Thing 22 Create a Wiki

In your blog post be sure to include the link to your wiki. Then discuss your feelings about using a wiki. How does a wiki differ from a blog? When is one more appropriate to use than the other?

My first reaction to creating a wiki was this is something for classroom teachers and I probably won't use it very much. Now that I have played, I am ready to get started and the ideas are forming. I hope my principal and counselor will think this is a good idea and help me to formulate what we would like to use as a topic each month. For two years we have been having the elementary students work on a given asset each month and awarding one student from each class who has excelled with the given asset in an assembly. Voicing their thoughts on a wiki would allow all students to contribute and get recognition. I want to look at a few more wikis and determine how I want to allow the students to make their comments. If I have all the third, fourth, and fifth grade students commenting on this wiki, I want to be sure it is organized. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the help. Also, would it be possible for the younger students to participate?

I don't think any teachers at my school have ever used a wiki with their students and I am ready to get them started. I also feel it would allow me to collaborate more with teachers when they are working on projects with their students. If teachers would have their students do their projects on a wiki it would allow me to see what the students are being asked to do and what they are doing. It would allow me to be involved with class projects and require little one on one contact with a teacher. Yes, I love it, and can't wait to see what happens.

To me blogs are individual journals for posting thoughts, ideas, etc. and they allow others to post comments on what has been said. A wiki has endless possibilities and can contain very simple or very complicated chunks of information in many different forms. You are able to do so much more and have many more active participants with a wiki than with a blog. A wiki is created so others may learn from it and a blog is a means for someone to express themselves and allow others to read what they are thinking.