Week 7 #16, #17

#16 I really enjoyed playing around with wikis. In fact, I created a wiki for ideas and plans for a family reunion which our family talked about in April when we were all together.

Pros are that it allows one place for many people to work together and share ideas rather than laboriously sending emails back and forth among a group. It's non-threatening for those who aren't real confident using the internet (if you can use Word you can use a wiki); information can be easily added and changed by anyone (if private, by anyone with the password).

Cons are that anyone (if private, by anyone with the password) can add or change something. In an educational context this can be problematic if you're using it as a reference, because you don't know how authoritative writers/editors are. Also, wikis may have a definite agenda which students may or may not realize. Finally, they can be somewhat disorganized.

I can see librarians and teachers in my district using wikis for developing/emending policies, planning special events involving many people with different tasks (I really like the idea of a wiki for our upcoming CSLA conference), as a planning space for meetings, and to generate subject guides for library users.

I can see students in my school using wikis for group projects.

#17 I had fun adding idea #14 to the images and pictures section of the California Curriculum Connections wiki. It did take a couple of tries to get my link right. Yesterday I read through the ideas that people have submitted and I'm truly impressed with what a wonderful resource this is. I've tagged it and I'm sure I'll return to it for inspiration many times.