Thing #15

I think I'm finally starting to understand...(it has taken me a long
time to see the difference between a blog and a wiki and when to use
one over the other.) I'm not saying I know everything about the two,
but I have sure learned a lot.

In simple terms, (it makes sense to me this way) a blog is one persons thoughts going out to everyone. A reader came comment about your blog, and/or thoughts, and that's all. A wiki can start with one person's thoughts but can quickly be changed to several people's thoughts because anyone can edit or add to the original creation.

It really started clicking for me when I visited all the example sites available. I could envision one person creating the actual wiki (templates, tabs, etc.) but several people adding the content. I can see how people with "control-issues" would have difficulties with a wiki and why it would be so important to monitor the wiki you created. ANYONE could add almost ANYTHING to the space. (That reminds me that I need to teach my students more about reliable sites and information.)

One of the wikis that I looked at and enjoyed exploring was the
Texas School Librarian's Wikispace. There was lots of posted information that I could use and I even saw a few places where I could add something (book lists and templates). One area in the library that I think a wiki could be used is with research unit links and information. When we start a unit, I add several links to the library's website so teachers and students can get to sites quickly. Unfortunately, I am the only one that can add these links. If we had a wiki for all theresearch units, everyone could add helpful websites to the links page. Teachers and students could add sites as they came across them, rather than waiting on me to do it. The research wiki could also have pages set up for student questions and book lists. The possibilities really are endless!