Thing 8
Maybe it is because I seem to be overwhelmed in just about every aspect in my life but I feel wikkis and blogs are sometimes just quite a bit of blah blah blah (including this one). However, as long as they are valid and useful for their audience then they have hit their mark. Overall, if the wikki is well organized and has some real content on it, I like it. I seem to prefer to the format of the wikki spaces versus pbwiki as I a peruse multiples of these. If I can see a reason to have it – I really like it. If it is a wikki for the sake of having done a wikii or a blog just for the sake of having a blog, I’m not impressed. That sounds harsh I know and I’m thinking that everyone has to start somewhere and I should be a little less harsh.
The ones I like seem to have to do with math and with older students – this is by far my favorite.
This seems like a really good use of time. One, the student has to really know their stuff to not only show their work in math (sometimes a lost art) – but also, to explain each step of the way. Two – students who are not sure of the procedure to work some of these problems, get a real line by line explanation that is legible, (their own notes might not be) and correct. So it helps both the student presenting the info and those who are accessing it. Of course, it may be that the students who need the help, might not be accessing the site but it is great it is there. I find this one top of the heap!
The Chemistry class wikki is good too – http://reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com/Best+examples+of+wiki+use+2007 - just not as well organized from my perspective – or maybe the math one was just really well organized 
The one entitled Grazing for Digital Natives just didn’t make any sense to me – there were many links to her personal and classroom blogs and wikkis but I didn’t see any real purpose. http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/#toc0
Do I see a wikki in my future? The answer has to be maybe. If it is warranted, it is good to know how to establish one as well as how to collaborate on one. I have done a collaborative wikki with the staff in my building more on the order of going through rooms and cleaning up the building – various teachers went through rooms that weren’t being used and basically did a list of things that weren’t be used and allowed others to come claim them. It worked well but the interested audience was small. I do have personal knowledge of one great wikki – the media specialists at Fulton County put together resources for themselves to help new media specialists come up to speed. It is wonderful and a great use of a wikki.
Final thoughts: Wikkis are great tools – but – it has to be well organized, have a real audience and provide some worth to both the audience and the contributors to be worthwhile.
