Wiki Solution Manuals

Darren lights upon another great idea with the creation of wiki problem solving sites for his kids (and Clarence has picked up the ball as well.) As he puts it, his students are creating the textbook in their blogs, and now they can create supporting resources in the wiki. Read the thinking that he put behind how to structure and assess the work his students are doing. It’s pretty brilliant.

And this is an idea with legs, I think. With math, the concept of a solution manual is pretty straightforward, but how about translation manuals for world language students, or manuals for English class where students develop models of effective writing, or a history manual where students create context for important events or people, or lab manuals for bio or chemistry, or… Again, this goes back to the idea that we have almost unlimited opportunities for our students to learn by teaching…teaching each other or teaching the world. (Darren wants to connect lots of students to these wikis creating a “World Wide Wiki.” Might be tough to implement, but the expansive way of looking at it is right on.)

And just a note about pbwiki which has quickly become one of the best choices out there for wiki ideas. The creators are constantly tweaking the software and have made some real strides toward making it classroom accessible of late. There are still some issues to think through when choosing to use a wiki with your students, but there seems to be a nice balance between privacy and transparency that teachers can reach with some thinking and planning (and reading of Darren’s blog…)

So, what other ways can we twist Darren’s idea?