Wondering About Wikis?

Wiki wiki in Hawaiian means quick, and that’s just what a wiki is—a quick, collaborative web page.  Today anyone with a mind to create and share content can easily set up a wiki for any number of purposes.  Take a look at some of the following wiki sites to get an idea of how they’re being used today.

Wikipedia—Most of you are already familiar with this online editable encyclopedia.  While there are arguments both for and against its validity as a research tool, its popularity has reached enormous proportions. 

Wikibooks—This is an attempt to create an online library of textbooks using the power of the Internet to reach both writers who create and edit as well as readers searching for information.  An offshoot of this same group is Wikijunior, a similar collection aimed at an audience of children to age 12.  Other content formats for the same wiki group include Wiktionary, Wikiquote, and Wikinews.

Some schools use wikis in addition to or as their school’s web.  Take a look at how Hamilton Elementary School and Arbor Heights have used this tool to communicate within the school and community.

Wikis are also valuable as a tool for students learning how to write for a real-world audience and to collaborate with their peers.  Look at how middle school students in Australia have used a wiki to demonstrate and reflect on their learning.  In what other ways could classes use wiki sitesspaces to facilitate learning?

Planning and professional development are other interesting ways to use wikis in education.  In Round Rock ISD the Instructional Technology Specialist group has a wiki used in a variety of ways.  It includes a collaborative construction of its mission and goals, an area for coordination and sharing information, handouts, and notes from TCEA, as well as links to planning meetings and areas for future focus.  How could our campus utilize the power of wikis in our planning and professional development?

Round Rock ITS Wiki

For further information, you may want to start with this video from YouTube called “Wikis in Plain English,” also read the article “Make Way for Wikis” from The School Library Journal.

Want to create a wiki of your own?  Wikispaces offers free wiki sites to educators without advertising.  Be sure to indicate that you are an educator when you sign up!