Wicked Wikis

Wikis - finally something I already have an account for.

If you are looking to work collaboratively with others, either in a work or a personnel setting, than a wiki may be for you. There are many examples of wikis but you may want to start familiarizing yourself with them by watching the tutorial from Wikis in Plain English. This gives a simple explanation of how you might use a wiki for planning an activity such as a camping trip with a group.

You may already be familiar with Wikipedia, an oversized wiki that just keeps on growing. The wiki I created for the grade fours Grade Four Bancken is a simple wiki that has been developed to provide an easy accessible place for students to access links to websites. I could of had the technology teacher add these sites to our school website but it made more sense for me to design it this way and then I can make changes when I want. Also, if students begin finding websites they would like to add, I can open the wiki and give them the opportunity to edit and change this site.

A wiki, described by Debbie Johnson in the article Wikis for Science Ed Collaboration, , is a "living document, easily accessible, ever changing, and yet always available." Take Wikipedia for example. Many people know what Wikepedia is as a searchalbe tool, but do not realize that it is a wiki or what that means. Here is a document that is constantly undergoing change by the people who use and contribute to it - a collaborative work in progress.

Personal Journey in the World of Wikis
Though not really knowledgeable about wikis as a whole, I did set up a wiki two years ago for a group of grade sevens doing a novel study. So I already had an account with Wikispaces and was a little familiar with the process of what to do. I did not find this process nearly as frustrating as setting up a podcast.

I did discover that I am not fond of all wikis. For many wikis, I find the font small and all the same colour and I find them very busy. Even Wikipedia, I find there is too much information and I do not enjoy reading the pages. There are so many links to different sites that I find it difficult to stay focused and on task. Now Davies and Merchant in Web 2.0 for Schools say that the "existence of hyperlinks seems to encouarage readers to trace back the provenance of the entries and to research further, so that the culture of online reading is to travel (or 'surf') from text to text, gathering information, comparing accounts and gaining background data. In this way, critical reading becomes exciting and 'usual' - the hyperlinks show the routes to follow." (pg. 92) I find it does the oppostite for me - there is simply too much going on. If I feel this way, how many others, especially students, feel the same?

Thanks to Nicola, I spent a little time wandering around the "Manage Wiki" area and discovered a whole new world. Becasue I have a free wiki, most of this area is unaccessible to me but shows what is available to paying customers. I did ask to have my wiki upgraded (for free) so that the ads on the side will be gone as part of a K-12 educational account. That is a really nice bonus.

Personal User
Wikis are useful for sharing all types of information. My sister is presently planning a trip to Europe with six other people. They are looking for the cheapest flights, where is the best place to fly out of, accomadations, places to visit, etc. If they had a shared wiki, they could go in and update any information whenever they found anything tht was pertinent to their trip. There are wikis for knitters where you can post what you are knitting or share your patterns. There are wikis for book clubs and sewers. You can set up a wiki on any topic you like. You can choose to leave it open to allow others to add and make changes to your information or you can lock it and only allow people to view what you have posted.
You can use different sites to set up your wiki such as Wikispaces, Wet Paint or PBWorks.

Professional Use
Now there are some wonderful educational wikis out there. This one I came across in our Trailfine School LIbrary Website I really like. There is lots of colour and the graphics are not so overwhelming. A lot of work and thought has been put into the layout and it catches my eye right away. It is also relevant to me and that might also make me more interested.

As a teacher-librarian I may set up a wiki to show all the activities that are planned for I-Love-to-Read month or an interactive wiki for junior high students to comment on the MYRCA books they are reading. Using a wiki as a pathfinder allows students the ability to search topics but can also be improved by students as they find websites that could be added or remove dead links. This way the pathfinder moves from a stagnant document to one that may constantly be changing and updated.

The list of what types of projects can be done with wikis and with who is endless. Projects can be shared within a class, a school, a city, a country and across continents. They can be on personal topics such as researching things to do while on vacation or school subjects such as writing and sharing your own piece of music. The possibilities are endless.

Sources
Common Craft. (2010). Wikis in plain english. Retrieved from http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

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

Davies, J. & Merchant, G. (2009). Web 2.0 for school: learning and social participation. Peter Lang Publishing: New York.

NSTA Reports. (2010, February). Wikis for science ed collaboration. Vol. 21, No. 6. National Science Teachers Association: Arlington, Virginia.

School Library Website. (2010). Retrieved from http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/

Wikipedia. (2010). Welcome to Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://www.wikipedia.org