Classroom communities & how to best use a wiki

I liked the idea that Kadjer presented in Chapter 8 about the communities that can be formed through the internet. It seems such a simple idea - use what the kids are already using to promote their academic growth! Wow! So, simple, yet I've never done it. She says that "we strive to create meaningful spaces for student learning," which is absolutely right, but I think I've been trying too hard (98). The wikis and blogs that we've experimented with this week have planted a seed in my head of the possibilities that can arise using the internet. She refers specifically to email in the beginning of her chapter. "E-mail is appealing to students (and teachers) because of its speed, efficiency, ubiquity, and accessibility" (99). Although I personally love the speed of the internet, I still feel that it takes away some of the interpersonal connection that an in class discussion has. Yet, using these programs only reminds me that my students communicate in this form daily. Many of them text each other frequently instead of calling each other (something I hate when people do to me - for example sending me an invitation to go out as a text message instead of calling me directly!). Although I may think that it's impersonal, my students don't. My class needs to be interesting for them, not necessarily for me. If this will keep them engaged then this is what I need to include in my class to be a successful teacher. Which brings me to my reactions to "When Blogging Goes Bad: A Cautionary Tale About Blogs, Email Lists, Discussion, and Interaction". Krause begins by quoting that " "Content Delivery in the 'Blogosphere,'" Richard E. Ferdig and Kaye D. Trammell claim that the benefits of blogs in classrooms include giving students a "legitimate" space to participate in discussions and to share diverse perspectives with readers in and outside of the classroom," - my own initial reaction to what blogging could promote in a classroom. Yet, Krause's article also seems very reasonable. He talks about people feeling disengaged, lack of a dynamic, and lack of participation. I appreciated this article because of its honesty. It presented many of the concerns that I have had in the previous weeks but it also leads me to think that the use of blogs and wikis in a class have their place, as long as they are only a small portion of the class. For example, the professor who came to our lab last week (and I apologize for not referring to her by name), I think had a successful experience with her wiki project because it was simply a project that the class did to help their grade, not a substantial part of the course. If the class really reacts well to the project, then there could be a possibility of expanding its use. Yet, I think the idea behind including these programs in class should be to attempt to talk outside of class, to expand thier use of technology, to add another dynamic to the class, and to provide for mulitple communciation levels. What do you think?