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 5 th Grade Class Wiki 2 nd 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 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 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 username Wikispaces “ ” = Your

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 addresses with one other person 2. 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 wiki  Have one discussion tab for each page  Have 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, History You 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 Wiki Select "Pages" You will see a list of pages and options to unlock, lock or delete You 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 LATER Wiki Statistics Space Usage Changing Format/Template - go to Manage Wiki/Look and Feel Don’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 lesson 2. Set up rules Do not plagiarize, do not edit the layout of the page, use the honor method, etc 3. Safety and Privacy Issues Be sure you know your district policies for posting online…while your wiki is not public (if you select the free private upgrade for K-12) students will have a wikispaces account.