I've known about wikis for a couple of years now, although I haven't necessarily been a big fan. The Library Media Services department for Dallas ISD (my employer) has a wiki on which we can post helpful tips and information, but I never really liked it because it was hard to find the information I was looking for at times. I don't really like the format of wikis because for me it is hard to understand or navigate. However, by going into depth a little more this week in class, I can see how they can be helpful and will try to get more into them by creating my own wiki.
I created my wiki with teachers and librarians in mind. The purpose will be to have a space to post book talks, book trailers, book reviews, and book lists that other teachers and librarians can use, add to, or comment on. So far I have created the pages for these topics, but I haven't started adding actual content. I can't decide if I want to post the full text or just links to other sources.
Wikis can be useful for bringing together a wide group of people for a common purpose or collaboration. However, disadvantages are that someone can delete something that you felt was important or relevant to the project or work or the focus can be changed with too many additions or editings. I think wikis do have the potential to engage digital natives, but at the same time, it is important to continue to emphasize the importance of individual responsbility and meaningful contribution and ethical standards for such projects.
After looking at the elearning wiki, I was intrigued by the idea of "vlogging." I have a good friend who a director of an after school program/ education program for a nonprofit organization. She is currently in Guatemala visiting a college friend for her vacation. She chose two students from the after school program to be "Flat Lamarcus" and "Flat Tatiyana" (in reference to the "Flat Stanley" series) to travel with her to Guatemala. While there, she is going to be using her Flip video to record videos of the things she's seeing and visiting and blogging about it on the after school program blog so that the kids can experience Guatemala with her. She is also using Skype to videoconference with them and allow them to visit with native Guatemalans as well. I thought this was so cool how she was intergrating video, blogging, and videoconferencing to allow the students in the after school program to experience new things right along with her! Anyways, after seeing it on the eLearning site, I would be interested in learning more about how others are using vlogging as well!
What advantages do you see in utilizing wikis? What disadvantages do you see? Think back to the digital natives reading. Do wikis have the potential for engaging them?
In exploring the eLearning Tools Wiki, what other web 2.o technologies did you uncover that you want to explore further?
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