Innovations_Wiki_Sample

Innovations_Wiki_Sample Wikis in Education by Fran Prather Adapted from A. Linares/T. Kisicki []and [] [|www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/19/wiki_web_C.jpg] ** What is a Wiki? ** If the video does not appear below, click here: Wikis in Plain English media type="custom" key="10301015"


 * From the Hawaiian word meaning "quick" or "fast."
 * A wiki is a website in which basically anyone can be an author. Wikis can be created and edited by different people very simply through the use of wiki software. The creator of the first wiki in 1995, called WikiWikiWeb, was Ward Cunningham who describes a wiki as “the simplest online database that could possibly work” ([] -- see this link for "What's so good about Wikis?").
 * Wikis have a wide range of usage, from making a collection of facts and information, like Wikipedia.org, to personal note taking. Wikis are simple to use and people can easily post links to other pages so that everyone can access them via the wiki.
 * Some wikis are devoted to a specific topic and will not accept information that is dubbed irrelevant by the user community ([]).
 * One of the great things about Wikis is that they make it very easy to edit a website since every page has an accessible edit button and once that button is clicked, an editing screen comes up that is very easily navigated ([]).
 * Wikis make it possible for people to share and exchange information easily and efficiently, while allowing authorship to all.


 * Where are Wikis?**

[]
 * Wikis can be found on the internet with many different focuses.
 * Wikis can be found by using search engines such as google.com or yahoo.com.
 * They all have their own url, so they can be found simply by using those as well. Such common wikis are Wikipedia (dealing with a range of topics found at wikipedia.org), Knol by Google (dealing with a range of topics but mostly health and medical information found at knol.google.com), WikiAnswers (dealing with general knowledge found at WikiAnswers.com) and wikiHow (dealing with general instruction found at wikihow.com).
 * There is an even longer list of wikis located on the Wikipedia page for List of Wikis at [].
 * Some wiki sites include PBWiki, Wikispaces, Google Sites, Wiki Site, Wetpaint


 * What is the difference between a wiki and a blog?**

A blog, or web log, shares writing and multimedia content in the form of “posts” (starting point entries) and “comments” (responses to the posts). While commenting, and even posting, are open to the members of the blog or the general public, no one is able to change a comment or post made by another. The usual format is post-comment-comment-comment, and so on. For this reason, blogs are often the vehicle of choice to express individual opinions. A wiki has a far more open structure and allows others to change what one person has written. This openness may trump individual opinion with group consensus.

**How do I create a Wiki?**If the video does not show below, click on this link: Wikispaces Tutorial

media type="youtube" key="df2rC2QfvFc?version=3" height="345" width="560"
 * Choose a wiki site to use. I chose Wikispaces because it is not blocked by my former school district and now I'm comfortable with it.
 * Create an account.
 * Create a new wiki.
 * In Wikispaces, there is a specific place to create a free wiki for k-12 use that has no advertising. Just check out the "Help" tab for directions.

**How to Embed Video in Wikispaces** If the video does not appear below (the irony of this is not lost on me!), click this link: Embed video in Wikispaces media type="youtube" key="BvcekdDrsBQ?version=3" height="345" width="420"

**How to Edit the Wiki Page** Directions from Prather (these might be a little outdated): Video on Basic Editing Tools

**Wikis in Action** In the "real world" wikis can be used for:
 * Planning a trip
 * Family albums
 * Multitasking: "The Executive Wiki" []
 * Planning a family reunion
 * Fan pages
 * Anything that involves collaboration!

In schools, teachers and administrators can use wikis for productivity and management.
 * 1) Decrease Disruptions of Instructional Time.
 * 2) Make Meetings More Efficient.
 * 3) Collaborate on Important Documents.
 * 4) Enhance Professional Development.
 * 5) Share and Collaborate on Curriculum Maps.
 * 6) Save trees and time.
 * 7) A portal for all your lessons (teacher collaboration)

**Wikis for Students** So, why would you want to use a wiki in your classroom? Here are reasons from TeachersFirst: []

.
 * Connections**
 * Build greater connections between new and old knowledge by allowing student-created structure for the information and ideas.
 * Build on the best of Bloom: Students use synthesis and evaluation constantly and consistently when they work on a wiki.
 * Creativity**
 * Build creativity skills, especially elaboration and fluency. Build creative flexibility in accepting others’ edits!
 * Encourage “hitch-hiking” on ideas (a type of creative elaboration and analytical thinking: If X is true, then what about Y?).
 * Introduce and reinforce the idea that a creative piece as never “done.”
 * Engagement**
 * Increase engagement of all students.
 * In lieu of being passive “consumers” of their peers’ presentations (where they doze, doze and ignore), wiki makers respond, respond, change, and improve.
 * Culminating projects no longer have to end!!
 * Interpersonal**
 * Develop interpersonal and communication skills, especially consensus-building and compromise, in an environment where the product motivates interpersonal problem-solving.
 * Develop true teamwork skills
 * Writing**
 * Improve the most challenging phase of writing process: revision, revision, revision!
 * Increase flexibility to consider other ways of saying things.
 * Build an awareness of a wider, more authentic audience.
 * Metacognition**
 * Stimulate discussion and metacognition (where developmentally ready).
 * Help students articulate issues about ownership, finding, different conceptualizations of the same content. These can be sophisticated challenges, even for the best students


 * Wiki Activities for Students**

My current favorite online site, Tom Barrett's EdTech Interesting Ways has this presentation on 32 Interesting Ways to Use Wikis in the Classroom

Explore "50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom": []

And look at: "How I Use Wikis in the Classroom" (Cool Cat Teacher Blog!) []

Some ideas for student use:
 * Virtual field trips--research a location and share on the wiki
 * Create presentations
 * Write a wikibook--a collaborative book written by the class
 * Student portfolios
 * Share notes
 * Concept introduction and exploratory projects
 * Provide a space for free writing
 * Debate course topics, including assigned readings
 * Share resources such as annotated bibliographies, websites, effective writing samples
 * Maintain a journal of work performed on group projects
 * Require students to collaborate on documents, such as an essay written by the entire class
 * Encourage students to revise [|Wikipedia] pages or take on new wikipedia assignments
 * Support service learning projects (i.e. use wikis to build a website about a challenge in their city)

Check out the many examples of educational wikis, all found at http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis
 * 21st Century Skills for Teachers: a course for teachers to create 21st Century Skills classrooms for their students. http://21stcenturyskillsnmteachercourse.wikispaces.com/
 * US Government class wiki: http://105.wikispaces.com/USGOV_10s2
 * Mrs. Cassidy's Grade 1/2 Dinosaur Wiki: http://room2-wiki6.wikispaces.com/
 * Mrs. Ibrahim's 2nd Grade wiki: http://mrsibrahim.wikispaces.com/
 * A wiki created for a book study and webquest: []


 * Wikis in the Content Areas**

@http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wikis+in+the+Classroom @http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm
 * Two great sites that have links to wikis in all content areas are:**

http://ncssnetwork.ning.com/group/teachingwithtechnology/forum/topics/history-and-social-studies This is a list of teachers with an explanation of how they are using wikis in the Social Studies content area. Each explanation has a link to the actual wiki to see it in action.
 * Social Studies (Includes History, Government, Econ)**

@http://www.slideshare.net/dannynic/blogs-and-wikis-in-science-teaching Blogs and Wikis in Science teaching.
 * Science**

http://britishromanticism.wikispaces.com/ A student-created wiki !
 * English**

Calculating Success through Collaboration Using Wikis
 * Math**

More Resources [] - TeachersFirst Wiki ideas for the classroom, with examples from all grade levels and many content areas.

http://teknolearning.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/using-wikis-in-learning/

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/01/exploring-good-wikis.html - "Exploring Good Wikis" examples of every content area

References (still needs to be added--haven't been able to get to this in the last few days--sorry!)

The Source for Learning (2006-2010). Teachers First.[].