Documentation Showdown – MS Word or Wiki

At Island Pacific School, where I work as assistant head, we’ve divided tools into four categories according to function: production (GDocs, video, GarageBand etc.), publication (wikis), discussion (Nings) and administration (GCal and edmodo for its simplicity). I realize there is some overlap, but these distinctions by and large make sense. I very rarely use Word–only when someone else sends me a Word document or when I need to send someone a doc in Word format.

I use Word 95% of the time. I will compose, etc., in Word and copy it into e-mail or attach the document.

I have not used a wiki, but I have often read them.

My output is often one –> one or one –> few, so I use Word (or Outlook) to compose a “tell” or a “respond”. For “discover” I’ll more often go to a wiki (or board, or whatever Google turns up). I’m usually only prompted to contribute on a wiki or a board that I’ve found in some search for enlightenment, on the spot. Only within the few communities I already participate in do I make the effort to publish some nugget of wisdom I’ve come up with.