Working with Wikis #5

When I first opened the syllabus and saw we would be learning about wikis, I had no idea what they were, but I think this has been one of my favorite forms of technology so far. I have learned they are so simple to set up and each day I can think of ways in which they would be useful. My first thought was a recipe exchange but a few others in the class had the same idea. I then thought of Science Fairs, and how we try each year to coordinate all the teachers, students, parents and the science projects. I set up my wiki with just basic information for now on what a Science Fair is and where to find information on projects. Then I added a page where students could sign up, make comments or even tell about the project they might enter. There is also a page for parents to make comments on or even volunteer to judge. I feel it still needs some work but for right now it is a good start.

I also thought a wiki might be the perfect way we could all stay in touch when my daughter gets married next year. Since we all live so far from each other our families could keep up with each other making notes when certain details were finished or even finding addresses and updating them. We could also share pictures.

I can see so many advantages for using them in my class. We could use them to build vocabulary and even give reports on labs, since we may not get the same result in each class. The students could then try and explain the reason for the different outcomes. The only disadvantage I see is not reporting reliable information. You may have to set the wiki for certain users to participate.

A wiki would be great way to engage digital natives since they are already so in tuned to technology. A group project would be a fun way to use a wiki, especially when you may not all be able to meet at the same time.
I would probably like to explore animation a little further and adding audio to blogs. Truthfully though, I want to go back and work with RSS feeds and the Delicious bookmarks more.