The first step is admission, right? So here it goes...I am an unashamed user of Wikipedia. There. I said it.
From the time I first learned about it, I was warned to steer clear of Wikipedia and never believe anything I read there because, "anyone, anywhere can put anything they want on it." Yet, over and over again I found myself going to the website looking for information from the Berlin Wall to Lombard Street to cats. The information was just too easy to access. Should I stay away, or should I continue reading? Oh the dilemma of Wikipedia!
In all seriousness, I recognize the importance of being careful with web-based information. You can literally find anything and EVERYTHING on the web. And it can be a scary place. However, one thing Wikipedia has going for it is the fact that there are moderators that monitor the site. True, you should still be careful when looking at the information, but no more or less careful than you should be anywhere else on the Internet.
I am intrigued by the idea of wikis. Until I started reading about them in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson, I hadn't really given them much thought. Wikipedia was my only experience with a wiki, so I never thought about using one in my classroom. However, the idea of sharing knowledge in a written form where everyone can contribute is very powerful. It takes the ownership off of one person and gives it to everyone. In my experience of participating in a wiki, I feel more responsible for what I share and want it to be as correct as possible because it will reflect on so many other people. In a classroom, I feel like this would give students ownership of their own learning, and make them think about what they are sharing before just spitting it out (either verbally or on paper).
I'm not sure I'm ready to try an online wiki site with my second graders just yet. But I have started thinking about ways of having my students share their information with each other in a more permanent way, rather than just verbally. It would be an interesting study on how they find information and correct each other. I am always called upon when there is some sort of dispute about any type of fact (Coming to me from across the classroom, "Mrs. Stewart, are bats nocturnal?" Me, not really thinking about why they are asking the question, "Yes." Running back to their friends and shouting, "See! I told you!") I want my students to become more independent and take ownership for their own knowledge instead of having me be the ultimate source of knowledge (despite how nice it is to have someone think I literally know everything there is to know!). Just in writing this I am starting to think of the possibilities of using wikis in class! Now I'm excited to get started!
Just say it...you know you want to...WIKI WIKI WIKI!
I enjoyed reading your blog post on Wikis Kim! I like the point that you raise about using the information we find on the web carefully. This made me think of the lessons/rubrics we made for considering website validity. Teaching students appropriate ways to use the information they find on the internet is so important and one that many of them are not receiving outside of school. Maybe someday the stigma of Wikipedia will be gone, I too like to use it for my own personal research, but have never used it formally.
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