Week 7, Thing #17 Sandbox Wiki

Taking a look at the California Curriculum Connections wiki, I found some interesting websites that were suggested by others. I definitely want to spend more time with www.voki.com where you can create a talking avatar. www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq/game1 has fun games about geography. Also www.travelpod.com is a website where people can create travel blogs about the places they visit. It might be an interesting way to learn about a country or city. www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/best has crossword puzzles about a variety of subjects. I thought it was interesting that you had the option of printing the crossword puzzles or of doing the crossword puzzle online. Doing a crossword puzzle is a different and fun way of studying about a subject. From looking at the California Curriculum Connections wiki I have found some interesting websites. Wikis are a great way for people to share information with each other. Not only is http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com an informative website about webtools, but the wiki also is an example of what can be done with the design of a wiki. The first page looks like a scrapbook page with pictures and even a video among the pictures. Since I like scrapbooking, I found this page to be very interesting and eye-catching. To answer the question of how might I use wikis, I have decided to think of ideas for a children's librarian in a public library since I am interested in someday being a children's librarian. One idea that I have is to create a wiki for the parents of the children who visit the library. The parents could put pictures on the wiki of them reading to their children or of their children reading. Parents could contribute ideas about reading at home with their children. The librarian could also offer suggestions about reading to children. The wiki could include book suggestions and reviews by librarians and by parents. I am just mentioning parents editing the wiki as opposed to parents and children editing the wiki because I am thinking about younger children such as preschool age. For older children, I could have a wiki where they could tell about their favorite books. I also may want to include a section for parents on ideas to keep their children reading even as they get older.