WikisSummer11-INF

A ** wiki ** is [|software] that allows users to create, edit, and [|link] web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create [|collaborative] [|websites] and to power community websites." I think wikis are cool! If you are interested in creating a wiki, wikispaces offers, free, ad-free wikis to educators:[| Educator Wikis]

Take a look at the creative ways educators are using wikis: http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

Check these sites out: [|Article from T.H.E. Journal about wikis] [|PBWiki] [|Scribe Post Hall of Fame] Wiki Articles and Resources

Please feel free to tell about your experiences with wikis or how you used them or would like to use them in your classroom. Add any links you feel are appropriate. (To add a link, click the "Link" icon and put your link text in the box that comes up.) As you add your comments (just click on Edit This Page at the top), I can click on recent changes and see who made them. You can also do this. My comments are in blue. ** Please post your comment below mine and put your first name at the end **. Thanks, Barb

Hi everyone. I have had a bit of experience with wiki's, but not in any sort of collaborative form. A friend of mine worked for a digital media company fresh out of college and had to experiment with all types of website designs. He tried blogs, wikis, and plain old websites. We fooled around a little bit but it never really took off. I'm not sure why. I know that it looked quite a bit different than this, that's for sure! I am anxious to research wiki's a little bit more, because I am moving to 5th grade next year, and I feel this is something I could do with my new students. Thanks for all the great links! Nick

Hi! This is my first visit to a wiki. I was unsure of what a wiki was until now. After exploring this site you suggested I am now more familiar to what they are all about. I agree with Candice in reference to Mrs. Anderson site, it is awesome. [] I can't wait to figure out how she did it all. My students would love to hear their own voices’, so one thing I would like to add to my classroom with a wiki page is the students reading the stories they have written. [] Maureen

I looked for some art related links and found: http://artwiki.wikidot.com/tutorials-directory which is an art tutorial directory wiki http://visualarteducation.wikispaces.com/ a wiki for art educators and students I think I could use a wiki for students to share artwork. Students could also do critiques on the wiki. I like the idea that critiques could still be done and moderated, but using a wiki would not take up class time. Parents and community members could see student artwork this way as well. Due dates and upcoming art events could be posted. We have just started hearing about Wikis at school and I may try to take an enrichment class over the summer with our IT person on them. Holly

Hello, I am not quite sure of which links I would add. I did check out the sites though. I would suggest el. teachers taking a look at Mrs. Andersons's site on the first link in the list (T.H.E.) Her students' site is incredible! There are slide shows,student work, and class info. I would love to use a wiki for this purpose. I also thought it would be a great way to involve parents, which is what I did my survey on. I liked the last link too, it gives alot of basic wiki information- which I needed. I also appreciated the ideas for specific grade levels. One I thought I could use in kindergarten is the Where is Wiki Wanda idea, where a teacher posts a picture of someone from the class- or themselves, in different places and students guess where they are. Candice

Oops, I meant to say the very first web link has Mrs. Anderson's Wiki- the examples of ed. wikis

I actually really liked the PBWiki page. It shows multiple ways to use the website. There were ways to set up assignment due dates, key dates for the future and open communication lines between teacher, student, adult and specialists. Furthermore, it was well organized, appealing and easy to navigate. I was a little thrown off by the Scribe Post Hall of Fame. I found what seemed to be the latest post in 2006. It would be a nice idea to informally assess students at the end of the lesson by letting them get on a computer and talk about what was learned during the lesson. It would be nice for the parents to see what was going on during school that day and that there child IS learning. However, I think the site could have been better managed. A site that is not a wiki, but I use Edmodo to do some of the things PBWiki does with assignments and parent involvement. I could also have them Scribe Post on the "Wall". The cool thing about Edmodo is that it looks just like Facebook, but is safe and secure for only your class! Taylor Good

Wow! To think I actually thought I was even somewhat up to date with technology, yeah, I was way off! I've never used a wiki, but I have heard of them. However I didn't realize it was like an interactive webpage. This is neat; I would definitely plan to use it next year with my class. I often wonder if my parents or students are using my classroom webpage. By having a wiki, I could ask that they say something on the wiki when they visit. I read on one of the links above that some teachers encourage interaction by giving incentives to visit. I think my students would get excited about interacting with myself and fellow classmates via the internet. Unfortunately I know some already interact with each other via facebook, yes sadly 3rd graders on facebook, but this would be a safer way to interact. Jen B.

I feel the same way Jen!! Right when you think you are the trend setter or are starting a new fad....someone on the west coast has already been doing it for years! That pretty much sums up technology. I too have heard of wikis but have never really encountered them. I did some wiki work on a pls course that I took last year. That would be the extent of my wiki knowledge. I checked out a few of the websites and was really interested in the last website that offerred articles and resources. It was great to learn, explore, and copy ideas that I could use in the classroom. It has definitely been something that I have been wanting to try for some time. As I continued to explore the site, I saw a lot of ways that I could use a wiki page in my teaching and how students would learn from using such an idea. The idea of allowing students to give, take, and share ideas all on one web page is something I defiintiely will want to take advantage of. And like you said Jen....they already know about facebook (and that is scary), but using a wiki is a much more controlled environment! I plan to implement a wikipage for next years Socail Studies and Science themes throughtout the year.

Candice, The idea of posting slide shows and student work is awesome. You are right, it was interesting to learn about the different ways to use Wikis in the "Wiki Articles and Resources". I had used Wikis before, but was not overly familiar with them. I am glad you debriefed the last link for me to check out. Taylor Good

I know wikis are used within my school right now among the English department for collaboration on readings and papers, but I honestly have not considered the use of it in my Physics classroom. We do not have laptops available to us and my students really do feel free to email me or each other in the evening. I know that there could be ways that I could try and tie this in with some of our bigger projects, but I've actually heard from kids in my school that they were getting a bit sick of having to post in wikis for their other classes. As with any other effective tool, moderation is key. I also need to be sure my motivation for using technology is to help their learning and increase their interest/involvement. Even though I don't use them, I absolutely see the potential value in wikis, when used properly. Jeff

Using Wiki has helped me communicate with my student on another level. As I have mentioned before since students are very comfortable using technology this works very well. By looking at provided wikis, PBWikis are seems to be well organized. Wiki Articles and Resources link look like very helpful also. There are multiple examples of educational wikis available for free of charge. Since information on this site is posted by teachers all over the world, it gives the same information from a different point of view. Here is the link of some of best wikis from 2009.[] Dipal Kapadia

Jeff, I agree with you, we do need to use these tools in moderation, because kids get bored easily and if we keep making them use the same thing over and over they will get sick of it. Dipal Kapadia

I use wikis within my district and in my classrooms to increase communication and share resources (as a biology department we have shared resources. See this at: http://bioresources.wikispaces.com/ ) I even used a Wiki to build a mock online catalog for T-shirts that students designed to create awareness of an increasing world population. You can see this at: http://populationproject.wikispaces.com/period+2+t-shirts

I like the option of embedding surveys, files, videos into the page so that students do not need to leave the site. Although I have been using Wikis I know that there are tools / options that I still have not utilized. I am interested to see how others are using them. Cinda

Cinda, Thank you for sharing the t-shirts! I had my students create a t-shirt design for a book report this year, I would love to do it via the computer next year! Awesome idea, thank you again! - Jen B.

I tried to use a wiki in one of my World History learning support classes about two years ago. I had a tech support man from the Intermediate Unit come in and help me set it up. At the time, I had not taken many classes that had me using technology so personally, I felt inadequate having my students use a tool that I was not comfortable with. I tried having students learn about different places individually, and then using a "pass port" theme they would post about their country. I believe I needed to have better rubrics created to guide them in their search. It overwhelmed them by then having to use the wiki as presentation. I do think wikis and/or similar technology have a place in education. Once teachers become more familiar and comfortable using it the students will surely benefit!

Melanie

Melanie, This was the first year that my 10th grade students came with a working knowledge of Wikis- apparently they build them for fun in their spare time. They have even taught me a few things. Give a survey to see who your student experts are, and ask them to help coteach the lesson. Cindy

I have heard of wikis but my experience with them is very minimal. Looking further into them and checking out the above links really got me brainstorming. I really like the idea that anyone can update it at anytime. Being in the elementary setting this can be a safe tool (better than facebook) for students to develop peer relationships and bring your class closer together. It would also be a nice tool to increase parent involvment. Last year and this year I developed a website for my class with intentions of increasing parent involvment and keeping them updated, however it tends to fade out halfway through the year. With Wikis I can consistently update it, the students can update it, or even the parents can post updates, or questions about trips, assemblies, class parties or whatever it may be. The options are innumerable and it looks like something I can implement in place of my website next year. -Kevin

I enjoy reading all the different resources people have posted. We have one teacher in our building who loves wikis and uses them a lot in her classroom. Our administrators were very clear that we be extra careful with these. I think that a lot of the teachers were nervous after getting the warnings from the "higher ups". I want to create one and do something like what Jen said about the tshirt designs. We do a lot of different things and I think these wikis would be benificial in our classrooms. -Gretchen

I have used a classroom wiki for several different activities mostly involving creative writing. During my student teaching, I used it to create a classroom story. I began the story with two start off sentences. Students then had to add two of their own to continue the story. They seemed to really enjoy it. Prior to starting a class wiki, you have to make sure you set etiquette rules regarding discussions online, and that you are monitoring the site frequently. I also used a class wiki to create classroom study guides for end of unit tests. Students worked together to gather and outline material.

Courtney Kofeldt

I have never used the wiki before. I have heard teachers talk about it, but they are mostly junior high and high school students. I can see the wiki as being a great space for kids to connect while doing group projects. Sometimes it's hard to get everyone together to do group project so the wiki can help kids work together more. I can't really see using it with my kindergartners, but I can see using it with parents. Maura

Honestly, I have never used a wiki before, except for my little experiences using Wikipedia, which I have been told is not an extremely reliable source to use for classroom use. I must say that I am looking forward to exploring quite a few wiki sites and become more tech savy. I love this course, because I have learned so much already. It is unbelievable! Rosa Fontanet

Hi. I have never used wikis before. I do know that my school has had wiki training and a few teachers have wiki pages. I never really understood it that well and did not know how it could enhance my instruction beyond what a typical website could. However, after some intitial frustrations just trying to get into this site and figure out how to edit the page, I can see some application. A website is more of an online bulletin board, with no real opportunity for interaction. Having a wiki page would be another way for me to open a line of communication between students, parents, and myself. I think it could be a good way for students to share their thoughts and create discussions from home. Some students are a little shy about sharing their thoughts during class and this would offer them another way to express themselves. Joe