Thingy #8 that wacky Wiki

My first impressions of a Wiki were not overly positive. Like most other people my initial encounter with a wiki was through Wikipedia . When I saw the site I was puzzled as to why anyone would take it seriously as an information source. With the philosophy that anyone should be able to add or delete information I wondered about the reliability of this site as a resource. As time wikipedia has encountered difficulties in maintaining accurate and relevant entries. Any encyclopedia with Danny Bonaducci in it has credibility issues. I would hate to see a student cite wikipedia as a source for a paper. My attitude towards wikis as educational tools however is entirely different on the classroom level. My reasoning for this is the level of control that an instructor has. A teacher can monitor, edit, and even delete posts that are inappropriate or inaccurate. I think Wikis provide a wonderful opportunity for students to provide evidence of their knowledge and mastery of an assignment. We seem to be reading a great deal of Cool Cat Teacher and with good reason. I marvel at her ability to recognize the power of the wiki while remembering to keep its uses on a level that allows all of her students to participate and experience success. Cool Cat also utilizes the wiki in simple ways such as the study hall site. I think if I were a parent or student I would value her sites. I would love to be able to track assignments online as parents of her students can.
One of the Wiki experiences I thought students would enjoy the most was Jennifer Barnett's The Crucible wiki . On this wiki Ms. Barnett uses a site powered by VoiceThread that allows students to use photographs, text, and even their own voices to post information on a subject. I can think of several students who would be thrilled to be able to be hear worldwide. it could be an incredibly motivating feature. The students in this class seemed to take their work very seriously and their posts were, for the most part very insightful. I would love to see our science teachers use this as a method to review for tests. I though the contest cool cat had to see who could post the best review was marvelous.