Wikis on the Web

Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1995 and called it the WikiWikiWeb after a shuttle bus at the Honolulu International Airport. Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning quick. Since then, the wiki has gained popularity and is widely used today.

To be painstakingly honest, I had not used a wiki until I enrolled as a student at the University of West Georgia. As a matter of fact, I had only heard of wikis once before that, and I have been in education for thirteen years! Now that I have used wikis, I would love to use them more often.

There are a couple of options available to consider when you have decided you want to create a wiki on the web. The following websites were returned from a search on wikis:

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  Wikis for Everyone - Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com/) (HIGHLY recommended!)




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  wiki.com (http://www.wiki.com/)

There are also some wikis that you may want to contribute to, like wiki - Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki) or Wiki - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki).

What are Wikis?

A wiki is a web-based, collaborative tool. They allow multiple authors to contribute to a written document. John Orlando describes a wiki as an easy to use Web 2.0 application that is more effective and less time consuming than many traditional learning management systems (LMS).

Information to Consider When Utilizing a Wiki

The content on a wiki is viewable by everyone. Caution should be taken to ensure that accidental deletion of a contributors work does not occur. Depending on how a wiki is set up by its administrators, editing may be allowable for everyone, or just those with accounts.

If you are using a wiki, like Wikipedia, to retrieve information, be cautious that the information may not be accurate. Remember, the Wikipedia wiki is set up to allow anyone to edit content on the wiki. There is no accuracy filter on these wikis. Therefore, the wiki is only as strong and reliable as the community that contributes to the wiki.

How Can a Wiki be Used?

There are many uses for wikis; the sky is the limit! Many websites offer suggestions for wiki use to help get those creative juices flowing. Wiki in a K-12 Classroom (http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom) and Wikis in the Classroom: Three Ways to Increase Student Collaboration (http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/wikis-in-the-classroom-three-ways-to-increase-student-collaboration/) include the following examples:

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  Science Fair Projects - You could possibly set up a wiki for middle and high-schoolers for Science Fair Projects. Students could post ideas and brainstorm for the big event.




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  Collaborative Textbooks - With educational budget cuts and concerns all over the world, you could set up a wiki to create current educational textbooks. The California Open Source Textbook Project (COSTP) is using a wiki for this purpose to offset their $400 million dollar textbook textbook budget. You can visit the project at World History Textbook (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/World_History_Project)




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  Student Portfolios - This would be a great place for students to display and discuss their work with others. Peer editing and collaboration could result in an improved skill set.




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  WikiOrganization - You can use a wiki to organize a plethora of files to incorporate into a large paper or projects.




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  Collaborative Understanding - A major project completed by several students, or even an entire class, can be accommodated on a wiki. The example giving was a collaborative music education project in which students could add media files of examples of the different styles of music as one part of the major project.




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  Collaboration Between Teachers - Teachers can post an idea and then build on it collaboratively. Common planning is sometimes difficult to accommodate, so the wiki would allow for collaboration on a tight time schedule.




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  Literature Circles - Literature circles could be created around a variety of interests and age groups. A middle or high-school group of student may wish to discuss a current novel, while upper elementary students may want to practice for their local Battle of the Books competition.




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  Course Information - This use of wikis would allow students and/or parents to access the information about a class or lesson of study. This could be especially helpful to high-school and college students.




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  Resource Repository - This would be a great place to store information related to the educational topic. A variety of files, such as videos, websites, articles, and etc., could be housed here for student use.




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  Student Projects - This is a great place to exhibit model work. Often times students need an example of what quality work looks like before they begin a project or assignment.

References

Courtney, N. (Ed.). (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond: Innovative technologies and tomorrow's user. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Orlando, John (2011). Wikis in the classroom: Three ways to increase student collaboration. Teaching with Technology. Retrieved from: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/wikis-in-the-classroom-three-ways-to-increase-student-collaboration/

Wiki in a K-12 classroom. Retrieved from: http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom