W IKIS 4 T EACHERS What, Why, Where, and How

W HAT IS A WIKI ?

I N OTHER WORDS … The term wiki comes from the Hawaiian word wiki wiki, meaning quick or fast. Wikis can be as collaborative or as private as you want, depending on how you set them up If you can use a word processor and get online, you can create and edit a wiki.

I MAGINE … What can you do with an index card container?  Add new cards.  Write new information on the cards.  Link one card to another.  Sort the cards and search through them.  Copy the cards.  Keep track of the changes that you make to them. The information on each card can be plain text or text with formatting. You can use bullet points or tables of information. The pages of a wiki are like the index cards in our container. Instead of physical objects, they’re electronic virtual objects created by the wiki engine. Wikis for Dummies Now, these “cards” also store multimedia and can be accessed by anyone you want to share them with whenever they are online.

W HY ? Easy to use online collaboration tool Store your files so you (or others) can access them from anywhere Easy to use online communication tool Students, parents, community members can access homework, link to additional practice, share projects, etc. Focus on 21 st Century Skills Check out Educational Wikis—a comprehensive wiki sharing why educators would use wikis and links to examples of educational wikis.Educational Wikis Go on a Wiki Walk-Thru to get more ideas for educational uses.Wiki Walk-Thru Look at Wikis in a K-12 Classroom for more great ideas.Wikis in a K-12 Classroom

A FEW SPECIFIC EXAMPLES Mr. Bariexa’s ClassesMr. Bariexa’s Classes (a basic space) MulesMules (a student discussion space) Mr. Sheehy's English Class Wiki (Central High School, Rapid City, SD) Woodward Academy Book Study Wiki (5 th Grade Literature) Welcome to David Warlick's CoLearners Wiki (Professional Development) The Flat Classroom Project (an award winning global collaboration project) Spanish and MoreSpanish and More (teacher connections) School 2.0School 2.0 and Eduwiki.usEduwiki.us Great teacher resources on wikis, blogs, RSS, etc.

W HERE CAN I GET A WIKI ? Wikispaces Wikis in the Classroom PBWiki Setting up your own wiki - as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich. Education Wikis Wetpaint Free wiki websites where everyone gets a brush Wikis in Education

W HERE CAN I GET HELP FOR MY WIKI ? For more help and information, 1. Go to the Help sections of the providers 2. Visit the PowerSourcesPowerSources 3. Search YouTube or TeacherTube for tutorials

A Tutorial By Jennifer Wagner Accessed online at We the Teachers

Sign Up for an account at Wikispaces is offering a free “NO ADS” space to educators You can add text, websites, images, and media Wiki’s are a great way to communicate on the internet with students, parents, teachers, etc. Sign Up Screencast at

Sign Up Fill in all the spaces and make sure you mark where indicated!!

View your Page Once you have created your account, you will need to sign in. You will see this screen:

Opening Page Left side is your navigation –New Page, Recent Changes, Manage Space, Search & Home

Opening Page Top area are your page tools –Edit, page, Discussion, History, & Notify Me

Opening Page The Center Area is where your text will go

Edit Your First Page Click on the word Edit You will see this toolbar: It works just like a word processor You can add lines, links, pictures, media sources, tables, and special characters Screencast available at

Edit Your First Page Type in some information. Use the bold, underline, etc to see what happens.

To add a hyperlink Type in either a website name – such as Technospud or the complete URL – such as Highlight the text and click on the WORLD icon (the first world on the toolbar.)

To add a hyperlink You will see this window: If you wish to link within the wiki, you would use the wiki link – that is how you can link from page to page within your wiki. For right now – try using the external link and type in the link you wish to go to once you click on the text.

Save Your Page Once you have added text to your page, make sure you SAVE your page.

Working With Your Wiki The left side tools allow you to work through your page. If you wish to create a NEW page, just click on NEW page. All editing, etc stays the same on each page. Recent changes is a great way to track what is added to your page. (**more on this later) Manage your space gives you control over your page.

Manage Space The Manage Space page gives you four items to work with –About This lets you know who controls your page, if you have any other people who can post (members), and also your page license. –Space Contents Lets you see what pages you have created, files you have uploaded, statistics, import a blog, and backing up or exporting your page. (except for pages and files…this is advanced wikiness in my humble opinion!!) –Space Promotion Lets you brag about your page or post a wikispace image on your personal home page/ / etc.

Manage Space The next area is pretty important….. –Space Settings First of all – you can set the name, description and license. –The license area should be read carefully because it gives you control over what people can do with what is posted in your wiki. The Look & Feel area gives you the ability to colorize your wiki to your liking. Also the layout and if you wish to add an image as your logo. Grins, and if you are brave (I am not) you can edit the wiki styles sheet. Members & Permissions allows you to invite people to View And/Or Post (such as students, fellow teachers, etc) Subscription – Double Check this area – you should have an ad-free site!!!

Recent Changes – Great Tool This tool is available on the left side toolbar. It allows you to track WHO has added data to your wiki. –Let’s pretend that you are using this wiki within your class and you invite each student to join – with a nickname of course. –And you assign a question to be answered on the wiki for homework. –This tool allows you to see WHO has posted and when.

Some Thoughts Wikispaces also has a TOUR you might wish to take at (it has audio) Don’t worry if you make a mistake on your WIKI – you can also Edit/Undo or just not save. Check out the settings at the top right of your wiki to set some personal options. Check out the HELP option if you get stuck or drop me an .

Y AY, W IKIS ! B UT WHAT ABOUT B LOGS ?

Can be collaborative Organized by author(s) Can have many pages Easy to share files Usually one main author Organized chronologically One page structure Files not usually posted WikisBlogs

W IKI OR B LOG ? T HE D EBATE C ONTINUES

A Tutorial By Jennifer Wagner

T HANK Y OU 4 P ARTICIPATING IN W IKIS 4 T EACHERS ! K RIS B ALDWIN J ACKIE J ESSOP R ISING D EBBIE O’D