Thing 15

I was unsure just exactly what a wiki was until this assignment. I know I've seen them in the past and I've certainly seen Wikipedia, but I never really understood until looking over the discovery resources. There have been many times I could have used a wiki to coordinate plans instead of using email. I can see the benefits of using a wiki for small groups such as the Mesquite Librarians, but allowing the general public access to some wiki's would cause me to question the validity of the information.

My campus has a grade level meeting every Monday with the principal. A member from each grade must attend and take notes. I think it would be useful to have a wiki detailing some of the items we will be discussing so we can start before the meeting. So much time is spent after school trying to work out the details of some new situation or program and I believe it could be easier on everyone to have more time to think and plan if we knew in advance what needed to be worked out. Another use for wiki's on the elementary level would be in ESL classes. ESL students do a lot of writing and I think it would be much easier to have it on a wiki where the students and teacher can access it anytime and make changes. Students can track their progress by looking back at the history of the paper and seeing the changes that have been made.

Looking at some of the discovery exercises, I really liked the idea of teachers using them for students to interact. I didn't realize wiki's could be set to allow only certain users to make changes. This would be an excellent way for educators to reach their students during the summer. I know several advanced classes that require summer assignments. What a great way to get feedback before the school year begins.