After reading about wikis and the general use of Wikipedia in the classroom I must say that I have really started to rethink my own use of these tools. When I taught 7th and 8th grade English courses I used to always warn the students about using Wikipedia as a source in particular because I never knew that it was a site that was monitored and I also never knew that some searches were even protected. After using a wiki in this course and a few others, I can definitely see the benefits in these tools and am highly considering using a wiki in my own classroom and forwarding the information on to my fellow technology teach in the building.
Having the understanding, a clearer one at least, of how these tools work and the vast possibilities that can be conducted with them just makes me more anxious to get the ball rolling. Students and parents would have endless ways to communicate with each other all day long. The other great reason for using these tools is that with the amount of students beginning to take vacations when school is in session allows the student to still participate and contribute to class from a distance.
I am really trying to figure out how to best utilize a wiki resource for my class for the smae reason. I have a large number of students that that vacations right in the middle of the school year and it is very difficult to send work with them before I get there because sometimes my plans and the teachable moments in the classroom doesn't match and students sometimes miss important concepts. A Wiki would allow me to post the day to day teaching events so students who are absent (or just need to revisit the concept) have access. These students can still "contribute" as you pointed out.
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