Blogs and Wikis Workshop - Alex

We'll spend about 35 minutes on wikis and about 25 minutes on blogs - very basic for starters.

Let's start with Wikis (Later we'll move on to the Blogs)

1. Whassa wiki?

• Example 1: You're looking at it!!
• Example 2: LSC WINK wiki
• Example 3: 2nd graders wiki for Flat Stanley
• Example 4: 4th Graders help write Wikiville
• Wikipedia entry for what a wiki is

2. Why we want'em

• Reason 1: It is collaborative software
• Reason 2: Easily create simple websites - no programming knowledge needed
• Reason 3: Group authoring for group assignments
• Reason 4: Tracking the completion of a group project (or a solo project)
• Reason 5: Use it for making a presentation. (much like you're seeing here)
• Reason 6: Because you're only limited by your own imagination.

3. Where we wangle'em (wangle means get or acquire, I swear)

• Freebie 1: PBwiki (very basic, love it, easy as making a peanut butter sandwich)
• Freebie 2: MediaWiki (runs Wikipedia; sever based, probably not suited for most individuals)
• Freebie 3: JotSpot (recently bought by Google)
• Freebie 4: Wetpaint (looks highly customizable)
• Freebie 5: Wikispaces (another popular tool)
• Freebie 6: do a Google search, there's many more of these

4. Weakening wiki wildness

• Editing only with password
• Restoring a previous version (tracking changes)
• Making a wiki private rather than public (viewing)
• Content moderator, some wikis require content additions to be approved before they are entered

5. Wiki windup, wrap-up, withdrawal (when should it end?)

• Never, there is no need for it to end
• Collaboration doesn't have to end when the semester ends

For your later reading pleasure, here's a bunch of links:

• Using wikis in education

• Will Richardson has a wiki about wikis!!

• WikiBooks: free textbooks and manuals

• Wikisource: the free library

• BSU has a blogs and wikis course: here is the wiki portion

• 9th graders have a wiki about mashups. They know what a mashup is, do you?

• David Warlick is an excellent edublogger. He uses a wiki for his presentation materials and handouts.

• I could go on, but you get the point. There's a ton of this stuff going on out there, and it's growing every day.

Welcome to your PBwiki!

(This default stuff comes wiht a new wiki. I left it here on purpose.)

• What can you do with a wiki? Take a tour and use pre-made templates

• How do you create a new page? 2 easy ways

• Learn how to use bold, italics, tables, and more: The wiki style page

• Share this wiki with others. It's easy

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