Wikispaces

I really enjoyed working with wiki spaces this week. I had created a wiki previously as a simulation for a lesson so this week I went back through it and edited making a few minor adjustments. I have also used wikis for many of my classes and feel like I am starting to get the hang of the editing and uploading process.

I think a wiki is special and differs from a website and a blog in a lot of ways. Wikis allow the user to invite others to join and edit. Assignments could be posted on separate pages and are easily accessible. Although you can do this on a website the wiki is more organized and focuses on simplicity as opposed to a website, which can get lost in the design. I really like being able to post links on the wikis for my classes and the whole class can access each others work. Wikis could also create community within the classroom because students can view, comment and appreciate their classmates work. When it comes to blogs, I think they are beneficial but in different ways. Blogs are a space where students can post but it is not as organized.

As a future elementary teacher I think I would be able to use wikis a great deal. Depending on my students grade level I could either make it a web space for the students or even the parents. Assignments could be posted and links would be useful as well. It would be a great place to have parents contribute to the class as well. They could add classroom related ideas and that would branch the classroom community out to the parents as well.