What is a Wiki ????

A website that allows multiple users to edit & add content.

*See Wikipedia .. [an online encyclopedia] one of the most popular Wikis

Why Wiki?

Collaborative lessons get students involved in the learning process!

Multiple authoring takes the burden of disseminating knowledge off of 1 person.

Files, pictures, & media are easily uploaded to share with others.

Many Wiki based environments are FREE!

What are some uses for Wikis??

Collaboration - students can easily collaborate with each other through Wiki based lessons

Interest sharing – book clubs, you name itCultural exchange – opportunity to

exchange information globallyTeachers - professional collaboration;

lessons plans, event planning, information gathering, etc…

Are Wikis secure??

Options for different levels of control

open to all, member only editing, member only viewing & editing

Provide members editing guidelines (language, copyright compliance, etc)

Wiki authors can be notified when editing occurs & editing can be easily tracked & accepted or deleted.

Where do I begin ?

WikiMatrix – allows you to compare over 50 different Wiki platforms.

pbWiki – an easy to use Wiki platformEditMe – wiki hosting service for the non-

technical user MediaWiki – software originally written for

WikipediaWetPaint – create a topic oriented wiki

http://www.wikimatrix.org/index.php

http://pbwiki.com/edu.html

http://editme.com/

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki

Sources

HELP to get you started:

Wikispaces – usesWikispaces – for teachersClassroom Uses [Teaching Hacks]Educational WikisSpudBiz Home – Wiki helpWild about Wikis

Examples:

Here are some examples of some good school Wikispaces:

• The Aristotle Project [Estancia High School, Costa Mesa, California]

• Collaboration Nation [Moran Middle School CT, USA ]

• Our Hockey Story [Westmount Elementary, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

The Anatomy of a Wikispace

What do Blogs have to do with it?

Bibliography of sources: Jakes, David (2006), Wild about Wikis. Available at

http://www.techlearning.com/shared/printableArticle.php?articleID=191801354

Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_Page, (accessed 21 June 2008).

Biship, Barry (2007), The Librarian Philosopher. Available at http://librarianphilosopher.edublogs.org/files/2007/03/5

Small, Becky (2007), Wiki in a K-12 classroom. CTER Available at http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom

Multiple authors (2007), What is a Wiki? Available at http://www.teachinghacks.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wikis

Davis, Vicki A. (2007), Wikis in the Classroom. Available at http://www.slideshare.net/coolcatteacher/wikis-in-the-classroom/

Multiple authors (2006), 7 Things you should know about Wikis. Educause Learning Initiative Available at http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf

Multiple authors (2006), TeachersFirst home, Network for Instructional TV, Inc. http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/lightwiki.cfm