A Wrinkle in Tech

I’ll admit that wikis aren’t new to me, and starting this class inspired me to create a private wiki for my district’s library department.  We use it on and off, usually more so when we have an important issue to discuss.  Most recently, we’ve been adding ideas and comments to our wiki as we re-do our department mission statement and policy.  It saves SO many e-mails back and forth to have everything in one place.  Like the Albany Staff wiki, I’ve put a few how-tos on there for the benefit of our department, and I think it’s been a great tool.  Sadly, not every librarian in the district uses to its full potential…still, baby steps.

The Westwood HS wiki is a bit…well, insane is the word that comes to mind.  Inspiring, no doubt, but intense nonetheless.  I’m sure that a wiki takes time to build…my school’s wiki isn’t even in use yet, though I have one started.  I don’t see as many uses for wikis in an elementary school, though I’m contemplating some ideas.  The infamous Joyce Valenza wrote several months ago about moving pathfinders and link lists to wikis.  It’s an idea I like and am working on when I get around to it…maybe a summer project.

Curriculum Connections:
Since I just finished a three-week science fair research marathon, I’ve got science on the brain.  I think converting my list of links to a wiki would be a great start, but I’d also like to give each group in 4th and 5th grade a wiki page to share their notes…Not only would that save paper, it would make it easy for me and the teachers to also comment and check student progress.