All Wikied Up

After reading some of these great posts and the reading materials, I will try not to be repetitive. Here is the key, I think, and after much thought, I am really warming up to this. It creates engagement, a personal stake, in the dialogue. It means that the students have as much to say as the instructor (something I already encourage in my classes, where there are no "right" answers to the scenarios). It will also mean that the dialogue will follow the interests of the group, much like one would want in the F2F. One post suggested that there could be some concerns with students manipulating or altering posts, etc. This is the same concern with broader wikis. But if people are that passionate about the material, I say right on! That might be a very unexpected, but none-the-less ringing, endorsement of the class. This is particularly so if critical thinking is prized over reaching the "correct" answers. Granted, this won't be true for all classes, but it certainly would be true of mine. My guess is that a detailed syllabus might be a waste of time in such a class, where the course followed the interests and dialogue and controversy stimulated by the wiki. But what an interesting document would exist by class end! Wow. I may have talked myself into this. Is it possible that this sort of flexilbility and passion could stimulate creator involvement and greater interest and curiosity? Yes, for sure. But in classes, like mine, where the ages and abilities of the students vary greatly, we could also see many get left behind or out. I'm not sure at this moment how best to manage that. But this would also be an interesting way to teach a class from the instructor's viewpoint, as well. We, too, need stimulation and passion, and this just might be an amazing way for an old dog to learn new tricks.