The first time I encountered a Wiki was about 5 years ago when I was working as a one-on-one instructional aide to a 9th grader with autism. His English class was presented a lesson by the librarian on research, emphasizing MLA citation and the pitfalls of some websites when doing research. I already knew about Wikipedia, but I had never seen a classroom Wiki before that.
I thought it was pretty interesting that students from all over could collaborate without actually having to be face-to-face. I think this is a valuable tool. Of course students must be aware that other students are editing these Wikis and not all information may be 100% reliable. It is important that they cross-reference items to be sure they have the most up-to-date and useful information.
I may or may not use a Wiki...with all the other possibilities out there it may not be worth it. Also, some schools require the teachers have a personal website, so why would I stress myself out running two?
The Sandbox thing was actually a bit annoying. I did not find it user-friendly at all and spent too much time fumbling around on the site just to figure it out. But I did figure it out and posted something about Thing #7 on the front page. I think it may just be easier to create a Facebook page for my class.
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