Answers.com defines a wiki as “A collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it.” So, unlike a normal website such as the NSW Government website where a user is only able to view the information, a wiki enables the user to both view and edit the information.
The idea behind a wiki is that the user creates the content.
In a classroom situation, this means that the whole class or small groups (not just one person) are able to collaboratively contribute the content of a website (wiki). The wiki helps to track how all the students have contribted to a project.
Click on http://beaches-4-kids.wikispaces.com/ to view a simple wiki made collaboratively by 3 kids. Click on the History tab then on a date to see who wrote what.
Consider the most well known example of a Wiki, Wikipedia. The same sort of thing but bigger. It is a vast, collaborative website with over 2 million articles, almost all of them contributed by visitors to that site.
Wikitravel is yet another example where users of the site have written the content to provide an extensive travel guide.
A wiki page generally has 4 components:
- The article
- Editing: a button or tab leading to editable text.
- Discussion: a button or tab leading to a display of text based conversations regarding changes to the page.
- A history of changes made: a button or tab leading to a list of changes made to the site
Look up Mittagong in Wikipedia to see the article, discussion, edit and history tabs across the top of the web page. Should you wish to edit this article, you would click on the edit tab and either add of delete text.
How schools are using Wikis:
http://australiatopic.wikispaces.com/
A Year 7 class in Scottland learning about Australia
http://britishromanticism.wikispaces.com/
To get a feel for how students have contributed to this wiki, click on either art, music or poetry under the heading British Romantics on the left. You will then be able to view the student contributed content/information. Click on the Discussion tab at the top of the screen to see a list of the written conversations they had while creating the content. Click on the History tab at the top of the screen to view a list of the edits and contributions each student has made to the content of the text.
http://sasasianhistory.wetpaint.com/
A wetpaint wiki from Year 9 at the Shanghai American School.
Make your own wiki:
Anyone at all can make their own wiki and, as collaborative endeavors, they lend themselves to educational use. There are many simple Wiki creation programs freely available on the internet.
PBWiki
PB is short for Peanut Butter (the wiki is as easy to make as a peanut butter sandwich). Use this site to create a free wiki using existing structures that you simply fill in. This link takes you to the educational version which is advertisement free.
WikiSpaces
No advertising, protected and free.
Here are some instructions for making a wikispaces wiki: http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Welcome+to+the+world+of+wikis.pdf
WetPaint
This one aims to be a combination of wiki, blog and social network. Creates attractive easy to use collaborative sites with open or restricted access. Read about using WetPaint for educational purposes:
http://www.wetpaint.com/category/Education–Wikis-In-The-Classroom/?wpcmp=educp3
To create a wiki, just sign in, choose the structure you like and fill it in.
Wikidot
Read about Wikis:
Wikis in the classroom from the WA Department of Education and Training. An excellent overview with links to articles and examples.
List of wiki farms from Wikipedia
What are the issues?
While the use of wikis in education has the potential to facilitate collaboration, sharing, peer review and learning networks that extend beyond the school, the public nature of these services brings with it a number of issues ranging from privacy to cyber bullying. Please share your thoughts on these issues by commenting on this post.
