Wikis

=Wikis= What is a wiki? Click on this video entitled //Wikis in Plain English,// created by Lee LeFever and found on Teacher Tube, to see... media type="custom" key="8079786" [|Wikis in Plain English on You Tube] The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Wiki as "A collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it." In Hawaiin wiki wiki means "quick". Wikis are easy to create and view and can be set up to allow anyone to add, edit and remove content. They are great for collaborative lesson plans/units. Wikipedia is the largest and most well known Wiki in the world. It is a free online encyclopedia that is built by its users. That is the good news and the bad news. If the pages in Wikipedia that you are reviewing are built and revised by experts in that topic you can find an amazing wealth of information. However since anyone can edit those pages, they can also be filled with inaccuracies. Since Wikipedia is an international phenomenon, you can search in multiple languages on Wikipedia. Find the Wikipedia home page at: [|http://www.wikipedia.org/.]

Instructions for Creating a Wikispaces Account and Joining the Tech SI Wikispace
Click on this link to open an MS Word document with instructions for creating an account and joining this Wikispace: [|Instructions for Creating a Wikispaces Acccount & Logging into the Tech SI Wiki 8-1-09.doc]

Creating a Wikispaces Acccount
Creating a Wikispaces account takes only about 30 seconds. Just follow the steps below: 1) Go to http://www.wikispaces.com 2) Under Join Now!: 3) Click on Join. 4) You will be sent an e-mail asking you to verify your e-mail address. Click on the link in that e-mail. This is Wikispaces way of authenticating that you are a real human being and not a virus that is trying to create a Wikispaces account.
 * Type a username in line 1.
 * Type a password in line 2.
 * Type your e-mail address in line 3.

Creating a Free Wiki for Education

 * Powerpoint demonstrating how to create your free educational Wiki without commercials - created by Michael Davidson, Lisbon Central School Computer Teacher at the CT Writing Project/EASTCONN Tech Summer Institute 2009:

[[file:Creating a Free Wiki.ppt]]

 * **Create a Free Wiki for Education:** If you want to create a free wiki for use in K-12 education, be sure to go to this Web site and click on the box that says, "I certify this wiki will be used for K-12 education":. []

Joining an Existing Wikispace
If you find a Wikispace that interests you, you can request to join that Wikispace by doing the following:
 * 1) Type in the URL of the Wikispace
 * 2) Click on Join this Space in the uppper lefthand corner of the screen.
 * 3) When the dialogue box appears, you can write a message to the space organizer or just click on the Request Membership button. This will send a message to the space organizer that you want to join.
 * 4) The Wikispace organizer will then decide whether to approve or reject your request. NOTE: This may take a few minutes or a day or two depending on how quickly the space organizer responds to your e-mail.

**Examples of Free Wikis for Education**

 * **Wikispaces** - This is one of the most popular. For a free membership and to start creating your own Wiki, go to: http://www.wikispaces.com/. For a PowerPoint presentation on what a Wikispace is and how to create one, go to: http://help.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Help.Wikispaces.Teacher+Presentation.ppt.
 * **Jottit** - This is a quick and easy Wiki. For more information, go to: http://jottit.com/about.
 * **PBWiki** - According to their Web site, "PBwiki is the world's largest provider of hosted business and educational wikis. We host over 400,000 wikis, serve millions of users per month." For more information, go to: http://pbwiki.com/
 * **Wetpaint** - You can find another free for educators Wiki site at: http://www.wetpaint.com/category/Education

Ideas and Resources for Using Wikis in Education
Check out Jane Cook's Delicious Wikis Bundle at [] for additional resources. Please add other resources for using Wikis (in alphabetical order): > The good folks at TeachersFirst have used their expertise to provide a clear, concise guide to Wikis in their Wiki Walk-Through. Just roll over and through their questions to unravel "the wonderful world of wikis" http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/
 * **3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction** - Read an article on using Wikis for teaching and learning from THE Journal at [].
 * **7 Things You Should Know About Wikis -** Go to [] for an article from the Educause Learning Initiative for what Wikis are and why they are useful for education.
 * **EduWiki** - Check out http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/ for some examples and tips as well as some teachers who might have some ideas for you.
 * **Eight Ways To Use School Wikis** - []
 * **Getting Tricky with Wikis** - Check out http://gettingtrickywithwikis.wikispaces.com/ for ideas and resources for customizing your Wikispace and tips for making it the most user friendly Wikispace possible.
 * **Help for Teachers** - To find help for techers when using Wikis, go to: http://www.wikispaces.com/help+Teachers. By the way, if you create a Wiki without knowing about the free education Wikispaces, you can click on Manage Space and then click on Subscriptions and email a request to Wikispaces to remove the advertising. It may take a day or two but they will do it. You just have to state that the site will be used for education only. Yahoo!!
 * **ITG Instructional Toolbox** - Wake Forest University maintains an instructional toolbox on Wikis for its faculty at [].
 * **Teaching Hacks Wiki** - [|Teaching Hacks] is a Wiki created by Quentin D'Souza about using Wikis in education.
 * **Think Outside the Blog** - [|Think Outside the Blog] is an article by Tim Stahmer published in //Tech Learning// about the power of Wikis for collaboration.
 * **Wiki-Centric Learning -** Learn how high school teachers use Wikis to create online collaborative learning environments by reading [|Wiki-Centric Learning], an article from T.H.E. Journal on 9/15/10.
 * **Wiki Help:** [|Wiki Help i]s a page with some tutorials on using Wikispaces.
 * **Wiki Ideas for the Classroom** - [|Wiki Walk-Through from TeachersFirst] Dec 7, 2006 3:16 pm
 * **Wiki Warranty** - Click on this link to go to a downloadable, customizable Word document from Teachers First: http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/issues.cfm. Even though your district has an Acceptable Use Policy, having your students develop and sign a Wiki Warranty warranties the content of their collaborative Wiki in the same way that companies provide warranties for their products.
 * **Wiki While You Work: An Introduction to Wikis in Education** - For some examples of how to use Wikis in education, go to: [|www.wikiwhileyouwork.wikispaces.com]

Wikis for Educators and Students
Please add other Wikis of interest that you find below (in alphabetical order):
 * **Book Trailers for Readers -** Click on this link to find a Wiki developed by a teacher librarian to help turn kids on to reading: []
 * **Classrooms for the Future**- Click on this link to find a Wiki that provides resources for all content areas. The Wiki also provides information about all technological tools. This link will direct you to the English page, but if you scroll to the bottom of the screen you can access information for other CFF sites and content areas. http://cffenglish.wikispaces.com/
 * **Collective Intelligence** - Click on this link to find a Wiki started by Liz Davis to gather information about how Web 2.0 has changed the life of teachers and students: http://collectiveintelligence.wikispaces.com/
 * **Cool Tools for Schools** - Click on this link to find an array of Web 2.0 tools available for teachers and students: http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/
 * **Connecticut: The Contribution State** - Click on this link to find a Wiki created by Donna Drasch with collaborative online and classroom learning activities where students explore the essential questions, //"How have contributions of others in the past effected my life today? What is a community? What are our responsibilities as citizens in the community?": [] //
 * **EASTCONN SMARTBoard Users Group Wiki -** This space was created by Pam Skelly and Lynn Reedy as part of a users group. They have many great sites for different subject areas and grade levels. http://eastconnsmartusers.wikispaces.com/
 * **Educational Wikis from A to Z** - Click on this link for a Wiki with links to a variety of teachers' wikis arranged in alphabetical order by subject area: http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis
 * **Educational Origami -** Click on this link for a Wiki about 21st Century teaching and learning created by Andrew Churches, an educator from Aukland, New Zealand: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/
 * **Spice It Up a Notch with Nutmeg** - Click on this link to go to a Wiki created by Rebecca Pilver and Donna Drasch, EASTCONN Staff Developers, which allows teachers and students to participate in a phenomenal collaborative online project based on Connecticut's own Nutmeg Books Award: []
 * **Using Blogs and Wikis in Education** - Click on this link to go to the Open Content Wiki with "the ultimate resource on using blogs and wikis in education": []

Wikispaces Help
You can get help with your Wikispace by clicking on Help in the upper righthand corner of any Wikispace page. Follow the links on the Table of Contents for help in a variety of areas. Click on the files below for tutorial pages created by Jane Cook:
 * [|Changing Text Styles on a Wikispace.doc]
 * [|How do I add an Image or File to a Wikispace Page.doc]