Thing #15 What in the World is a Wiki?

So... we are supposed to blog about our experience in playing in the APSU 23 things sandbox wiki. My experience was MADDENING!!! If I were playing in an actual sandbox, I would be kicking sand in all directions! First of all, I read everything, I watched the video, and I looked at every single one of the links to how schools and libraries are using wikis. Seemed very simple to add an entry to the wiki, but au contraire. I clicked on the link and saw that I needed to create an account to join the workspace. No problem I thought. I clicked on the link, gave the required information and was promptly sent an email asking me to click on the link in the email to confirm my request. And that's when the trouble started. I clicked on the link and was linked to another page asking me to give another email address, verify my previously given password, and change my password to a new password. The trouble was that when I gave another password, carefully typing it exactly the same way twice, it would not be accepted. After typing in the password very carefully at least a dozen times and it not being accepted, in pure frustration I typed in a naughty word in the password boxes, twice. The word was instantly accepted, and now my password is a naughty word. Then I logged in and went to add an entry by clicking on the Edit button. Simple, right? Au contraire! All I got was a blank page and the message "

Warning: This page is 64KB. We recommend splitting pages larger than 50KB up into several smaller pages for easier readability and best performance.

Warning: This page is 64KB. We recommend splitting pages larger than 50KB up into several smaller pages for easier readability and best performance.

Warning: This page is 64KB. We recommend splitting pages larger than 50KB up into several smaller pages for easier readability and best performance." popped up. I followed that link. I spent hours reading everything on the site trying to solve the problem. I spent hours trying to figure out how to change the settings on my computer. I tried different computers. All to no avail. Frankly, I really didn't care for "easier readability and best performance" at this point. I would have settled for "I can read it with a magnifying glass and any type of performance at all." In the meantime, I'm going back and forth on different pages, trying to figure things out and spotting all these posts about how everybody posting anything is "just have so much FUN" and how it is "SO EASY." This is like rubbing salt in a wound to me. I'm NOT having fun and this is not so easy. I'm just trying to post an entry to a wiki. Not become a computer expert. Finally I just start clicking the Edit button on different pages and trying to find any page that will open to anything but a blank page and let me add an entry. The photo and images page finally opens and I'm able to successfully post an entry. That was my experience in posting to the sandbox wiki.

In spite of my horrific experience posting,I like the idea that anyone can add content to a wiki. If the contributors are adding great content, the wiki will be a good one. However, wikis have their limits. Has anyone ever heard that a camel is just a horse that was designed by a committee? What I mean is that the main thing to keep in mind about using a wiki is that the wiki is only as good as the input of the contributors. In other words, garbage in = garbage out.
I think a wiki could best be used in the classroom when students are collaborating on a project or brainstorming ideas. If students are working and no social slacking is going on, a good product can be produced by the collaborative effort of the group. Each student can add his or her ideas, and it's easy to see what others added, when they added it, and what is still needed. One student's ideas might spark a new idea with another student. The work can move along quickly and efficiently, regardless of whether the students are in the classroom (I'm thinking older students here) or not.
I liked the idea of setting up a book review page using a wiki. I could use this idea to set up a wiki in the classroom with access restricted only to students and only during classroom time (I'm thinking young students here and this would be for their safety). This is a way that kids in class can see what their classmates are reading and possibly be motivated to read more books or experiment with reading books that they would not normally choose.