Online Chalkboard
The wiki is a collective chalkboard. When we write threads we scribble ideas as if we were writing with chalk. This is known as ThreadMode. TheCollective
- They need no order
- If the chalk keeps moving the brain keeps working
- Chalk comes in many colors
- You can make pictures with chalk
- A chalkboard can be taped over and posted to
- It's easier to read a chalkboard from a distance
Eventually, a chalkboard will be filled and it is at this point that we can look at what we wrote, moving on to DocumentMode. TheEditor in us all can erase what isn't important, as well as summarize and refactor the information - RefactoringMode. We call this RefactoringPages. With the extra space freed up we can then go back to scribbling notes.
In classrooms across America, the chalkboard has been replaced with the smartboard. Where the chalkboard analogy is a good one to demonstrate the concepts of collaboration and brainstorming that occurs on the wiki, the old school chalkboard was static; there was no traveling down PathsThroughEducation or TrailMaking. The smartboard assists in this analogy because the participants can follow links, taking them to new pages, or they can create new pages themselves using WikiWord. The smartboard also provides a space for audio, video, and visuals that are animated in a way the chalkboard could not. - BonnieRobinson
