Integrating Technology into Your Instruction

As I am designing my new course on Alternative Health Therapies, I have chosen to include a class wiki to enhance the curriculum. The wiki will have a page for each topic we cover in class. It will include text, photos and youtube videos about the subject. Students can look at the wiki to get a better understanding of the topics. For their research paper, students will be required to post the links to the research articles or journals they use under the correct page on the wiki. Over time I hope this develops into a resource of research that each class can add to as new information is found.
Even though I am new to wikis, I found them easy to use. The linear format makes sense to my brain. The list on the side is like a website and each one links to another page. Once on the page, anyone with a google account can edit the information. They can add, delete, update or change the information to make it the most accurate. The students can easily add their research links by clicking the edit button and then the save button when they are finished. As the instructor, I can click manage and see the names of who has edited the page and when. If each page is clearly marked for a topic, it will only take ten minutes for most students to read and even less time to apply their link. It will take the instructor about twenty minutes to teach the class how to use it and then a few minutes each day to make sure no one has written anything inappropriate on the wiki. I think it will be a useful tool which can continue each semester.
The benefits of a wiki are that the information stays available after the semester ends. Students who use BlackBoard cannot retrieve the resources after the end of class. It is also there if students want to look back and review current information years after taking the class. I believe a wiki will be an addition to my face-to-face lectures, utilizing quick resources and videos. I will not have to look for them each semester or transfer them to BlackBoard. The challenges of a wiki are making sure the site is used properly and has correct information. Also the instructor has to take the time to teach the students how to use and edit it.
My hope is that students learn to understand the workings of a wiki and feel empowered that what they research can now be easily found on the web. Wikis can be used for educational networking, which is different than social networking. Many of our students already participate in writing on the web. My goal for my students would be to open up a new opportunity to evaluate information found on the internet. I feel students can expand their knowledge by learning more about a tool they already use. This experience can lead to life long learning success.
The class wiki I have started can be found at www.alternativehealththerapies.wikispaces.com