Wiki's

Before class today, I had never heard of a Wiki and I definitely didn't know what they were, how to use them, or what they were used for. I was able to learn all of these things about Wiki's today in class. I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to work with the Wiki since I am not that tech savvy of a person. I liked that we were able to look up some information about Wiki's and the youtube video helped me understand what they were used for and scenarios for how they could be used. Now that we are developing our own Wiki, I can see the uses of it for collaborating, but I also find it a little difficult and frustrating when your trying to add things but can't because other people are editing. I would have say that this is the only downfall for me when using a Wiki. I like that you can add links and then other people could contribute in other links. I see the benefit for this in schools but I am not sold on it for younger grades. I know that I will have a degree for Kindergarten-6th grade but I am primarily interested in grades kindergarten-2nd and I feel that these students will not benefit from this. I think it could be confusing, especially for those students who have never used a computer before or the internet and there will be some. Since I am in the Urban Multicultural Cohort, we visit schools who are mainly low-socioeconomic status and some of these families will not have a computer or the internet, therefore, students will be coming into the schools and using these for the first time. So I just find it a little difficult seeing myself using something like these with students K-2nd grade. As a teacher, I can see myself using Wiki's with other colleagues and it being a simple easy way to collaborate on lesson plans, projects, and daily activities. I think in this case it is more realistic for me to utilize the Wiki just as a teacher. I'm unsure that I would be able to use these during my internship but I am interested in learning more on how to incorporate this in the lower school grades.