On Monday night I took part in the Skypecast and Wiki Awards Ceremony for Vicki Davis’ wiki project at the k12 Online Conference. Participants signed up to work in teams on eleven different wiki sites, and according to Vicki’s instructions, “The topics were selected are emerging, new topics. The purpose of this project is to show you how wikis create experts on a topic within a very short period of time. You will find that your research on the Internet causes you to form an opinion and add it to your current knowledge base. Remember, Wikis are not word processors. Go out to the Internet, grab a “nugget” and come back and post and save.” Here are the sites:

1. Virtual Art Galleries
2. Effective Math Videos
3. Tandem Learning in Language Instruction
4. Self Publishing for Teachers
5. Tandem Learning in Language Arts
6. Simulated Laboratory Resources for K-12 science
7. Citizen Journalism Code of Ethics
8. Disruptive Technology in the Classroom
9. Tagging to help Teachers
10. Student Data Storage- Needs and Methods
11. Elementary School Internet Safety Code of Conduct

This past Sunday Jennifer Wagner, Andrea Forte, and I judged the sites and picked the following winners which were announced during the Skypecast:

• 3rd place – tie – Wiki #7 Citizen Journalism and Wiki #9 Tagging
• 2nd place – Wiki #8 Disruptive Technology
• 1st place – Wiki # 2 Math Videos
• Grand Prize/ Best of Conference – Wiki #10 Student Data Storage!

I was extremely pleased at the breadth and quality of work that participants put into these sites. I’ve been saying that the wiki is transforming how information is stored, constructed, and shared and that we can no longer think in terms of objects like Word files that get pushed out to people, but must instead think of it as something that people are pulled in to edit on a common canvas. The participants in Vicki’s project demonstrate this both in the topic spaces regarding math videos, virtual art galleries, etc. and in the spaces that deal with policy and infrastructure, like Student Data Storage and Code of Conduct. This shows good progress and maturity in peoples’ thinking about how the wiki fits with what they’re currently doing and pushes it to become better.

Kudos to Vicki, my fellow judges, and all the project participants!