Thing 17

When I hear the word "Wiki" I think of Sam Witwicky from Transformers.... moving on...

Of course, the majority of my experience with Wikis have been with Wikipedia and Wikihow - it's a fascinating concept... instead of one company or one person trying to put together all of the data, it's a collaboration with pretty much anyone who has the time and access to the internet.  It's a never-ending encyclopedia built on the honor system (for open forums).

The education wikis that I looked at were very interesting.  The Holocaust Wiki Project was a bit hard to follow as an outsider, but after some clicking around, it read just like one of those choose your own adventure books.  After reading the explanation and purpose of the Wiki, that was precisely the point.  Each group needed to create at least 10-12 branching simulations based on real life decisions people in the Holocaust were faced with.  Depending on which route you took determined if you survived or were killed. The site explained that about 30 different groups were collaborating and making this site work.  Wondered how the logistics worked on this project! 

This choose your adventure idea is a bit intriguing.  I wonder if it would work with story problems in math.  For example, a student is assigned a word problem and has to make a branching simulation based on the different operations.  If you choose the wrong operation, what the answer would be and then why the answer wouldn't make sense!  Hmm... things to ponder....

The Kindergarten Counting Book is a cute idea, a little more straightforward and not really any branching pages off of it.  I'm going to argue that the picture of 100 was a bit of a cop out.  Would you accept the number 17 written with marker on paper as 17 items (as the other 99 were depicted)?  Sorry.. I know.. it's like kicking a puppy.. it's a kindergarten book!  But that math part of me just wished they actually showed 100 items in the picture.  I did find this link off of this page of another Kindergarten teacher whose class is using technology in very creative ways! 

The Wikis up front just look like any other page, but it's the actual editing, adding, and updating of information behind the scenes that make it unique.  The Simpson's page is hilarious... and a nice outlet for die-hard fans of the show to teach and learn from other die-hard fans.  I'm not a huge Simpsons fan, but found a Harry Potter wiki that I can see myself getting into!

Wiki vs. Blog
A useful avenue for a Wiki is maybe a family Wiki, where all members of the family can contribute to funny stories, memories, pictures, and events about their family.  A family tree on the main page, and branches (other pages) coming off for each member of the family.

As a creator of a blog... let's say I'm a huge Olympics fan and decided to blog all about the winter events.  Just being one person, I am going to have limited information - but if I created a Wiki and asked people who witnessed that event or were actually there at the event to edit or contribute, it changes the dynamic and power of the page.  

 Power to the People!