A wiki is a website where every page can be edited in a web browser, by whomever happens to be reading it. It's so terrifically easy for people to jump in and revise pages that wikis are becoming known as the tool of choice for large, multiple-participant projects.
Wikipedia has enjoyed a charmed life, however, I would not allow it as a resource in my classroom. The site contains articles which are an incoherent hodge-podge of dubious factoids that adds up to something far less than the sum of its parts. Wikipedia aspires to be a reference work, but falls soundly short. In theory, Wikipedia is a beautiful thing, a collaborative site of information. However, without someone checking the citations and the information it is inconsistent and not a valid resource. One of the ways I would suggest students using the site would be by having them use links from the reference/citation section at the bottom of every article. By doing this they can go back to the original source and get accurate, unbiased information.
I created a PBwiki, but to be perfectly honest don't completely understand how this wiki site is different form a blog. I created a wiki classroom page and uploaded a report from my Race in America course on Angela Davis, I thought this would be relevant since she is speaking tonight at Ritsche Auditorium and because its a good example of a sample research paper for my students.
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The Poet's Corner
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. She grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. She is an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. She is best known for her autobiographical books: All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), The Heart of a Woman (1981), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), Gather Together in My Name (1974), and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), which was nominated for the National Book Award.
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Great insights Catherine. The main difference between a wiki and a blog is the collaborative edit feature of the wiki.
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