Week 7, Thing #16

The Wiki is a Web 2.0 tool that I have used. This past summer I attended the Librarian Leadership Academy (hosted by the Alaska Association of School Librarians) in Anchorage and their wiki was how this group of librarians communicated both during the week in Anchorage and after the academy as all finished up the work needed to earn the continuing education credits through UAA. Wikis were new to me then and I was so impressed by the organizers because they included all the latest technology.  I've now had a couple of other opportunities to be involved with wikis but I feel that I'm just beginning to understand what a useful tool the wiki can be in a school setting. They can be set up by the classroom teacher to allow students to create written work and to comment on other's work. Wikis can be used as a communication forum for a school staff.  I am most excited about using a wiki as a communication took for a group of teachers working toward a common goal. Because I regularly collaborate with classroom teachers to integrate literacy and the visual arts, my newest Web 2.0 goal is to set up grade level collaboration wikis and help all team members learn to use this tool to aid in communication.