Wikis in the Classroom

My opinions about using wikis in the classroom has changed this week after reading all of the class material and working on creating one. I found the results of studies on how accurate Wikipedia is to be quite interesting. Many of us at my district have tried to steer our students away from using it as a reliable source in the past. I now feel that students need to understand what Wikipedia is and how it is constructed along with how to check its reliability as a possible source. I have used it in the past as a jumping off point for research for my students. It has been an easy way for them to get an overview of a topic and discover ideas for further searching. I now feel it needs to be included in my curriculum early in the year so students can use it appropriately. I’m also seeing many different uses for wikis in my room such as for group projects and research. I am particularly interested in trying a wiki as a way to communicate with my students and parents such as the one shown at: http://fletcherwiki.wikispaces.com/. It seems to be a much quicker way to construct a page than using software to create a website. My group is just in its beginning stages of creating our class wiki. So far it has been easy to communicate in the early stages and will be fun to see how it develops. I will post an update on what my final thoughts are about the process and any challenges that we faced. Mindy