Useful Wikis in the Classroom

A wiki is a relatively new concept.  I knew about wikipedia but I only recently learned that anyone could create a wiki for their personal use such as planning a camping trip or in collaborating on a school project. After watching the common craft video about wikis, I realized how useful wikis can be used both professionally and personally. Professionally colleagues would be able to work together to develop different ideas for curriculum or any other group project they need to tackle. In one's personal life, wikis can be used to plan trips or events as well as work on letters to send for family during christmas time. A wiki would be useful to students when working on a group project.  Wikis are great ways for students to learn how to collaborate.  On a larger scale is the issue of using wikipedia in the school.  Many teachers "ban" the use of wikipedia as a source for student resource because anyone can contribute information so therefore it is not necessarily true. I think "banning" the use of wikipedia might be too extreme, however I think that wikipedia makes a good starting point. It should be able to be used in research in an appropriate context. Wikipedia probably should not be used for a formal research paper, but if a teacher wants students to research basic information about Spain for background information Wikipedia could be used appropriately. I practiced using the wiki first hand by using the Wiki Sandbox. I thought it was a strange experience to be putting something on the internet that others could access and see. The concept of a wiki is a new idea that I think will become more and more popular among the general public.