Konna ParkerAcademia Cotopaxi2012

WIKIS AS INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS

What is a wiki?•Term in Hawaiian for moving quickly•Wiki wiki is used to denote very quick movement

•Started by Ward Cunningham in 1995•Chose the name ‘wiki’ to denote that his software would be fast and easy to use•Cunningham wanted his software to do something new and have people discover the potential as they went

Wiki as movement Wiki as software

Wiki as shelter• Wikiup – Native

American ‘tent’ that could be put up quickly

What is a pbworks.com wiki?•Wikipedia, the most famous wiki• A wiki is a workspace that can be private or public and contains information that can be edited and have links to websites or other content• Pbworks.com is one online source for collecting and sharing information and links• Teachers and students can create workspaces for all sorts of projects and work, such as:• E-portfolios• Research projects•Group collection spaces• School Clubs

Why use this type of technology?•Our students are the 21st Century

•Creative problem solvers•Collaborators•Media & tech users•Digital Natives – Marc Prensky•21st Century Fluency Project – Ian Jukes

Some uses for a wiki•Class collaborations•E-portfolio sites•Research projects•School Clubs•Paperless submissions•Class projects•Literary conversations•Things I haven’t thought of!

How have I used a wiki?•E-portfolios – two different examples•School Club – LS Student Council•Research Projects – Mathematician, Scientist•Class Collaboration – WWW Trip

Some questions to answer:1. What will be the purpose of your

wiki?2. How will you use your wiki for

instruction?3. Will the wiki be collaborative or

individual?4. Will the wiki be content-oriented or

end-product oriented?5. What are some possible management

issues?

Management Issues• Member of numerous workspaces• Grading• Privacy• Paperless submissions• Deadlines• Links• Photos• Videos

Getting started:• How do I start a wiki?• Creating a workspace• Deleting & Creating Pages• Renaming Front Page• Inviting Users• Editing a page• Uploading• Photos & Videos

How do I start a wiki?Create a pbworks.com account if neededCreate a workspace for your class on

pbworks.comDelete pages on the workspace that you don’t

need or wantRename the Front PageAdd pages to the workspace that you will want

for your classInvite members using email address or give

them the URL so they can ask to be invited

Creating a pbworks.com accountGo to pbworks.com and click Login

Fill in the spaces for name, email, etc. and Create Account

Choose the Basic, Free accountYou may choose to use a school email address or your personal email address

Creating a workspaceOnce signed in, at bottom right of the page,

click Create a New WorkspaceChoose the name of the workspace

carefully because you may not change it without it being deleted

Make it privateAgree to different terms and createYou don’t need to remember the workspace

name in order to sign in

Deleting & Creating PagesDelete• Go to the Pages and Files tab at the top of the

Front Page• Check the pages you do not want to keep and

click DeleteCreate• Click on Create a Page link on upper right of

Front Page• Name the page, click blank page, and create

Renaming Front Page & Inviting UsersRenaming• Click Edit tab• Click Rename this Page at upper right and rename!

Invite Users• Click Users tab at top of page• Click Add More Users tab at upper right and add

email addresses of people you want to invite• You may cut & paste from a Word document• You may give the url to students and they send a

request

Editing a PageEditing• Click on the Edit tab• This area functions similar to

Word and allows either direct typing or uploading

• You may add text, photos, videos, links, etc.

Work on your wiki & ask questions