Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wikis

About two years ago, I started a new wiki just because I took a tech class on how to do it; but I never got my students in the habit of going there instead my school website. Mainly, it was just a tool used to posts links. Well, I thought of a good reason to use a wiki...I thought I could get my students to collaborate on a newsletter article so that one person wouldn't have to carry all the weight. Having more authors would include more perspectives and make the article more colorful. So far we/they have written about our trip to the DIA to see Latin American/Spanish artists and our flamenco dance lesson.

Having a wiki is great fun because it is a group project and it helps to build community. My students were so proud to be published and they were even interested enough to read the posts of their classmates, which was refreshing. A drawback that I found is that the wiki(spaces) doesn't have a spell check and the girls write like they are texting. I like having the blog too because it's kind of like a diary and I don't have to worry too much about responding to the posts. In my mind I imagine that no one is really reading this; I'm just thinking out-loud, which I love to do.

For my personal use, my cousins, aunts and I could organize our annual tamale making evening for Christmas mush easier if we used a wiki. Every year we send a flurry of a-mails around trying to see who is bringing which ingredients and cooking utensils for the tamales.

2 comments:

  1. I have watched your excitement grow as you have incorporated your wiki into your classroom. This is a great, collaborative tool!

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  2. Your second use of wikis was truly Web 2.0. Perhaps this is part of the reason the project was a success. Using a wiki just for yourself is like purchasing a deck of cards and only playing solitaire. There is nothing wrong with solitaire but there are many other card games you can play with other people.

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