments to the end or sharing experiences. I wouldn't even let them know that they have the option of "editing" their friend's report to keep the digital graffiti to a minimum.
Here's some information about using wikispaces.com since it was probably too new for Richardson to put in his book.
.Anyone (a guest) can edit/add
.if you sign in with the password you have more editing options.
.you can search within the site or on all public spaces
.the free version (the one i have) has google ads on the side
.it's easy to add new pages to the side - just click "new pages"
.it's easy to add photos (but sometimes not easy to get parents' permission to post them)
.you can see who made changes and when under "view history" tab
there's even a "notify me" option to get a messages when someone edits.
So...We haven't done much to the wikisite. LMT's really need buy-in from the classroom teacher to make a collabortaive wiki like this one. Once we posted our information it just kind of sat there. I thought it would be neat to see teacher's comments and even grades on their report and comments from other students and even parents. If the classroom teacher would have spent a little time with the site it could have been more valuable. We have so many classes to work with already, I think the training we give should not only be with the students, but the teachers as well since they are the ones to contiue the process with their students.
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