thing8

=Thing #8 - What in the World Is a Wiki?=

[[image:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LJ6dfhGS2sY/SEXQQSjjijI/AAAAAAAAAIM/uTmMu2PECvI/s320/wiki.jpg align="left"]] **Introduction**

 * You may have noticed that the MISD Learning 2.0 - 23 Things course content is presented in a wiki.** A wiki is a great tool for delivering instructional content on the web. Pages can be edited from anywhere, right in a web browser, without a lot of technical knowledge. It's free, and offers online storage space to upload pictures and files.You don't need help or permission from a tech person to get started. Content can be easily re-organized and new pages added with a few clicks. You can attach files, add pictures and embed video, audio, slide shows and other media. **MOST IMPORTANTLY, you can invite others to help develop the content.** If need be, everyone can work together on the wiki in their pajamas.

A wiki is a website that anyone can edit. The first wiki was developed in 1995 by [|Ward Cunningham], who named his project after the Hawaiian word "wiki-wiki," meaning "quick." If you can use a word processor, copy and paste, and send an email attachment, you can create a wiki.

A wiki site may be as basic as a single page containing information and links by one author, or as complex as [|Wikipedia], the collaborative web-based encyclopedia, containing over 9 million articles in 250 languages, written, edited and constantly updated by thousands of users.

[|Wikis in Plain English] media type="youtube" key="-dnL00TdmLY" height="385" width="480"

Some of the benefits that make the use of wikis so attractive are: >> > Wikis encourage //shared knowledge construction//, as they are often built and edited by many users at once. Teachers and students can use wikis for publishing, organizing, and sharing virtually any kind of information – professional, creative or academic. Wikis are democratic tools that, implemented effectively, can enable students to take responsibility for learning outcomes, plan and make decisions, work together, publish to an audience beyond the classroom and, perhaps most importantly, teach others.
 * Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
 * Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
 * Earlier versions of a page can be rolled back and viewed when needed.
 * Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.
 * A wiki's "permissions" may be set to **Public**, **Protected** or **Private.**
 * **Public** - Anyone can view and edit the pages;
 * **Protected** - Anyone can view the pages, but only approved members may edit **pages**;
 * **Private** - Only approved members (who are logged in) can view or edit the pages.
 * A wiki site includes the ability to //track page changes// via email or an RSS feed. That's how Wikipedia vandalism/errors are corrected so quickly!
 * Most wikis include a Discussion feature for each page, allowing users to leave comments or discuss page contents.
 * Why Wikis in Education?**


 * At is simplest, a wiki is a //really easy// way to make a website.** At its most robust, a wiki is a collaborative, participatory, living, evolving content repository. (Of course, the quality of the content is what matters). Wikis can be used to support classroom learning, professional development, collaborative document writing, planning and resource-building. **Essentially, a wiki is anything you want it to be.**

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, schools, libraries, and individuals all over the country have started to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, professional conference wikis and even best practices wikis.

**Discovery Exercise**
Check out a few (say, 5-7) of the "educational" wikis below. Explore their organization and content. While there are essentially endless professional and administrative uses for wikis, the selection here has been slanted towards those that include collaborative, student-produced content. As you look at the sites, consider how you might use a wiki to support student learning and/or your own teaching or professional goals. (These are not offered as the absolute best or most comprehensive wiki projects, just a variety of examples). **Before you get started, read the learning activity below, so you know what your blog post will require.** > > > > > > > > > > **Greetings from the World** - A high school teacher in Croatia invites people from all over the world to share about their home countries using the Glogster "digital collage" tool. An ongoing, ever-growing collection of posts. Winner of the 2009 Edublog Award for Best Educational Wiki. > > > > > > > > >
 * **1001 Flat World Tales** - An ongoing global writing workshop emphasizing peer editing and revision. The challenge: "You are a modern Scheherazade. You must tell an 'amazing' story that keeps your King interested in order to stay alive. You will have an advantage over Scheherezade, though: you can draft and revise your story until the 'King' -- three or four of your classmates -- judge your story is good enough to allow you to survive."
 * **Code Blue** - Sixth grade students learning about the human body open their own online "medical clinic."
 * **Digital Research Tools (DiRT)** - This wiki collects information about tools and resources that can help scholars (particularly in the humanities and social sciences) conduct research more efficiently or creatively. Whether you need software to help you manage citations, author a multimedia work, or analyze texts, Digital Research Tools will help you find what you're looking for.
 * **Discovery Utopias** - Middle school students answer "all of the great questions" of society (What is the role of government, What is the responsibility of the individual, etc.) and come to a collaborative consensus about what a society truly needs in order to reach for perfection and sustainability. Click the Discovery Utopias link at the bottom of the navigation area (just above the visitor map) to view the student projects.
 * **Dr. Reich's Chemistry Wiki** - Wiki site providing resources to support high school chemistry course and to showcase student projects.
 * **FHS Wolves Den** - Site to support eleventh grade English and U.S. History classes. Hub for class lectures, essays, novels, projects, links, learning applications, discussions, and more.
 * **Flat Classroom Project** - Award-winning global collaboration between high school students in U.S. and Bangladesh. Students studied and reported on each of the ten "flatteners" presented in Friedman's //[|The World is Flat],// using a variety of Web 2.0 tools. This is true 21st Century collaboration.
 * **Go West** - Third graders share their learning about Westward Expansion along the Oregon Trail.
 * **Grazing for Digital Natives** - Resources for educators about using new technologies in the classroom.
 * **Great Debate 2008** - Collaborative project that provides students in grades 8-12 with an opportunity to lead an exploration and discussion of issues and candidates surrounding the 2008 presidential election.
 * **HUMS3001: Censorship and Responsibility** - a great example of collaborative scholarship by university students. Students develop content and teach each other as they study "theoretical approaches to free speech, liberalism, censorship, and responsibility and apply them to contemporary debates in journalism, media, art, literary studies and academia." I especially like their explanation of "wiki spirit."
 * **[|Kindergarten Counting Book]** - Photos to show each number from 1 to 100. (Wetpaint now offers **ad-free** education wikis).
 * **Kubler Reading** - Fourth grade students organize their of study Natalie Babbit's Tuck Everlasting on a wiki.
 * **[|Math 12V Outcomes Portfolio]** - Twelfth grade math students create an online review for the entire math curriculum.
 * **[|Primary Math]** - Primary students share their math learning with students around the world.
 * **Mr. Lindsay's Classroom Wiki** - Fourth grade classroom wiki. Includes student work, as well as class information.
 * **Schools in the Past** - First graders interview parents and grandparents to find out how schools have changed.
 * **Small Stones** - AP Calculus students write their own textbook by "scribe posting" a review of each day's lesson.

> > > >
 * **Springfield Township Virtual Library** - Amazingly rich collection of digital library resources maintained by Joyce Valenza.
 * **Thousands Project** - Each month, Mr. Monson's fifth grade class posts a new question, hoping to receive 1000 responses from students and visitors from around the world.
 * **UDL Tech Toolkit** - a useful collection of resources for using online tools to support Universal Design for Learning. Collaboratively edited.
 * **[|Welker's Wikinomics]** - Award-winning project supporting the teaching of AP Economics. Be sure to check out the **Discussion Forum**.
 * **Westwood Schools Computer Science** - Classroom wiki for [|Vicki Davis]' (coolcatteacher) high school computer science courses.


 * A Few Further Resources (provided for your reference)**
 * [|EDUCAUSE: 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis] (PDF) - Don't let the techno-speak in #3 scare you.
 * [|Wiki While You Work] - Mark Wagner's introduction to wikis presentation from the 2006 K12 Online Conference. It's long (1 hour) but really good.
 * [|Wiki Wisdom: Lessons for Educators] (PDF) - Article from Digital Directions

In case you just can't wait to start your wiki, here are three good options, each of which offers Ad-Free, hosted wikis for K-12 Education. The features vary a bit, so you may want to investigate a bit before settling. One way to do that is to create a "regular" free wiki (ad-supported) to explore the features before asking for your educator site.
 * A Few Sites for Creating a Wiki (provided for your reference)**
 * **Wikispaces** **for Educators** - http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
 * **PBWiki for Educators** - [|http://pbwiki.com/edu.pb> >]

**Learning Activity**
B. Write a blog post sharing your thoughts and observations about the educational wiki projects you have explored. Provide details/examples from at least **three wikis that you actually investigated** -- e.g. What did you notice about their organization, content, tools used, learning outcomes? What was missing? What could you do differently or better? In your post, please also share initial ideas you have for wiki use in classroom, professional or personal learning. C. Be sure to include "Thing 8" in the title of your post.
 * Part 1**
 * A.** Read Vicki Davis' blog post **[|Wiki Wiki Teaching]** about her first experience using wikis in the classroom. Do you think there may be a wiki in your future?

Don't forget to check your Google Reader at least every other day this week -- remember, you are skimming and scanning for items of interest, not reading every single entry! You are always welcome to adjust your subscriptions (delete some, add new ones, etc...).
 * Part** **2:**

**Stretch Activity**
1. Check out a topic of interest in [|Wikipedia]. Does the content seem valid, complete, well-written? 2. Visit the Discussion tab to see if there has been any conversation or controversy about the article. 3. Also look at the History tab and explore a few of the revisions. 4. Post a blog entry reflecting on your Wikipedia experience. Be sure to include "Thing 8 - Stretch" in the title of your post.