Working in Wikis can be a little bit frustrating. Our social studies group shares a wiki page with the other class, so we never get to interact personally with the other Wiki members. This leads to a few questions on my part: What is proper Wiki etiquette? Am I supposed to comment when I change someone else's stuff or should I send them a "Maybe you should change this" comment?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
WikiWikiWhat?
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I'm not crazy about the wiki deal either. Ours is looking nice, but I'm not seeing the big deal overall. And building upon your thoughts about possibly communicating with dead social studies teachers and other nameless, formless entities...I also find it hard tell who is who, and who is really what, because anyone can type whatever they want. I can put down on the wiki that I have 2 master's degrees and a doctorate, and few will check to corroborate that info. I don't trust it...not one bit.
ReplyDeleteSo, I've got a couple of conspiracy theorists in my midst, eh? I'm sure you both have seen Stephen Colbert's take on wikiality.
ReplyDeleteYou both raise terrific questions about accountability, validity, and authority regarding wikis. These are basic web evaluation standards, and why should the standards be any different for a wiki? They aren't! Scrutinize, scrutinize, scrutinize, and tell your future students about your process. But really, Joey, when's the last time you verified the credentials of the author of your history textbook? Why is a print-based text any more valid or authoritative? Certainly, you can recall the horror stories of science and history texts that are already outdated and error-laden even as they roll of the printing press. Not to mention the political forces that seek to alter the content of instructional texts, such as what happened in Texas this past spring. It all goes to show how necessary it is to teach and learn from multiple resources and text types.
Jennifer, you have all the right ideas about "wiki etiquette," and the comment tool (or a friendly email) is usually all you need. In class and and on our course site, I shared Mrs. Trefz's 5th grade wiki, in which she sets forth guidelines and expectations for her students, and these are really quite applicable to any age.
Now, for more reading on the subject of wikis (specifically the Granddaddy, Wikipedia) you may want to check out this interesting point-counterpoint column. I have it in PDF and will attach it to our course site under Resources & Links.