Blackboards 2.0

The eighth-graders in Tina Kidd's English class at Catonsville Middle School were discussing the role of the traditional paper book - and its future in the age of Kindle.

But instead of the usual raised hands, their conversation was taking place online, amid keyboard strokes and mouse clicks in a school computer lab.

"I think that books will become obsolete within a few years," Natalie Bockmiller wrote.

"I think the Kindle is better than a regular book because of the trees," her classmate Robert Sanders said, adding, "The books kill trees."

But fellow eighth-grader Emily Meyer still saw a place for the printed word: "I think the elderly will end up using the Kindle more than anyone," she wrote. "It's easy to use, and you can enlarge the print. The younger generations will end up still using printed books."

Emily and her peers were expressing their opinions on a wiki, an online space where people can edit and contribute to content. Catonsville is one of several schools throughout Baltimore County, and the region, where teachers and staff have begun experimenting with the Web tool, using it for class exercises, homework and projects - as well as professional collaboration.

"We're trying to keep up technologically with these kids who have had technology since they were born," said Alyssa Smith, a library-media specialist at Catonsville, who started a wiki over the summer for staff in a book study group. "This is where it's going. This is where we need to be."

Several school systems have recently developed policies and guidelines for using such technology, recognizing a growing need and interest. They aim to ensure Internet safety and to supply more of a framework for teachers.

A wiki - Hawaiian for quick - is "basically a group writing space," said David Peloff, program director for emerging technologies at the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Technology in Education.

Peloff said he's seen wikis used at professional conferences, where people can chime in with thoughts during a presentation, creating a kind of "ongoing record."

"I could see the same thing happening in a K-12 classroom," he said. "I could see where they would have a lot of direct application if teachers use them in the right way."

At Catonsville, Smith, Kidd and reading teacher Michele Krupka said they've already witnessed the excitement during wiki lessons as students type responses to questions. The school wikis are only accessible to people with passwords.

"They love using technology," said Krupka, who helped craft the Kindle lesson and next plans to use a wiki in a gifted-and-talented reading class. "Not just using the technology, but using the technology to talk about technology."

And being able to see each other's comments seems to encourage some students to write more themselves, Kidd said.

Joseph Anderson's wiki for advanced placement U.S. history has become an extension of his classroom, a place where he can point his students to additional resources tied to what they are learning - such as a podcast lecture on the Salem witch trials, he said.

The Carver Center teacher gives "wiki work" for outside of class, asking students to read and comment on a posted article, as well as each other's observations, he said.

"I actually hear a kid say, 'I'm on the wiki more than I'm on Facebook,' " Anderson said. "The enthusiasm is much bigger than I've ever seen it before."

In Carroll County, social studies students at Northwest Middle participated in a wiki pilot last school year, said Paula Sandridge, a technology integration specialist. The project involved interviewing former students of the county's black high school. The district's Web site links to the project, which is open for anyone to view but is password-protected for contributors.

The kids "are putting their content up … for the world to look at, so it raises the bar for them," Sandridge said, adding that the wiki has garnered hits from India and Australia - and an e-mail from South Africa. "They take it seriously and do the best job they can."

Robert, one of the Catonsville students, summed up at least part of the wiki appeal: "It's basically a MySpace for us," the 13-year-old said, smiling. And, he added, having it in school "doesn't make it uncool."