Thing 21

I spent a bit of time looking at the Westwood Schools online space, managed by CoolCatTeacher (username.) There are lots of tools - calendar, personal student pages, an archive, lessons, homework, schedule, assignments, etc. - but it didn't include a great deal of collaboration. There was a discussion page - apparently there were some inappropriate posts that had to be monitored and deleted, and some of the threads made reference to sharing this wiki with the administration - most likely to get approval. The space was created in 2005, so it was truly cutting edge at that time, but I think the overall point of a collaborative space was missed. It really served as a more of a website than anything. It was surprising to find student photos and full names on the student pages - I surely would not allow that in a school wiki.

I created a wiki space this year for use by our art and music teachers - but it has been a real struggle to get people to use the tool. E-mail exchange is still the preferred method of collaboration, not to mention the fact that there are some liability concerns from the central technology office. If the teachers would contribute and make it a worthwhile use of technology and time, I'd be more than willing to fight. We'll wait and see for now.