Thing # 8 Wiki

Wikis are a  good idea depending on what it is being used for. I never knew any Wiki expect for Wikipedia. At first I thought Wikipedia is a great online encyclopedia then I found out that you can go and edit and change the information on it. Now, I'm not sure how reliable the information is because so many people can edit the info. I do see the point to Wikis but don't like the idea of someone going in and changing what I have written. How can one know any better than what I have put up on my Wiki. Obviously, I will not write false information about something of my interest or feel passionate about. I don't mind if someone comes and updates information underneath my inputs. This way one can see a trend of changes that have occurred over time.

Here is a nice example of Wikis being used effectively, The Book Lover's Wiki. Here people of Princeton can write about certain books they are reading. They can come to this Wiki and give a synopsis of the book they are reading, they can comment on the books being read by others, give their options about the author, images, etc... Its like being part of a book club, but on a Wiki. A librarian at a middle school or high school can use this same idea and set up a Wiki for students to talk about the books they are reading, especially for books that are a mandatory read. 

As a teacher, I can see districts setting up a Wiki for teachers. The Wiki can be used to upload effective lessons and activities. These lesson and activities can be useful to other teacher in the district to implement in their classroom. Teachers can comment on how well a certain lesson went compared to what  needed to be tweaked to make the lesson better for a particular type of class. It would be a great way to collaborate with teachers on other campuses.