Thing 10--Wikis

I think wikis will prove a fabulous way to work collaboratively. I like that the changes appear seamlessly. My only issue is that a later writer might not know some of the intermediary steps that happened. I realize that a person can go to the archived versions, but sometimes it’s hard to return to a better phrasing or undo a worse one.

I think that reviews could be an interesting way to use wikis with older students, but I almost think a blog would be better. Because we are in the process of “teaching” students how to be respectful of other opinions and how to use appropriate language when reviewing materials, an intermediary might be important. But for a true collaboration among peers, a wiki could be heavenly.

Wikipedia is a tricky issue for me. I explain to students how it works, and I encourage them to use it only as a preliminary, deep background source. But given the research done on this issue, it has become clear that Wikipedia is about as accurate (and inaccurate) as any other encyclopedia out there.

I edited the 23 things on a stick wiki, in the messed up classics section. But I felt sad about doing it—I liked the messed up versions better!