Thing 22-Entering the Wiki World

Here is the link to my latest endeavor into the wiki world:

http://tslimonthlynotes.wikispaces.com/

I decided to create a rough draft of monthly departmental notes for my Communication Disorders Department. I often hear from my supervisor the process that occurs each month in trying to collaboratively create monthly notes between 4 individuals. The document is attached to emails and updated with multiple updates coming back to the main contact. So I thought what better New Years' gift could I give my supervisors than that of a wiki. They can edit and save and then share with the staff of speech language pathologists to view for updated notes, images, videos and links. Needless to say having the ability to attach images, videos and links is an added bonus which has not been an option in the past.

I will conduct a mini training session so that my supervisors can learn about wikis and try out a new way of doing business. Much of our administration duties and reports for the district are conducted on computers and Internet based practices.

In creating my wiki I found that I was looking for many of the features I am used to using with Microsoft Word. The options seem to be more limited. I also had problems when content disappeared. I had no "back-up" or "go-back" button to back up to my last step and try to edit a different way. I look under the advanced options but it was not clear as to what those options were. I will have to do some more experimentation with my next document.

Wikis seem to differ from blogs in that wikis can be used to create documents, complete projects, create study guides, etc. Wikis are also represent a shared authorship or ownership of content. Blogs seem to be more for sharing ideas and opinions that build on one another which are housed in one's authored blog site. It seems to be a little harder to see what has been edited with a wiki over time when looking at the latest saved update.

Blogs seem to be more appropriate for representing an individuals interests which invites others to comment and follow that individual's sharing of information and views. Wikis can be for shared experiences where everyone has a vested interest in editing, saving, and improving on a given project. Both medium offer many similar features and abilities to link into images, videos, other web sites, etc.

Another great "Thing" Thanks for the enrichment. Gregory Jacoby