Thing 21 -- Learn About Wikis

I've been wanting to use a Wiki for some time now. We use Moodle in our school and it has a Wiki feature, but it didn't make sense to me.

Now that I've explored wikis in more depth, I "get it." I'm not so intimidated and am ready to start my own. I checked out all the wiki links and got to see how wikis can be used for a variety of topics and situations. I can't say that any particular wiki "inspired" me, but the examples did give me a good idea on how easy and--more importantly--how practical using a wiki can be.

I want to try using a wiki in my Computer Applications class, but I'm not sure for what topic. It would take some organizing on my part to create a meaningful wiki assignment. Actually creating the wiki would be the easy part. Giving students a good, solid reason to use the wiki is the harder part. I have thought about perhaps creating a wiki where groups of 3-5 students would be responsible for discussing parts of a the computer. Another thought was to give students, again in groups, a Web 2.0 technology to research and write about in a wiki. They could also provide links and videos in the wiki. These are just a few of the ideas I have for the classroom.

It would definitely take some time and planning on my part, but I think using a wiki is something I still want to do in my Computer Applications classes.