WikiWiki

This week's reading really intrigued me... at first I wasn't sold on wiki's, but the more I read and learn about them, I think they have great potential in the classroom. In the "Using Wiki in Education" article, there are several examples of how wiki's could be used in the classroom. I especially like the Group Project example. I think that having groups collaborate using a wiki would be a great way for teachers to monitor the groups' progress. So many times I see groups where only one person does all the work or one person doesn't do anything. This would be a great way to encourage everyone in the group to participate...and to track their participation. I also like the idea of using the wiki to develop a project. In speech projects students start with brainstorming and listing to creating a rough draft and final outline. By having them use the wiki to help in this process I would be able to monitor their progress all along the way and give them constant feedback throughout the process. It would also be a great way to incorporate peer reviews... this brings up the issue, however, of time. Teachers would need to devote more time to checking individual wiki's... but if it benefits the students and enhances learning, it would be worth it. I can also see wiki's being used to eliminate paper trails among the staff. Areas like what modifications work with specific special ed students and which students are on the homework list all would work well in a wiki! I think wiki's will become a standard in education in the near future...