WIKI, WIKI, WIKI!Using a Wiki for Collaborative Classroom Conversations

Created by Betsy Hood, WGTE

What is a wiki?

Wikis In Plain English

PB Wiki - Helping Educators Educate

PB Wiki – How Do You Use a Wiki?

Wikis in Education – Sample Wikis

High School Biology 5th Grade Class Wiki2nd Grade Class Wiki

Wiki Functionality & Management

Viewing Access – open your wiki to the public or limit to members only.

Membership – decide who can join; students, parents, invited guests, or the public

Protection – while you want at least parts of your wiki to be collaborative, you can lock specific pages so other members cannot modify.

Moderation – wiki "organizer" (owner) moderates all aspects of their wiki for appropriateness, can review history and page edits which also includes user name

Notification –can set up notification one some or all pages to be notified when a member makes a post or changes any aspect of the wiki

A wiki can hold any type of media! text, images, video, files, diagrams

How are you going to use a wiki?

Parent communication Student collaboration

An activity, part of a lesson, part of a unit, group work

Discussion, collaborative work, etc. Peer (w/ teachers & admin) communication

& collaboration Organize faculty or parent meetings, school

calendar, school field trips and events Site for general information Other? A combination of the above?

Using a wiki in the classroom…

Creating written projects & commenting on each other’s

work

Reviewing & sharing study strategies before tests

Creative writing

Sharing classroom events & special projects with families

Discussing current events

Defining terms, creating vocab lists/glossary of unit terms

Collaborate with other classrooms/schools

Demonstration of knowledge

Post resources (video, images, websites, files, etc.)

Set Up Your Own Wiki

Go to www.wikispaces.com. Click on “Join” Type in a Wiki name that is simple but descriptive Select “protected” Select K-12 Education from the drop down menu Hit Create

1.Go to “Manage Wiki”2.Select “Subscriptions”3.Scroll to bottom of page and select “Request your free upgrade now”

You will be notified by email when your wiki has been upgraded – usually takes less than an hour

to receive notification.

Make your wiki private:Free Upgrade for K-12

Your usernameWikispaces “email” = Your username@members.wikispaces.com

Edit

New Page

Recent Changes

Notify Me

Discussion

History

Navigation Tools

1. Take a moment & think about a topic you teach.2. Write a question or statement on your wiki home page about

this topic (e.g. Newton's Three Laws of Motion: Describe a practical, real-world example that demonstrates one of the three laws.)

3. Don’t forget to hit “SAVE”

Task: Create your home page

1. Swap email addresses with one other person2. Go to “Manage Wiki”, select “Invite People”. Invite your partner to your

wiki.3. Now, check to see if you received an invite from your partner. Go to “My

Account” and select your “Dashboard”. Accept the invite and go to your partner’s wiki.

4. Edit your partner’s wiki. Don’t forget to SAVE!

Task: Invite members to your wiki

Discussion Options

You can:Have one discussion page for entire wikiHave one discussion tab for each pageHave no discussion pages or tabs

Task: Choose the discussion option that you prefer. Go to Manage Wiki, click on "wiki info", go to Discussion Settings and select from the drop down menu

Wiki Pages – Lock, Delete, HistoryYou may not want wiki members to edit all pages.

You can "lock" pages to not allow editing by anyone other than you, the Wiki Organizer.

Hint: you may not want your home page to be edited by anyone other than you.

Task:Go to Manage WikiSelect "Pages"You will see a list of pages and options to unlock, lock or deleteYou can view tags and history too!

1. Select a file (if you have one in your network folder/home directory) or an image from Google images.

2. Select the “File” tab. If grabbing clip art, right click and select “copy image location”

3. Select “insert files” or external image”.

Embedding Content - Files & Images

1. Select “video” in the Widget tab.2. Go to Teacher Tube or You Tube to get a video to

insert into your home page, grab the embed code.3. How might you generate discussion among your

wiki members using this video?

Adding video

You can add documents, spreadsheets and polls that you created using other “cloud” or internet applications as well as images, video, discussion area, and so much more to your page!

Embedding Content – More on Widgets

OTHER FEATURES TO EXPLORE LATERWiki StatisticsSpace UsageChanging Format/Template - go to Manage Wiki/Look and FeelDon’t forget about the HELP button…there are tutorials!

Tips for using a wiki in your class…1. Start Slowly…use a wiki for just one assignment or as

part of a single lesson2. Set up rules

Do not plagiarize, do not edit the layout of the page,

use the honor method, etc3. Safety and Privacy Issues

Be sure you know your district policies for posting online…while your wiki is not public (if you select

thefree private upgrade for K-12) students will have a wikispaces account.