Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Veni; Vidi; Wiki!

Okay, I guess I cannot get away using "wiki" as a verb! Wikis are wonderful, though. So many times I've looked up something on Google just to end up being referred to it on "wikipedia." I didn't realize wiki really means quick in Hawaiian. Wikis are amazingly quick ways to collaborate on a written work with lots of people and a fast way to look something up.

While checking out the wiki sites put up like: WikiHow and Wikiville, I couldn't help but to look for topics which may be offensive in content. It is impressive how well composed they are. I've added these two to my blogroll which you can click on below and see for yourself. Here is what is currently posted on the home page of Wikiville:

"WikiVille is closing down shortly to further edits and contributions. From my own perspective I'd like to say thankyou for all of your input and support. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't but most of all it's been made really clear that Wiki's can be left in the safe hands of young people without much cause for concern at all. The biggest pain has actually been spammers and spambots!

Anyway

Thanks again & here's to the future!

Bolton"

It is sad that there are vandals out there, but it seems for the most part that these students have very responsibly made contributions to the Read/Write Web in which they can be proud of.

It has added a whole new way to collaberate on a written work. I've worked on group projects in some of my classes towards my masters. The hardest part was just finding a time in which to meet and go over all of the sections each one of us was working on and make it cohesive. A Wiki would have been a great platform to use for such a project, having other's words right in front of you and adding, and editing together.

1 comment:

The Lorax said...

Hey Ellen!

Looks like I am responding to you both on the discussion board and your blog:P.

I am impressed with the quote you copied from wikiville's homepage. It is surprising how much ownership contributors are taking for their work. I guess it makes sense because I can't imagine any of my students wasting their precious time on wikipedia unless they were truly interested in the "project."

Switching to your second idea, I too have experienced the hassles of meeting face-to-face to work on a project. The irony is that I had to meet face-to-face to work on a written project for an online science course. I suppose the teacher was either not aware of wikis and blogs, or he did not want to bother teaching his students about the technology. Either way, with the wiki the written project would have been "wiki wiki."