Eleven Interesting Ways* to Use a Wiki
in the Classroom
*and tips
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 License.
#1 - Create a subject-specific repositoryGet students to write their own revision materials!
1. Sign up for a free 'education' wiki with Wikispaces(see link below)
2. Make the wiki only open to those you have granted access.
3. Get students to sign up for a Wikispaces account
http://wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers
4. Make students responsible for their own pages. 5. Students can collaborate and become 'experts'
Doug Belshaw
#2 - Ask for student response
• as collaborative project o And To Think That I Saw It On My Way To Schoolo Love That Dog
• to bookso Civil War Novels o Ghost Cadet
• to classwork/class discussionso WikiWorld!o Emma's Politics Page
• To Canadian mentoro Di Hengen and student conversations
Paula White
#3 - Show off Student Work
• to demonstrate understandingo Fractions, Decimals and Percentso Consecutive Numbers
• for an audience (reports and projects)o Landmarks and Matho Discrimination (check out Japanese Americans)
• for advertising purposeso 5th Grade Fundraiser (see menu on left)
• To meet someone (in this case, our mentor introducing herself)o Dionne Hengen
Paula White
The Rotunda Charlottesville, VA USA
Scott Stadium At UVA Charlottesville, VA
#4 - Allow Students to create pages:
• Just For Funo 5th Grade Student pageso Drew's Games
• To communicateo Summer Activitieso Spring Break
• To relieve stresso Going to Middle School
• To organize for presentationso School Board Links
Paula White
#5- Publish Training VideosUse Jing and Wikis together to learn and review
• Students:o Researched/mastered assigned objective for
MOS Certification testo Wrote scripts with step-by-step instructionso Used Jing to record screencastso Used a Wikispaces wiki to upload video and
add script• Wiki is now a source for learning and reviewing
MOS test objectives• Has also been shared with school staff for
quick how-to reminders
Heidi Van Riper@hlvanrip
#6 - Post PodcastEmbed Podcast
• Create podcast and embed on pageo SES Computer Lab
We use Podomatic to create ours, then embed the code in the wiki.
Barb Smith
#7- Sharing teaching techniques among staffInvite staff to share ideas that work and build up a library of techniques
For example• Good practice in teaching pupils with SEN• Ideas for stetching the most able• Ways of integrating thinking skills / MIs into lessons
Advantages • Easy access to staff when it's convienient to them• Quickly builds into a valuable resource• Some staff will contribute and this builds shared
sense of ownership
Dave Stacey@davestacey
#8 A wiki as a forum for pupils to air issues relevant to teenagers.Create a wiki for a group of teenagers.
• Pupils create seperate wiki pages relating to certain issues:o Bullyingo Drugso Peer-pressureo etc
• Pupils include links to resources, helplines, fora etc.
• Pupils use the Wiki discussionso Pupils use the discussions in addition to the pages
themselves. The discussions allow conversations around the issue.
Submitted by Dughall McCormickTwitter: @dughall
#9 - Where can I get a wiki?Three companies offer ad-free wikis to educators. Each offer different features, which may make them suitable for specific purposes
http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachershttp://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com http://pbwiki.com/academic.wiki
Dave Stacey@davestacey
#10 - Interactive Sub (Supply) PlansCreate a page with sub plans and post for class
• Create voki and read plans to class
• Post Schedule and show class
• Require at least one assignment be done using wiki creating virtual classroom teacher can look in on
Sub (Supply) Plans Sample Voki
@mwackerMichael Wacker
#11 Create a collaborative dictionary.
- Create an English or foreign language dictionary to catalogue new words encountered each week:• Have a new page per topic area.• As an extension, students add what type of word it is, i.e.
noun, adjective etc, genders (for MFL), and an example of its use.
Submitted by Catherine ElliottTwitter: @camoore
If you would like to: • Contribute your ideas and tips to the
presentation.• Let me know how you have used the resource.• Get in touch.
You can email me or I am @tombarrett on Twitter
Thanks for helpingTom Barrett
Image: ‘Sharing‘
If you add a tip (or even if you don't) please tweet about it and the link so more people can contribute.
I have created a page for all of the Interesting Ways presentations on my blog.
The whole family in one place :-)
Have you seen Maths Maps yet?