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="878901"

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/.]

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.

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**
> 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/
 * **EduWiki** - Check out http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/ for some examples and tips as well as some teachers who might have some ideas for you.
 * **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!!
 * **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 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**

 * **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
 * **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: http://nutmeg2009.sblc.wikispaces.net/