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WhatsaWiki

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on October 10, 2006 at 3:33:42 pm
 

Teaching & Learning With Technology Brown Bag Session (19 September 2006)

 

What's a Wiki?

An introduction to the educational uses of an online collaboration tool known as a wiki.

Here's the video link for this presentation. (Unfortunately it only runs on Explorer using a PC (long story...).

 

 

Definitions: "An online three-ring binder"

>> A wiki is a collection of web pages that can be easily edited by anyone, at any time, from anywhere.

 

>> Wiki pages are, by default, open but they can be configured to give selective access, or may even be entirely closed.

 

>> Wiki's use a simple mark-up language that require little training or prior knowledge. Many wikis have a built-in WYSWYG text editor for ease of use.

 

>> A shared repository of knowledge with the knowledge base growing over time (Godwin-Jones, 2003).

 

>> A simple on-line database where each page is easily edited by any user with a Web browser; no special software nor a third party webmaster is needed to post content.

 

>> A wiki's versioning capability can show the evolution of thought processes as contributors interact with content.

 

 

What do wikis look like?

>> Typically a wiki is very "clean". This means there is mostly (or solely) text. However, images can be added.

 

>> The most famous wiki to date is Wikipedia.

 

 

Educational Uses of Wikis

TEAMWORK & COLLABORATION -- Wikis maximize interplay and collaboration opportunities.

 

>> If learning is indeed a social activity, wikis afford an opportunity for the social construction of knowledge where students and teachers are not simply engaged in developing their own information but actively involved in creating knowledge that will benefit other students.

 

>> Wikis permit public document construction, that is, distributed authorship.

 

"In this model students will not simply pass through a course like water through a sieve but instead leave their own imprint in the development of the course, their school or university, and ideally the discipline” (Holmes et al., 2001).

 

>> "The possibilities for using wikis as the platform for collaborative projects are limited only by one's imagination and time." -- quoted from \"7 things you should know about wikis.\"

 

 

Wikis can be used for:

>> Any class project with a reference or encyclopedic format, including instructions, manuals, glossaries, and the like.

 

>> A class or group project with a bibliographic format. Students could gather websites related to a topic, then annotate, rank, and organize them.

 

>> Take collaborative notes.

 

>> Create an interactive course page.

 

>> Create an ongoing database for shareable lesson plans.

 

>> Student-created texts. Students build a guide to online security and privacy and are evaluated as a class. Every student has a stake in the project and will likely benefit from the instruction it contained. Students also become familiar with "textbook" English and its avoidance of personal-sounding prose.

 

>> A graduate student dossier.

 

>> Plan a conference.

 

>> Create a text/book.

 

>> Review classes and instructors :: Students at Brown University started a Course Advisor Wiki where students can collaboratively write and share reviews of courses they've taken.

 

>> Create a study guide :: This example is of a student created study guide for a course in educational research.

 

>> Create a presentation.

 

 

Evaluating & Assessing Wikis

>> Ulises Mejias, a ph.d. candidate at Columbia University put together some criteria for the summative evaluation of wikis as a learning technology in higher-ed courses. Perhaps you can take a look at what he's brainstormed and provide some suggestions.

 

 

Wiki Controversy:

>> Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation :: Article found in the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus Blog regarding the use of Wikipedia as a valid research source: "For God sake, you’re in college; don’t cite the encyclopedia."

 

>> Academics Start Their Own Wikipedia for Media Studies :: Article on the Wired Campus Blog announcing plans by The Institute for the Future of the Book, a center supported by the University of Southern California, that it will soon unveil an online scholarly press, of sorts, called Media Commons, that will focus on the discipline of media studies. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

 

>> Onward, Wiki Soldiers: Let's Liberate Composition :: Article from Kairos News regarding creating free wiki-based textbooks for students (by students). "Don't tell us what you learned in school: Tell us what you did in school."

 

>> The Law of the wiki :: Nicholas Carr's blog entry on the quality of Wikipedia entries/editing. The roar of the masses could be farts.

 

>> Other possible downsides to wikis in education: need for monitoring, collaboration bias, navigational concerns.

 

 

Wiki Philanthropy:

>> Global Text :: The project will create open content electronic textbooks that will be freely available from a Web site.

 

>> Wikiversity :: "The mission of Wikiversity is to empower people to achieve their educational goals using resources produced by the free culture movement. The goal is to create a community of people who support each other in their educational endeavors."

 

 

Articles about wikis in education:

>> The Wiki Factor :: Do your business students know how to “wiki”? by Philip Evans.

 

>> Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not :: EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004): 36–48. by Brian Lamb.

 

>> Wiki Pedagogy :: This article by Renee Fountain endeavours to denote and promote pedagogical experimentations concerning a Free/Open technology called a "Wiki".... The particular pedagogical challenge is one of control: wikis work most effectively when students can assert meaningful autonomy over the process. This involves not just adjusting the technical configuration and delivery; it involves challenging the social norms and practices of the course as well (Lamb, 2004). Enacting such horizontal knowledge assemblages in higher education practices could evoke a return towards and an instance upon the making of impossible public goods” (Ciffolilli, 2003).

 

>> Using Wikis in Schools: A Case Study by Lyndsay Grant, Learning Researcher, Future Lab. This paper looks both at the affordances of the technology itself and the wider context of the classroom, and offers some provisional conclusions about the potential of using wikis to support collaborative learning in schools.

 

 

Other Online References & Resources:

>> wwwtools for Education a repository of information/links regarding the use of wikis by Graeme Daniel.

 

>> Using wiki in education :: A wiki about using wikis in education authored by Stewart Mader.

 

>> 7 things you should know about wikis :: a part of the "7 things you need to know about..." series from the Educause Learning Initiative.

 

>> Teaching Hacks :: Want to know more about Wikis and their implimentation in courses... or find out if there are any good wikis around for your subject matter you are teaching...

 

 

Wiki Tools

>> Jotspot :: Enterprise and personal wiki hosting and free wiki software. Free hosting available for a limited size wiki.

 

>> Media Wiki :: a free software wiki package originally written for Wikipedia. Not hosted.

 

>> Wikispaces :: Free, hosted, public wikis.

 

>> PBWiki :: Free, hosted, public wikis. This wiki is a PBWiki.

 

>> Seed Wiki :: Free, hosted, public wikis.

 

>> Wiki Matrix :: Compare wiki features and functionality. Caveat: I don't know how often this site is updated as features/functionality changes rapidly on products being compared.

 


Questions? Comments? Send to Christopher D. Sessums.

Thanks and kudos to blamb, vicki, graeme, ulises, darren, quentin, and stewart.

 

 

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