Wikis

**Overview**
==** A Wiki ([|see Wikipedia's definition]) is a easy to use webpage that anyone can edit. This site itself is an example of a "wiki." Invented by Ward Cunningham, wikis are a read/write web technology that allow for easy, fast, and collaborative websites to be built without the need for special software or a lot of training. Adam Frey, from Wikispaces calls a wiki: "a web page with an edit button."  **//1  (scroll straight to the bottom of this page if you are already familiar with wikis and their uses)  // ==

You might say that a wiki is a web-based tool that trades simplicity in design for sophisticated multi-user publishing capability--all from a common web browser. As such, a wiki can be used in three basic ways: > First, a wiki can serve as an easy web-publishing tool that is managed by a single individual. Whereas a blog can serve a simlar function, a blog has an inherent chronological structure which is limiting. A wiki, on the other hand, has the capacity to allow for the organization of data in either a hierarchical or hyperlink fashion, according to the designs of the publisher. With no expense for a web publishing program, and with the independence of being able to work from any computer with a connection to the Internet and a web browser, a wiki is an incredibly effective tool for writing to the web. > Second, a wiki can be "partially collaborative." Multiple individuals, again only requiring access to a web browser, can participate together in the building of information in one website. In a "partially collaborative" wiki, while they are publishing together to a single website, their content does not overlap and may be delegated or assigned. > Third (and clearly the real "magic" of wikis), a wiki can be "fully collaborative." In this method of using a wiki, multiple individuals work together and often work on the same content. [|Wikipedia] is a good example of a fully-collaborative wiki. While it might seem that allowing many people the ability to work on, modify, or overwrite each others work would result in chaos, it typically results in the participants choosing to write in a thoughtful, non-partisan fashion so that others will feel comfortable with the content and minimizing the need for a tug-of-war. Most wiki software allows for a mirrored "discussion" page for each page of content, where contributors can actually talk over the content of the page and their feelings about how it should be presented. A good example of a "fully collaborative" wiki that many people are familiar with is Wikipedia. Wikipedia allows anyone to edit any page that they want to, with pretty amazing results.
 * 1) **Simple Web Publishing**
 * 1) **Joint Web Publishing**
 * 1) **Fully Collaborative Web Publishing**

Why do Wikis work so well? There are five elements that, in combination, are the "secret sauce" to wikis:
 * 1) You edit in them in a browser, without the need for specilized programs;
 * 2) You can link to uncreated page, so the organization of the wiki can be created on the fly--without interfering with creativity or interrupting the thought process;
 * 3) Wikis keep a chronological history for every page, so nothing is lost forever, no changes can be completely destructive, and revisions can always be undone;
 * 4) Wikis include a discussion area, so there can be a dialogue about changes before, during, and after they are being made;
 * 5) And finally, and in some ways most significantly, you can monitor a wiki or a particular page and receive notification of any changes to that page--which is why an error in a site like Wikipedia can be corrected in a matter of a few minutes.

**Uses of Wikis in Education**
Without knowing any HTML, wikis allow students and teachers to create web pages. These pages can be edited anywhere and, if you choose, by anyone. A wiki allows for world wide collaboration.

You can use wikis for:
 * Class Notes
 * Parental / Student Communication
 * Lesson Summaries
 * Handouts
 * Course Syllabus
 * Course Links and Resource Notes
 * School or class calendar
 * Collaboration of Notes
 * Concept Introduction and Exploratory Projects
 * Dissemination of Important Classroom Learning Beyond the Classroom
 * Teacher Information Page
 * Student written books
 * School Newspaper
 * Showcase for student projects
 * Platform for peer review of student work

**What Wikis Do for Students**
Wikis allow your students to collaborate. Group work can be compiled on the same wiki page. Students can even work together to write the textbook. Students like using wikis because they can work on them 24/7 without the hassle of finding a common meeting time and place.

**What Wikis Do for Teachers and Administrators**

 * Build learning communities
 * Extend professional development workshops
 * Provide a storage space for curriculum resources, lesson plans, course materials, tech support tips, and more
 * Build home-school communications
 * Publish web pages (quickly and easily)

**Curriculum Wikis**
These are wikis that include curriculum resources that are freely shareable:
 * [|Curriki]
 * [|OER Commons]
 * [|Schools Without Limit]s
 * [|Wikibooks]
 * [|Wikijunior books]

Project WIKIS

 * Click on e-DigiSkills - it´s about collaborating in [|European eTwinning]

**Lesson Plans & Ideas**

 * PUT IDEAS AND LINKS HERE
 * PUT IDEAS AND LINKS HERE
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**Specific Program Links**

 * [|Wikimatrix] Wiki engines compared
 * [|Wiki farms List] @ wikipedia – “A ‘wiki farm’ is a server or a collection of servers that provides wiki hosting, or a group of wikis hosted on such servers. The following tables compare general information for a number of wiki farms."
 * [|PMwiki] Simple to install wiki software, requires PHP 4.1 or later
 * [|PBwiki] Hosted wiki ad-free for educators.
 * [|Wikispaces] Hosted wikis ad-free for educators (this site is a Wikispaces wiki)
 * [|DokuWiki] DokuWiki is simple to install and use. It works on plain texts files and thus needs no database.
 * [|Zoho Wiki]
 * [|Wetpaint] Really useful for class work with students. Apply for free ads.
 * [|EditMe] Provides tools to allow for private student pages within the wiki.
 * [|Jotspot] - newly acquired by Google which is causing delays for new user registration
 * [|wikieducator] The WikiEducator is an evolving community intended for the collaborative: (a) planning of education projects linked with the development of free content; (b) development of free content on Wikieducator for e-learning; (c) work on building open education resources (OERs) on how to create OERs.
 * [|Google Sites] - As it's in the google system, it offers high compatibility with other google products, and has many apps that have been developed that can be embedded easily into the wiki.

**Blog Resources**

 * [|Using Wiki in Education] A blog and [|book] by Stewart Mader.
 * [|Darren Kuropatwa's Daily Scribe Post Concept]

**Classroom Wikis to Check Out**

 * Portable C Wiki See a classroom wikispace in Elementary School grades 3 -5.
 * Jerusalem Wikispace An international collaborative project between Israeli and Canadian classes.
 * [|Design Patterns for Eduwikis]
 * [|Wikipatterns] - examples of and discussion about tactics for encouraging involvement in your wiki (and those tactics which might have the opposite effect)
 * [|The Edu Advisory Board for PBwiki] Place to collaborate on making PBwiki easier and more useful for educators
 * Design Space A wiki on visual literacy
 * What is Democracy A wiki to go with a [|WebQuest] []
 * [|Welker's WIkinomics] - the 2007 EduBlog "Best Educational Wiki" Award winning Economics student wiki.
 * http://goodwinclass.wikispaces.com/ - Check out our classroom wiki.
 * http://mrsmaine.wikispaces.com A classroom wiki where we keep all biology work we do.
 * [|http://collegelists.pbwiki.com] - Counselor-generated lists of colleges that meet criteria which are unusual or hard-to-find (e.g. "colleges with observatories")
 * http://planetashbury.wikispaces.com/- See a classroom wiki being used for a collaborative writing project
 * Monarch Library Wiki A K-5 Library wiki used to display library projects, collaborative units, & teaching/learning resources.

**Podcasts Resources**

 * [|Steve Hargadon's] [|EdTechLive] interview on 8/24/06 with [|Victoria Davis] and Adam Frey: "Wikis--What Are They, and Why Use Them in Education?" [|MP3][|OGG]

**Other Web Links**

 * [|Learning the Wiki Way] - a wiki presentation about how to use wikis in your class, by Jason Welker
 * [|Wikis in the Classroom] ppt by Vicki A Davis 2007
 * e-digiskills "European eTwinning project", coordinated by Hans Feldmeier
 * [|Vicky Davis] "Wiki Wiki Teaching- The art of using wiki pages to teach"
 * [|S. Pixy Ferris and Hilary Wilder] "Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom"
 * [|A Wiki Walk-Through], from TeachersFirst. A great tutorial about what a wiki is, why to use wikis in education, and how to use wikis in education.
 * [|Welcome to the World of Wikis] - Help pages put together to use with primary schools in the UK
 * [|Using Wiki in Education] - An article at the Science of Spectroscopy
 * [|Classroom Use of Wikis] at Teaching Hacks
 * Articles and Resources in Spanish
 * [|Wiki While you Work] - A video tutorial lecture by Mark Wagner
 * Waarvoor gebruik je een wiki (how to use wikis in Dutch) - A short list of ideas to use wikis in education.
 * [|Wikipatterns] This site contains a directory of patterns and anti-patterns, and a guide to major stages of wiki adoption.
 * [|Wiki Wiki, Blog Blog] An essay on wikis and Blogs, by Anne Marie Scott.
 * [|Wiki That! Education]Blog discussing the uses of wikis in Education.
 * [|Wikiweb: The use of wikis for collaborative learning], online essay.
 * Web-based Communication Graduate class wiki containing many examples of classroom wikis & blogs.
 * [|The Classroom Wiki] - tips for selecting and using a wiki in the classroom
 * [|Wikified Schools] - wiki for the book by Stephanie Sandifer

**Article Links**
> A VLE course introducing web 2.0 for education. Covering blogs, wikis, photo and video sharing and social networks.
 * //EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2005) 7 Things You Should Know about Wikis, July 2005[]
 * EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2005) 7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing, December 2005[]
 * Diane Oblinger (2006) Uses of Wikis, EDUCAUSE Pocket Edition #6 (podcast)[]
 * Brian Benzinger (2006) Stu.dicio.us – Social Note Taking for Students, Solution Watch[]
 * [|JISC RSC NW - Web 2.0 Moodle course]
 * [|Making Wikis Work for Scholars] April 2008 - a discussion on the use and abuse of wikipedia in academia.

**Books**

 * [|Wikified Schools: Using Wikis to Improve Collaboration and Communication in Education] by Stephanie Sandifer
 * [|Wikis for Dummies]
 * [|Wikinomics]
 * PUT LINKS HERE

**Videos**
> Wiki web sites are easy to use, but hard to describe. The video use the analogy of planning a camping trip to show how easy fully collborative Web publishing really is. And, moreover, shows that it's publishing with a purpose.
 * [|PBwiki Educator Videos]
 * [|YOU TUBE: Wikis in Plain English]
 * PUT LINKS HERE

**Email Lists**

 * [|Wikis in Education Mailing List], a place to exchange ideas and get help if you have any questions.
 * PUT LINKS HERE
 * PUT LINKS HERE

**Other Community Sites**

 * PUT LINKS HERE
 * PUT LINKS HERE
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**Additional Resources**

 * Wikis - A beginner's tutorial for educators

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