A "wiki" aloha from the Hawaiian islands!

I was somewhat aware of what wikis were and had even used one in the past without realizing it (for my bookclub that I used to be a part of) but after this unit I learned some interesting facts (who knew "wiki" meant "quick" in Hawaiian) and I have now become more educated in understanding what they are, how they function, and how they are used. This was a very educational unit for me!

I did not realize that Wikipedia can be edited by many different users. I'm not to sure how I feel about that as I think with anybody being able to edit, the information can become really distorted and false rather than educational. On the other hand, it is kind of interesting to get first hand knowledge from someone who has experienced something (for example having experienced a city you're interested in traveling to).

In browsing through some of the wikis, I discovered WikiTravel and really found it useful. I am possibly thinking of a trip to New York in the spring and got to browsing and found lots of interesting tips for staying and traveling to that city that I never would have thought of on my own. It was great to read about people's first hand experiences and get a point of view of someone who was actually there and experiencing NYC rather than the standard travel brochure literature. Brochures have a tendency to leave out the "little yet crucial details" that you wouldn't know unless you experienced it for yourself or heard it from someone who's been to that city. I got totally absorbed in WikiTravel and browsed it for over half an hour just clicking link after link! Hee, hee!

As I mentioned above, I have used a wiki to communicate with my former book club members. We used it to communicate when and where our meetings would be, who was bringing snacks and drinks, what books we had considered, and of course just general chit chat. It always amazed me how our meetings were organized and planned and we had never talked to each other face to face or on the phone in the weeks in between our meetings. I found it to be a very useful communication tool and would definitely use it again in the future if I'm ever part of another group with lots of members. It was a great way to keep facts and details straight and there was no excuse to not be informed of what was going on. Even though telephones are great, sometimes messages can get muddled when relayed from a third party and misunderstandings can occur. With wikis, I can't really foresee that happening so I think it's a wonderful tool for groups to use.