Describe a wiki you found that inspires you to create one of your own. What hurdles might stand in the way of your using a wiki? What would it take to remove the hurdles? Is it worth the fight?
I already use a wiki in my classroom and I love it. I do have to admit that I do not use it to its full abilities because of those "hurdles" of using a collaborative tool with my students. Mostly I use it right now as a website. It is so much easier than creating a website in and posting it from home (cannot do it at school because it is blocked). The ease of editing something in real time for students to use immediately has been immensely helpful. It is also easy when sending work home for students who are suspended or sick.
One great fear I have is having students being able to save to the wiki themselves. It has so much potential for collaborative writing. I know that is at the heart of what a wiki is, but I am not ready to take that step. First, I want to know wetpaint inside-out before letting my students use it. I want to know all the ways it can go wrong. Second, I want to be more comfortable in my curriculum before using this tool. I can see the dangers of students deliberately or accidentally fooling with other students posting and that is not a headache I want to take on at the moment. I would be more inclined to have the wiki be a collaborative space with other teachers rather than having the students contribute.
Another hurdle is the same problem with using Google Docs...students having email addresses in order to be able to sign up to edit the wiki. I don't want to open it to every person who stops by. I do believe I need to have control over who can edit it. Yet, the problem of having students use an email address to sign up is the same problem with having students use a lot of the Web 2.0 tools.
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