This is the seventh and final installment in a series [1 2 3 4 5 6] based on my recent conversation with Vicki Davis (blog), the visionary teacher behind the Westwood Schools Wikispace. Today, Vicki tells us what skills students learn from using the wiki. A huge thank you to Vicki for letting me feature her and the Westwood Wiki for this series!

• What skills do you see the wiki helping students develop or acquire? It helps them understand teamwork but also individual responsibility to the team. I also believe that as I prepare them for college that they can use wikis to help those infamous team projects work more smoothly. I believe wikis are the perfect way for teams to collaborate who are with each other all the time and will result in increased productivity.

  As a former businesswoman I have been trained to look at the “bottom line.” The bottom line is that in this world, these students are going to have to work with people around the world on projects. They are going to have to overcome language and distance barriers. In order to do that, they must understand collaboration and wikis are part of the solution to this. It is vital to their future in the global workplace as the managers and leaders I believe they are called to be. Students who understand how to use wikis will be better college students and more successful businesspeople, educators, doctors, etc. I want to help them succeed so I feel that such collaborative tools must be part of my classroom.