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Hi Everyone,
I have used wikis in the past and think they can be useful tools when it comes to discussions and English and History lessons. The Honors history and English classes use these in their curriculum and they do a wonderful job. I'm not sure how much use I would have for it though. I like them and think there is a lot of potential when using them as webpages too. I actually prefer Wix right now, but started off with blogster. I had to create a webpage using wikispaces for a Wilkes class but honestly did not like it as much as Wix or Glogster.
-Cecelia Candelario
To Julie Cerasoli:
I saw you said your students had a problem accessing the information from home. I don't know how you would do this personally, but if you could talk to someone in IT at your school and have them place a link on your school's webpage, it might work for your students to access it at home as well. I know my students had access that way (if they decided to ever use it-- which they didn't).
I don't know how well it would go over with a class of third-graders, but they do get some computer experience at their Computer class once a week, so maybe I'll give it a try!!! -Suzanne Deiter
The wiki experience is also new to me. I did a little research to get a better understanding of what a wiki was and how it is currently being used in education. From my research I learned that wikis are excellent for collaborative activities. They allow students to collaborate, add files, suggest links, and create documents. Wikis can be public or private by simply adding a password. I found a link with an article written by Daniel Nations. He explains that at their core, a wiki is a content management system. He offers links to additional wiki information, wiki hints and tips, popular wiki lists and related articles. If interested please check it out.- Jennifer Heck
http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/p/wiki_nutshell.htm
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of wikis, unitl I was introduced to them by one of our science teachers who had just attended a technology conference. As she was sharing with me some of the things that she learned from the conference, she began talking about wikis. At first, I had no idea as to what she was talking about, but I knew she was very excited about incorporating them into her classroom. To me, wikis sound like a great way for students to collaborate on classroom projects, without having to travel or find time to meet with all the members of the group. As I was researching information about wikis, I came across an interesting case study that took place in a co-educational secondary school in Gloucestershire on using wikis in schools. http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/discussion_papers/Wikis_in_Schools.pdf -Annette Shreve
Again like so many others, I had never heard of wikis before. After researching wikis, I feel that this would be a useful tool to use especially at the middle school and high school level. In my gifted support classes, we work on a lot of collaborative projects. This could come in handy especially since I only meet with the students twice a week. They would also be able to keep in contact with each other regarding their projects. I found a site that explains and outlines where wikis originated from and what they are used for. This site also promotes a book titled the Wiki Way by Bo Leuf and Ward Cunningham (who the website quotes as the father of the wiki wiki concept). Wikis uniqueness lies in the fact the one can not only contribute to a web page, but also edit it. The following website gives a lot of good background information on wikis:

This is my first time using a Wiki. To be honest, it took me a few minutes to figure it out. After reading the posts above, I can see how it would be a great tool for teachers to use. I need to play around with this tool a little more and then maybe I'll incorporate Wikis in my classroom. My district requires teachers to use personal web pages. I think that the parents appreciate the convenience of my webpage, but I think that they would also appreciate the convenience of discussion through Wiki. I think that my students would enjoy this as well, but this would take a good deal of instruction before I would feel comfortable with them using this tool.
Sarah Mathena
Prof. Moran! Kristin is awesome!
Abenaa
This is the first time I have ever seen or heard of a wiki. I have been looking for a way to create dialogue between my students. I have been turned off by FaceBook and tweets, and I think this may be the way to go. I like the idea that you can post an idea, story starter, question, or problem withing the class and have all of the kids respond in a safe environment. This is an excellent way for the kids to respnd anonymously, or to offer eaach other help. For example, "Tom" may post that he is having a hrd time starting his research paper. All of his classmates and his teacher can respond to Tom in an encouraging way! My only dislike/complain is that kids could change the responses of their classmates, as I did to Abenaa, who I hope is a good sport!
Kristin