wikis towson ots

CARISSA TOMLINSON, MLISEMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LIBRARIANLIAISON TO GERONTOLOGY, NURSING,

HEALTH SCIENCES AND CULTURAL STUDIES

Wikis in Education

Agenda

IntroductionsWhat’s a wiki?Wiki in the classroom

Lots of examples Some problems to watch out for

Wikis outside of the classroom Lots of examples

Things to consider Which wiki software?

Hands on with WetPaint wikis

Introductions

Carissa Tomlinson, MLISEmerging Technologies LibrarianLiaison to Gerontology, Nursing,

Health Sciences and Cultural Studies

Who are you?

What is a Wiki?

A type of website that allows for easy editing, by one or more people. Wikipedia is an example Generally the administrator gets to decide who has permission

to do anything to the wiki. Can be created collaboratively or edited collaboratively, but

does not have to be collaborative.

Hawaiian for quick Also easy! Usually no need to know HTML or FTP programs

Wiki Basics

Wikis start off as a single blank pagePages are created and connected by hyperlinks like

web pagesDetermine who can edit the wiki easilyDiscussion areas generally included on each pageDepending on wiki- WYSIWYG or wiki editing (easy,

but different than HTML)Generally requires much less technology know-

how.

Great tool for many different classroom needs

Class wiki Post links to assignments, exercises, announcements, etc-

similar to using Blackboard. Easily integrate multimedia

Video Photos RSS feeds from relevant journals, blogs, news sources Class calendar

Make it interactive Chat widget could be used for online office hours Post reading questions- require students to answer in the

comments of the wiki (students can then learn from one another)

Make a poll or a quiz that students can answer directly on the wiki

Class wiki examples

East Carolina University -English 1200 http://eng1200.wetpaint.com/

West Point-PE 350 http://unitfitness.wetpaint.com/

Class wiki examples at Towson

Marty Roberge -Department of Geography GEOG 672 -

http://mroberge.wiki.zoho.com/Mill-Ponds.html

Sarah Lohnes- Instructional Technology ISTC 541- http://istc541.pbwiki.com/

Student Group Project Wiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY Keep all work in one spot- don’t worry about

exchanging emails Keep research/bibliographic information in one spot Share a project calendar Brainstorming area – especially useful for web based

classes or classes without much group time Document tracking makes it easy to write a rough

draft and turn it into the final Keep all contact info accessible online

Student Group Project Wiki

Cheryl Wood - Department of Educational Technology ISTC 201 - http://201summercampus.wikispaces.com/ ISTC 702 - http://istc702summer08.wikispaces.com/ 

Assignment/Exam Preparation Wiki

Focus your wiki on the major assignment or exam Assignment/exam information/instructions Multimedia options A place for students to ask questions to you and their

peers

Concordia Engineers http://concordia.wetpaint.com/

Resource Collections

Put together a wiki with links, videos, photos, etc on a topic relevant to class.

Could possibly be created by student(s) for a group project similar to a annotated bibliography

http://arttalk.wetpaint.com/http://anatowiki.wetpaint.com/

Wikis in the Classroom

Difficulties mentioned by Dr. Roberge “students having technological difficulties” “students not 'trusting the process': they worry

that their contributions won't be noticed by me, and their wiki work won't be recognized. Even though I can quickly call up a screen showing what everyone has written and edited.”

“students worrying that their work will be erased, or that if they edit someone else's work, that person will get angry.”

“students feeling directionless because the wiki has no inherent structure”

Outside the Classroom

Library servicesStaff trainingCommittee workCurriculum developmentUniversity initiativesOutreach

Library Subject Guides

Faculty/ Staff Collaboration

Staff training

Staff training

Outreach at Towson

Focus the Nation at Towson Universityhttp://tufocusthenation.pbwiki.com/

STEM Celebration and Expohttp://stemcelebration.wetpaint.com/

Wikis in k-12

Examples of how wikis are used in a k-12 environment can be found here:

http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wikis+in+the+Classroom

Teacher peer wikis Teacher/ parent community Group projects Classroom wikis Resource collections

Wikis for education?

Allows for active learning through the interactive capabilities between students and/or students and teacher

Easy to use technology – easy way to get something on the web.

“Classroom” available anytime from anywhere Useful not only in the class room but for staff

projects, training, committees, outreach and numerous other ways

Wikis- Things to Consider

Wikis need to be carefully constructed Plan an outline What is the purpose? Make sure that it is easy to navigate Decide what features are important Decide who has access to what sections

Wikis can be either hosted on the library or university server or can be hosted by “wiki farms” online.

Things to Consider- In-House Server Wikis

ProsMuch more control

over contentCan be easier to

manipulate for specific purposes Design Access / Security

No ads

ConsRequires server accessImplementation

requires additional technological expertise

Does not always use easy WSYWIG editing

Things to Consider- Web Hosted Wiki

ProsRequires little

technological knowledge

WYSIWYG (easy to edit by all staff/ students)

No server access required

Many do not have ads if wiki is used for educational purposes

ConsNo control of what

happens to the content (wiki farm shuts down, wiki could be gone forever)

Not always as flexibleAdditional flexibility

can cost $$

Wiki Software

Server BasedMediawikiPmWikiTwikiMoinMoinXWiki

Web BasedWetPaintPBWikiSeedWikiWikispacesZoho Wikis

Wiki Matrix: http://www.wikimatrix.org/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software

WetPaint Wikis – www.wetpaint.com

Easy to create and update pagesUse your own logoUse your own domainVariety of permissions settings- possible to

assign roles to each user/ creatorAbility to back up wiki by exporting content to

html documentEasy to navigate designAds will be removed when wikis are used for

educational purposes – www.wikisineducation.wetpaint.com

WetPaint Wikis – www.wetpaint.com

Fun and useful things you can easily add to a Wetpaint wiki RSS feed of a relevant search from a database YouTube video Video file Meebo chat widget to make online office hours easier Photos Music/ Audio Files (pdf, doc, ppt, etc.) Poll or survey Calendar

WetPaint Wikis – www.wetpaint.com

Need help building your site?http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/

Want examples of wikis in education?http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/

Additional Resources

Brad Hemminger Cradle Talk: WIKIs in Education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITqvFKb9BbA

Intro to Class Wikis with Wikispaces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRbbskf3cA

Creating a Classroom Wiki using Wetpaint Creating a wiki in Wetpaint

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgqSfSPRLqQ Basic Editing of Wetpaint wikis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wDuj-jH-Zw Getting ads removed from Wetpaint wikis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbh-bHhYpB0

Additional Resources

Carissa TomlinsonEmerging Technologies

Librarian410-704-3359ctomlinson@towson.edu

Marty Roberge Geography 410-704-5011mroberge@towson.edu

Cheryl WoodEducational Technology410-704-2687cwood@towson.edu

Sarah LohnesInstructional Technology410-704-2545slohnes@towson.edu