I've come across mention of wikis all over the place. I've looked at a free wiki service. I've started furling stuff about wikis. I just can't seem to figure out how to use them in an educational setting. I was thinking about creating a wiki math dictionary for my students to create. I also want to use "wikipower" to get my students interacting with a larger community of learners/educators. I'm uncertain of how the technology works or how to orchestrate the pedagogy. Then came a confluence of three posts:

• » I read a post over at Bud the Teacher where Bud is working out a way to use a wiki to support his work with blogs.
• » Will Richards has an article over at ed-Tech Insider that has a link to an 8-minute movie on deconstructing a post at Wikipedia.
• » In that same article he has another link to a fantastic idea: a multidisciplinary wiki textbook.

That would be a difference; get the students to write the textbook! What information is important to them? Which illustrative examples are most illustrative? What concepts, manipulations or applications are most difficult to assimilate? What makes them difficult? What helps make them clear? This could be a record for them and me. They become better educated; I become a better teacher. Win win!

Hmmmmm ..... this might work .... still thinking about it ....

An unrelated brilliant use of blogs: Anne Davis pointed me to this blog. An ESL class's topical blog on bullying. This teacher is making a difference.