Wikis

= What is a Wiki? = A wiki can be many things for many people. Basically, it is a collaborative container site. A container site is a digital space for holding a variety of digital information such as images, videos, sound (music, recordings, sound effects), and files. A wiki, unlike a website, is designed to have many authors which they call members. If you are a member of a wiki, then usually you can directly change the look of the wiki by deleting or adding information, which is why it is referred to as a collaborative tool. The person who first creates a wiki is the owner and usually has additional abilities, but an owner/organizer can make promote other members to become organizers, too.

As an owner, you can lock pages so that members cannot change them; however, unless you pay the upgrade fee, you cannot assign certain members to only use certain pages. Unless you pay for the upgrade all members can change any unlocked pages.

Examples of wikis in the classroom

 * Civil Disobedience and Civil Disobedience Wiki Rubric
 * Looking 4 Equality Wiki and Looking 4 Equality Assignment
 * Poetry Out Loud

= Why Use a Wiki? =

Teacher Website:
Many teachers create wikis instead of websites. Wikis are a bit more flexible and not as comprehensive, so it is a great option for teachers. The wikis look like sites, and they can fill the same function as websites. You can add a homework page, a class notes page, a hand out page...really whatever you want. If you want to use wikispaces to create your classroom website, think carefully about the set up and design. Explore other teachers' sites and see what formats might work for you. If you don't think through the design before you start to create, you may have to redo some work and redesign. It can be done, of course, but it is more time consuming.

Here are some examples where people used wikis instead of sites:
 * ABschools Resources
 * Mrs. Badgley's site
 * Mrs. Schrack's site

**Group Work:** Because of i ts collaborative abilities, a wiki is a great tool for group work. Wikis are especially good for group research projects or writing projects. One of the big benefits to using a wiki instead of assigning a Powerpoint or a paper, is that the wiki tracks the input of individual members using the History tab. By reviewing the history tab, a teacher can see how often a student worked on the wiki. Also, Wiki has a tab for discussions which, if you encourage your students to use it rather than their email or texting, you can use to gauge how much work each student added to the group assignment.


 * History Tab in Use**


 * Discussion Tab in Use**



Store Teacher Handouts
Another reason to use a wiki is because it keeps everything you give to the students in one place. For long term assignments, a wiki is a great place to store teacher handouts. If a student loses the handout, he can go to the place in the wiki where it is stored and either read it there or download another copy. This feature is especially useful if you have a multi-step assignment, when many students lose track of the steps. During class, it is easy to review the steps with the class by simply clicking on the wiki.


 * Assignment Information is listed in navigation bar and is locked, so no students can change the pages.**

Keep track of on-line resources that the teacher or the librarian have compiled.
A Wiki is also great for storing on-line resources that you or a librarian have compiled. This feature is especially good if you have created a list of links to help hone the search through the vast, limitless space that is google and other search engines. Of course, students have to be pushed into using your resources. I have found that they would almost always prefer to go directly to Google, which is not always the most effective way to search. Adding your own resources is a great way to encourage the students to use on-line databases, which are usually amazing.

I also use this feature if I have students that are having trouble finding their own information because they picked a relatively obscure topic. I can put the information that I find directly onto their page or I can add it to my own page of resources. AND, since they are all working on line, you can see very quickly if a student or a group is in trouble or behind, since you own the wiki and have access to all their information.



Teacher Troubleshooting
A Wiki is a GREAT tool, but, just like any tool, it must be handled properly. Below is a list of things to watch out for when you use this tool in the classroom. > > If either student's edits are incorrectly overwritten, they can find their work or revert to an earlier version of the page on the **History** tab. If you still have problems, email us at help@wikispaces.com >
 * Only allow members if you recognize the email address. Remember that members can alter any unlocked pages, so you must be very careful with your membership. At AB, this problem may be moot, since students will be assigned emails.
 * Lock the pages that you have designed, which will prevent students from altering parts of the assignment.
 * Keep groups small or give groups multiple pages. In theory the wiki allows simultaneous editing, but in practice, it can be wonky if more than two people work on a page at the same time.
 * Everything is saved in history, so always remember to use the history tool to reclaim lost writing. This feature calms frazzled students like nothing else.
 * Encourage students to communicate via the discussion tab, so that you can monitor the discussions.
 * You should monitor the discussion tabs since some students use the discussion feature to post inappropriate messages, //but they cannot do it anonymously.//
 * Works Cited formatting does not work, so you cannot be a stickler for that when using a wiki.
 * Editing pages: (from Wikispaces) If two people edit the same page at the same time, we will keep track of both sets of changes. Your students will be notified if someone else is editing the page at the same time. If there are no conflicts in the students' changes, both sets of edits will be seamlessly merged into the page. If the changes do conflict, the following will happen:
 * 1) When the first user saves his changes, the second user will receive a notification of this and will be able to view the changes.
 * 2) The second user can view the changes to remove the conflict if she chooses.
 * 3) If there is still a conflict when the second user saves the page, she will be notified that she is about to overwrite the first user's changes. She will have the option to continue or cancel.
 * SAVE OFTEN - Wiki does not like when you add a ton of stuff, so write a little then SAVE, add an image then SAVE, write a little then SAVE. Otherwise, wiki may freeze on you!