Wikis are very powerful in the classroom, or more to the point - in creating a virtual classroom. They are the epitome of Web 2.0 and collaboration. I have witnessed some wonderful wikis created by some great teachers to facilitate the collaborative work of their class, communication and feedback with ease (all of the things we would like in a LMS... Editure are you taking note?).
That being said, Wetpaint have let themselves down with the advertising and new requirement to keep a class public whilst inviting in members. To this end I have been experimenting with and promoting 'Ning' www.ning.com. Another advantage of Nings is that they have a Social Network format that students understand but are far safer than Facebook by not including any of the students' private life goings on.
Overall as a reflection, this has been a wonderful course that has opened up so many possibilities in terms of professional development, flexible learning, empowering teachers and reaching out to students with contemporary learning. Well done again to Helen and Diane. Enjoy your break Helen! Watch this space as we develop more courses, taking full advantage of the flexibility of learning with technology.
You really should look into UniServity's new cLc (connected Learning communities) platform. It is being adopted by all ACT Gov schools (who are ditching Editure) and by one of the Queensland dioceses. cLc is a generation ahead - and I ought to know being one of those most responsible for the introduction of myinternet (as it was once known) to CEO many years ago. Technology (and pedagogy) have moved on. The cLc wraps together wikis, blogs, eportfolio, safe social netorking (think ning on steroids), podcasting, instant messaging, and web conferencing, and all the LMS type content delivery tools you are used to. See www.uniservity.com . Districts across HK and the UK are ditching LMS's (which despite the Web 2.0 marketing rhetoric are still very Web 1.0) and running to Web 2.0 learning platforms like cLc. I'm in Pennsylvania on a city school improvement project at the moment. CEO ought to put someone on a plane to come here to see what the City is doing with the cLc, and in particular the way professional learning is being developed. Cheers.
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