Week#7 Thing#16

Wiki's. They are very similar or rleated to blogging, but more powerful. Of course, I'm familiar with the world famous Wikipedia - which somehow with the evolution of wiki's doesn't actually seem like one at all anymore. When I'm working with classes and ask them if they know what a wiki is, they never refer to Wikipedia. To them, Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia - just like World Book or Britannica. They really don't see any difference until it is pointed out to them by someone.

I enjoyed looking at several of the wiki's that are linked to CSLA 2.0 It's amazing to me that there are many public libraries with wiki's. I did especially like the St. Joseph Subject Guides.

As for classroom or school library applications - Yes - I can definitely see the possibilities. Book Reviews seem to lend themselves most prominently to this web tool, and classroom postings by teachers with individual responses by students is great for cooperative learning situations. When our school began going through the WASC accreditation review process a few years ago, we could definitely have used a Wiki. We had an attempt at that - provided by a company - but it was awkward and difficult to navigate. With today's technology it would be much easier to just have our own Wiki - and at no cost!