The way I use Wikity is to use hypertext to connect and evaluate existing ideas as well as generate new ones. The video below shows what starting your day with this process looks like, and hints (I think) how it could help students of all skill levels to dig deeper into analysis than typical “reader reaction” assignments. It doesn’t show how this sort of thing functions in a community (I’ll show that later)

That said, I realize this sort of connective thinking is a skill, and it’s not the sort of skill that students have been taught. Assignments generally tell students “Read this thing and tell me what you think of it,” which jumps the student into a judgmental mode before engaging in a connective mode, and short circuits both empathy and creativity.

This is literally just a slightly sped up film of an ordinary day of me using Wikity, with voiceover narration added. I hope it’s comprehensible to people. It’s a bit like explaining how to ride a bike I guess.

If you want to see what this flurry of activity produced, here’s a “playlist” of the articles featured here.