wikis



The Wonderful World of Wikis
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//Wikis in Plain English//
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//What's a Wiki?//

 * Web site that anyone can edit quickly and easily in a web browser
 * Term coined by Ward Cunningham in 1995
 * Wiki - short form of the Hawaiian word "wiki-wiki" meaning "quick"
 * Wikipedia is a wiki created by Jimmy Wales in 2001 with the intent to store the "sum of human knowledge"
 * Only need Internet access and a web browser to edit

Uses of Wikis -- See Educational Wikis/Vicki Davis/Emerging Internet Technologies - FTC Publishing
 * Online text for curriculum
 * Create or edit entries to book/articles/topics being studied
 * Collaborative student projects
 * Storage of related documents and pictures
 * Lesson Summaries
 * Collaboration of Notes
 * Concept Introduction and Exploratory Projects
 * Dissemination of Important Classroom Learning Beyond the Classroom
 * Individual Assessment Projects
 * School Newspaper
 * Student Portfolio
 * Brainstorming for a science fair project
 * Collaboration between teachers
 * Peer review

//Benefits of Using Wikis in the Classroom//
Encourage collaboration in a student-centered environment [|Boston College's List of Benefits]- Although geared for university level, these benefits are seen at lower levels.


 * Mr. Armstrong's US History Wiki - Grade 8
 * Educational Wikis at Wikispaces
 * NECC Library Tool Smackdown
 * Flat Classroom Project - Vicki Davis
 * [|Educational Wikis] at WetPaint
 * Book Review WIki

//5 Tips For Working With Wikis//
(adapted from Vicki Davis, author of the Flat Classroom Project) 1. Refresh Before Writing -- Before you edit, click the refresh button in your browser to be sure all previous changes are visible. 2. Make Small Edits -- Do not leave the wiki page open for a long time. Once you have entered information, be sure to SAVE the changes as you work. 3. Communicate with your team -- If you are working in a group, let your team members know when you are working on the wiki page. If more than one team member edits the page at the same time, one or the other's work may be over-written. 4. Learn to use the "History" tab -- At any time, you can recover information from previous edits. This is the power of the wiki! 5. Discussion -- in Wikispaces there is a discussion area, for leaving messages and engaging in conversation. Use the wiki pages for general information publishing only.

//Wikis Software//

 * [|PBWorks] (aka PBWiki)
 * [|WetPaint] - [|Now ad-free] sites for you
 * Wikispaces
 * [|PikiWiki]
 * [|Zoho]

//All About Wikispaces//

 * Introduced to educators in 2006
 * Free, ad-free wikis
 * Easy to use
 * Private
 * Student account creator

//Working with Wikispaces//

 * 1) Create a classroom account at Wikispaces.
 * 2) Join this wiki by clicking "Join This Space" in the upper left.
 * 3) Go to the participant page and follow the instructions.

You'll get a Plus plan program - ad-free :>). Wikispaces will add users for you.

//Different Permissions//

 * Public - anyone can view or edit your wiki
 * Protected - anyone can view your wiki but only members can edit
 * Private - only members can view or edit your wiki

//To lock individual pages//:

 * To lock a page please login, select Manage Wiki.
 * Select Pages.
 * Select the Actions link next to a page's name, and select Lock.

//To set the theme://

 * On the navigation menu, choose Manage Wiki.
 * Under Settings, click Look and Feel.

//Page Tabs://

 * Discussion - Forum for posting questions for response
 * History - allows you to see all versions of page, who has made the edits, and allows you to revert to a previous version
 * Notify Me - Notifies you when anyone makes changes to the wiki when you set up email notification or through RSS feed (RSS is recommended if a large number of students will be editing)
 * Navigation - on the left

//Customizing Navigation://
Click Edit Navigation on the left (each page must have a unique name - i.e., Sean M. and Sean T.)

//User account links (upper-right corner)://

 * User Name - Accesses dashboard to see wikis you belong to, your inbox, news, allows you to see what you are monitoring
 * Arrow - Allows you to navigate between all your wikis
 * Envelope -Allows you to send messages to all members of wiki or individuals on wiki
 * My Account - Can change your username, email, password, edit your profile info/picture, etc.

//Wikispaces Help//
[|Editing a Wiki] [|Setting Up a Wiki] Automatic Merging Two People Editing at the Same Time?

Wikispaces Tutorial - Jennifer Dorman media type="custom" key="4051399"

//Adding Students//

 * Email lists of students to help@wikispaces.com.
 * Usernames - at least 3 characters
 * Passwords - 6 or more characters
 * email in this order usernames, email addresses (not required), password - separate all with commas

-OR- Add under Manage Wiki

//Resources - Widgets and More//

 * Getting Tricky with Wikis
 * [|Widgetbox]
 * [|Primary Games Widgets]

//Widget Sample//
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//Survey sample//
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//Google Calendar Sample//
media type="googlecalendar" key="cschlicht7%40gmail.com" ARG0="&ctz=America/Chicago" height="600" width="800"

//Scoring Rubrics//
[|Wiki Grading Rubric] - Vicki Davis [|Flat Classroom Project Rubric] [|Read Write Think's Wiki Rubric]

//RSS Feed//
[|Google Reader]

//Spell Check?//
Try [|ieSpell] - A spell checker for Internet Explorer Max file size of 20MB and a total storage size of 2GB