As I was reading this week's reading assignment about wikis and the applications or place of wikis in libraries, I finally realized the greatness that is a true "wiki". I always thought Wikipedia was awesome. It was quick, easy to search, and seemed to be full of thoughtful information. Granted, as with anything published on the Internet, I take a lot of what I find with a grain of salt, including articles with references. Call me old-fashioned, but unless I can find the same exact information listed twice or three times online, I don't take it completely as truth (I think growing up with the Internet has made me skeptical). Anyway, the idea of a collective knowledge finally came through to me and a full understanding of how wikis can provide the forum came through this week.
It also resonated with me due to a conversation I had with my sister earlier this week. Her children attend a public elementary school in San Jose. It's slightly different from the other public elementary schools because it is a Spanish-immersion school in that each grade (K-8) is taught in both English and Spanish. All the kids essentially are bilingual by the time they reach high school. Unfortunately, not all parents understand Spanish well enough to know how far along their kids are and how to help develop their reading skills at home and even those families who are English-speakers have a tough time understanding how to be good reading coaches at home. There is also a knowledge gap of what level reading parents should take into consideration when they're at the library or book store. Since this school is part of the San Jose Unified School district, their funding is strict and the school librarian is only on the campus in the library a few hours each week, due to union and salary rules. And unlike some of the other public schools in the area, this particular school does not have a partnership with a local San Jose Public Library to provide support, as well. They have a loose connection to the Biblioteca Lantinoamerica, but there are library branch locations closer to where many of the students live which have well-stocked Spanish sections, but do not provide school support. My sister's main concern recently has been the disconnect of knowledge between her and her child's teacher when it comes to her child's reading level. Additionally, how she, my sister, can be a good reading coach to her children when they're at home. She has twins and even though they're in the same grade, their reading levels may differ and they also have different needs when learning how to read well.
Hearing her story before fully understanding wikis, I was at a loss for what could be done. Originally, I thought this would be a great place for the school librarian to step in and provide support, but considering the salary and hours of the school librarian, this would be difficult. I then thought of the support the local library branches could provide, if they had the resources to provide it. But now that I understand how wikis could work and flourish in the community, I know that a wiki would be an awesome resource for parents.
Obviously there would be those parents who have older kids and have learned how best to be reading coaches at home to younger kids. They could provide their knowledge to the wiki. Those parents who are just learning and might've learned some great new way of helping their kids read better could add this to the wiki, as well. Teachers could also provide their insights to the wiki and the parents could have access to their kids' teachers' knowledge and bring that into the home. The bigger question would be where this wiki should reside and who would be monitoring it and providing support. While it would be great to think that the parents could own the site and maintain it, the majority of parents, especially with this school, all work regularly and/or have little online savvy to get the wiki up and moving. Would the school then take a part in maintaining it or perhaps a group of parents could work with one of the local branches of the SJPL and have them open the wiki? As Nichani (2007) quite rightly points out, not only do you need a solid plan for a wiki, you need to then use it regularly and finally, and most importantly, sustain it. In a situation like this where you have a large variety of people who would use the wiki to find information, as well as a variety of people who would ADD to the information on the wiki, a strong support base to help clean things up, organize information, and maintain the overall site is essential.
Michelle, this sounds like a great use for a wiki. I think you’re right that it would require a nucleus of active users to get it set up and then to maintain it. It sounds as though most people new to wikis tend to ease into it—reading only at first. It seems to require the experience of knowing more than is written in an article and caring enough to fix it to get people started in adding to a wiki. Putting together a collaborative team from the school, public library, and parents sounds like a great idea—and there are other Spanish-language immersion schools around, so once folks got it going, they might find eager contributors from other schools, too. In fact…part of my Spanish language self-study is reading children’s books, so it would be useful for me, too! If you decide to help your sister and her children’s school get a wiki started, let me know.
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