Using Wikis in Classrooms

Article: http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/09/15/Wiki-Centric-Learning.aspx?Page=1

  After reading the above article, I can see that wikis can be used in so many different ways in a school. My first thoughts were focused on how colleagues could share a wiki when collaborating on a unit. I like the idea of bouncing ideas back and forth with other teachers when developing lessons...I also see a potential use when it comes to posting meeting minutes for others to see. At my school we currently post meeting minutes in a Microsoft word document on our shared files. This works, but it takes a couple of steps to get there and you must be in school to have access to the file.
    Next I began wondering how it could be used with students. For someone in secondary education who often has over 100 students the idea of a wiki can be overwhelming. However, I think that in assignments that ask students to work in collaborative groups, such as labs, a wiki could be a great way of sharing information with one another. Another way that I could see wikis being used in my classroom utilizes one wiki per class period. Perhaps I could find several interesting articles related to our unit and ask each class to comment on a specific article while communicating with each other. I think this idea could strengthen the "community feel" of a classroom...if students are working together online they may find it easier to work with one another in the classroom.
   I especially like the idea of having our students reaching out to communities in other countries in order to learn about different cultures. The article mentions using wikis in this way. I wonder how to get started when trying to set up such interactions...just having students talk to others in Europe because its cool doesn't cut it! (although it is cool).  I wonder how to create a meaningful lesson which asks students to learn about others with a different perspective. Any ideas?
   Lastly, I like to have students work on web-quests occasionally and now I am wondering if it would work to post the instructions (its like a scavenger hunt through the internet to find answers to my questions) in a wiki and ask students to answer on the wiki. I would take any ideas, comments or suggestions!