Wikis+and+me

Thoughts on wikis in my classroom
Right now, I'm a little unsure how to fully incorporate wikis into my classroom. I have a Google site that I've spent a lot of time working on (and promoting), and I really like the setup of that. So what I'm thinking of doing is keeping my Google site as my students' main entrance to my "world," linking to my wiki when specific projects require something more collaborative.

But I need to be careful that I'm using technology in meaningful ways--not just for mindless drill and practice activities (as Cummins discusses in Ch. 4 of //Literacy, Technology, and Diversity//). And I do worry that my students' inconsistent Internet access will prevent them from doing online work (Cummins, p. 103). But if I begin slowly getting students familiar with Web 2.0 tools in my classroom (where we have wireless-enabled laptops and access to a computer lab), they may be more willing to find internet access and use it outside of the classroom.

In terms of wikis in my classroom, I've had a few ideas bouncing around in my head ever since I saw the Wesch video:
 * 1) **Collaborative notes for rhetorical strategies** in AP English. Having nice, illustrated notes with tons of links and extra resources would be a GODSEND for my students (and if they DO need a printed copy they can print that!). I did this a couple of years ago here, but I don't like how it turned out. What I'd do is post a list of terms they absolutely have to know, then we'd agree on a basic layout for the notes, and finally they'd be responsible for finding definitions, examples, and links.
 * 2) **A class grammar reference handbook** in any class. There are common mistakes that never seem to go away. What might work really well is creating a list of review topics, splitting up the list, and having students add explanations and relevant examples (even from their own writing) to the list.
 * 3) **Any group writing projects**. There are definitely times when I could ask my students to work in teams to write something (e.g., wikis for literature circles). The tricky part about this would be to make sure that everyone is indeed writing and revising, that the process is truly collaborative.
 * 4) **Portfolios**. Wow--why didn't I think of this before? Teaching with Thinking and Technology wiki has some ideas for using wikis for digital portfolios.

Now the tricky part is teaching this to students: making the whole purpose of wikis clear, figuring out with them the difference between editing a page and adding a discussion. But if it's true that, as Steve Hardagan claims, this whole Web 2.0 thing will be bigger than the printing press, then it's important that I get my students as familiar with it as possible.