USING A WIKI TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS

In an Anthropology Class

Agenda

What a wiki is And what a wiki isn’t

Wiki in the class environment Benefits Limitations Examples

Setting up a wiki Choosing an application Creating the foundation

                                                                                               

                    

Web 2.0 and Social Networking

What a wiki is

A website that allows a group of people to create, add, and edit content Collaborative

No programming knowledge is necessary

First wiki developed was in early 90’s for use by computer programmers to exchange ideas Named WikiWikiWeb after the Wiki Wiki

Shuttle in Hawaii Wiki = “quick” in Hawaiian

What a wiki isn’t

Blog Online, reverse-

chronological diary Generally “one-

sided” Information is

“sticky”

Wiki Simple website

consisting of hyperlinked pages

Generally collaborative

Information is “fluid”

Wikis are often confused with blogs

Both are useful tools, but serve different purposes

Wikis in the class environment

Benefits

A flexible tool that is capable of both group and individual work

Ability to comment extends interactivity More “enjoyable” than a discussion

board

Limitations

Similar issues with any group project Difficulty in knowing which students

contribute Technology learning curve

Examples

Cultural Anthropology @ KSU Hunter-Gatherer Wiki @ OSU

Setting up a wiki

Factors to consider

When choosing a wiki application Cost vs. Free

$$ = greater customization options and fewer limitations (i.e. page level access)

Hosted vs. Server Software Fewer limitations when loaded on your server,

but requires server space and support WYSIWYG vs. Markup Language

“What You See Is What You Get” has less of a learning curve

Comparing wiki options

WikiMatrix.org - compare wiki features Free wikis include:

PBWiki.comZoho.comWetPaint.com

Foundation - Decisions to make What’s the purpose of the wiki?

Determine initial structure Who will have access to the wiki?

Read? Edit?

For example

Purpose: Group project Initial structure: Country pages,

assigned to groups, with cultural topics to research

Access: Wiki will be viewable by anyone, but only students will have “writer” permission allowing them to add and edit content.

(See screen shots available at the end of this presentation)

Resources

Integrating Wikis in Anthropology Classes (article) http://anthropology.osu.edu/docs/Moritz/wiki

%20AN.pdf PBWiki Educators portal

http://educatorforum.pbwiki.com Wikis in Education (from WetPaint)

http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com Examples of educational wikis

http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

Creating a wiki - Screen Shots

To create your wiki, go to pbwiki.com and then click on Academic

Click on Try it Now!

Then select Basic

Fill in the requested information. Once you submit your request, you will receive an email confirmation.

Agree to the terms of service and then go to your wiki

To begin making changes, click on Edit

The toolbox that appears provides standard formatting options

Once you’ve edited the text, click on Save

To add pages to your wiki, click on Create a page

Give your page a title and then click Create page

Add content to the page and then click Save

To create a link to your new page, (1) highlight the text you want to link and then (2) click on the hyperlink button

(1)

(2)

Select the page you want the link to go to and click Ok

Follow these same steps to create and link to the rest of your wiki’s pages

Click on Page history to see a chronological list of changes made to an individual page

View the previous version by clicking on the time stamp or compare two pages using the radio buttons

If needed, you can revert back to this version of the page or return to the page history

Use the sidebar to add content that you want to appear on all pages – such as links to commonly used websites

You can upload documents and images for use within the wiki by clicking on Upload files…

or using the Insert Links tool while editing a page - and then link to them by clicking on the filename

You can also link to images found on the web

Whether clicking on an uploaded image or using the web link, the image will appear on the page

To change wiki settings, click on Settings

For example, you can add users

Or change your security settings