Thing 10: Wikis

Along the same lines as "Thing 9," I'm interested in Wikis as a tool more for generating than for retrieving information--and as a potent potential training topic to enhance teachers' flexibility in designing and "growing" their assignments over time, especially for leaving them open-ended for several weeks or even months at a time and allowing students to expand and publish their findings, react to each other, and continue in a collaborative manner. Since group work could foster "social loafing," I think it's valuable for Wikis to track who contributes to and edits individual posts.

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For Reference:

• Wikipedia
• Using Wikis to Create Online Communities
• Common Craft Video
• Book Lovers Wiki
• Library Success
• Wikis: A Beginner's Look
• PBWiki
• Zoho Wiki

It will take some time for traditionally minded teachers to accept Wikis, especially since such tools may have been the source of questionable information in many student papers. Still, they offer information from sources that could not otherwise find themselves in officially published resources, and such access can be a good thing. Wikis have a democratic feel, and they can be credible source--or at least a starting point for gaining perspectives on a topic. Students just need to be aware of potential weaknesses and drawbacks inherent in Wikis, but to ban them from using Wikis, to some extent, violates the principles of free inquiry and intellectual freedom. Banning sends the message that something in its very nature is objectionable or inappropriate, and banning Wikis does send the message that such a format is not to be used. That mindset needs to be challenged, its assumptions questioned.

To play devil's advocate, however, I went to the book lovers' Wiki and began to wonder about whether (1) a publisher, under an individual's name, could exploit the Wiki to promote books and (2) an author could do the same thing and (3) a rival could write a bad review to dampen enthusiasm for book sales. Just something to think about for "Thing 10." I also played in the Meta: Sandbox and found editing a Wiki to be a relatively painless venture.

I also took on the challenge of creating a Wiki through PBWiki. After stumbling around with it for a little while, I found that it had a consistent internal logic and seemed very easy to use. Now, the question is whether teachers will see its value. The other question is which Wiki to choose. I would prefer PBWiki over Zoho. PB has templates, greater document flexibility, and effective tracking. Zoho, from what I gathered, lacked these features. What's worse, I set the Zoho Wiki to private posts and edits, and yet it remained open to the public. I don't know about other users, but I was at first impressed by Zoho and am now disappointed that it appears to be a somewhat glitchy product. Zoho's "forum" is testament to a tsunami of complaints.