003+wikis



Wikis are an educational tool that all teachers should be taking advantage of. This wiki space explores the history of the wiki, the many uses of the wiki, how wikis are used in the classroom, and all the wiki tools that are available to instructors and educators within the classroom. Through exploring this wiki space you will be able to review the research we have collected to better understand what wikis are all about.

History of Wikis - Amy Carr The wiki has evolved a great deal in the past fifteen years that it has been around. The wiki first began on March 25th, 1995. Soon thereafter, on May 1st, 1995, something called “Invitation to the Pattern List” was created which boosted the amount of users wiki had (Cunningham, 2010). This program allowed for people to create web pages about things and then as the information evolved any one was able to add to these web page topics. This way, there is not merely a bunch of repetitive information and people are able to find all the information on a topic in one place instead of looking at a bunch of different pages.

Ten years later on March 25th, 2005 there were 30, 690 pages on the wiki (Cunningham 2010). Over the next five years, there have been many alterations and updates made to the wiki program. In 2005 Google’s searches were no longer bringing up wiki pages and their viewings went down. There is a wiki page called “googlehateswiki”(Cunningham, 2010). Then, in 2007, Google began showing wiki pages in searches again and this page is called “googleloveswiki”. Also, the edit text icon was added in 2007 (Cunningham, 2010). This is a great icon because you can change the font and the size of the font. Overall the wiki has come very far and is now a very useful website to use.

What is a Wiki? - Amanda Fazenbaker What exactly is a wiki? The word “wiki” means fast in Hawaiian. According to McGrath (2009), “Wikis are used to create private and public collaborative community knowledge bases.” The Wikispaces Team (2010) calls a wiki “a webpage with an edit button.” Wikis are similar to but still different from blogs. With a blog, people are able to make posts and comments of their own, but no one can change something that another person has written. However, with wikis, group members can add, revise, and change parts of the page that others have posted. An example of a popular and well-known wiki is Wikipedia. Anyone can edit information through Wikipedia. When used for information sharing, wikis allow groups of people, whether it is pairs, small groups of three or four, or an entire classroom of students, to work on a single project collaboratively, while tracking what each member has contributed to the page. This tracking of use and changes allows for the administrator to check in and see what each person is doing individually (Wikispaces.com 2010).

How Wikis can be used in the Classroom - Brittany Chaney Wikis are used every day in the classroom in various different ways. There are limitless possibilities for them. Students are able to use the wiki to create online textbooks, cliff notes on books that have been studied, and also for talking to schools across town to get ideas for projects (Orech 2008). It is very useful to do group work on the wiki because everyone can participate from home. Their participation can be monitored by the teacher, and it is great for organizing information. The wiki can also be used in the classroom for sharing ideas with one another. Discussions and debates are also a useful way of using the wiki in a classroom setting. They enable students to communicate back and forth about topics that were discussed in the classroom (Hopkins 2009).

The wiki offers students many effective ways to post their school related information and offers many advantages, but also some disadvantages. It is pretty simple to use so anyone can use it, and it is also very assessable to people. It is proven that online collaborative writing produces higher quality writing so you are most likely to achieve better grades by using the wiki (Orech 2008). The information posted on the wiki is very legible so this will prevent any questioning a teacher may have about someone’s work. The information can last many years, so this will allow students to access their notes for years to come (Wax 2007). Basically the only disadvantage of the wiki deals with the security issue (Orech 2008).

Other Wiki Tools? - Erica Johnson There are many wiki tools that are available especially designed for educational instructors use to help create and maintain their own personal wiki pages. Some of these tools are hosted online and others are available as server-based open source software. Some of the most popular wiki tools are PBwiki, Wikispaces, EditMe, WetPaint, and MediaWiki. If you as a user identify yourself as someone who is lacking in the technology fluency area and would like something that is easy to use then you might want to look into using the PBwiki in your classroom. Are you more tech savvy and comfortable with using computers and different types of interfaces? Then Wikispaces is perfect for you. Wikispaces is designed especially with grades k-12 educators in mind being free of charge and free of advertising. The pages are education specific and private so that only space members can edit them. Looking for something less restrictive and accessible to all? Then the EditMe wiki tool is perfect for you. This tool is a full feature wiki interface with multiple levels of authoring, control, and viewing. No matter what your needs, wiki strives to meet them with over 50 different tools available online, these are just a few of the most popular ones and if you don’t identify with these tools you can find your own personal platform at wikimatrix.com. (Jakes, 2006)

Overall wikis are very beneficial in the classroom setting. Through exploring the history of the wiki and how a wiki works we hope that you have developed a better understanding of how wikis can be incorporated into education.
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Sources:

Hopkins, D. (2009, August 28). Wikis: ways to use them for a more collaboration and interaction. Retrieved from []      Jakes, David. "Wild about Wikis." //Tech And Learning//. 15 Aug. 2006. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. .

McGrath, S. (2009). //How to Use Wikispaces for teachers//. Retrieved from [].

Nations, From Daniel. "A Look at Wiki - Wikis in a Nutshell." //Web Trends - Web News, Social Media and Current Web Trends//. Web. 04 Oct. 2010. [].

Orech, J. (2008, April 1). Wikis make learning wicked fun. Retrieved from []

Osgood, Julie. "USING Wiki SPACES AS A TEACHING INNOVATION." //VCU Blogs//. 13 Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. .

Un-known. "Wikis in the Classroom." //The Department of Education//. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. 

Wax, D. (2007, August 22). Advice for students: use a wiki for better note-taking. Retrieved from [] Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE." //What Is EDUCAUSE? | EDUCAUSE//. Web. 04 Oct. 2010. [|http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/WideOpenSpacesWikisReadyorNot/157925].

"Wiki History." //Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc.// Web. 04 Oct. 2010. [].

Wikispaces.com. (2010). //Wikispaces for education//. retrieved from http://birocolo.wikispaces.com/wikispaces++for+education. The Wikispaces Team. (2010). //Wikispaces for Teachers: A guide to using Them in Your Classroom//. Retrieved from [|//http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hF-MiHKN5AgJ:jenniferbarnett.wikispaces.com/file/view/Help.Wikispaces.Teacher_Presentation.ppt+wikispaces+for+teachers&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us//]

Erica Johnson, Brittany Chaney, Amanda Fazenbaker, Amy Carr



Photo Taken By: Amy Carr