2+-+What+is+a+wiki?

A wiki is one type of Web 2.0 tool that can be used in education. Take some time to review the wiki video and resources below. After you are done reviewing the resources you will need to follow the directions and post a comment at the bottom of this page. Watch this video to learn what a wiki is.

So, are you wondering how educators are using wiki's? Look at the link below to see some ideas. [|50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom] Take some time to look though some of the other wiki resources that I have listed below. The wiki we are using ( www.wikispaces.com ) is not the only wiki site available FREE for educators. Another great wiki site that educators can use is [|www.pbworks.com].
 * 1) [|Defintion of a Wiki from Wikipedia]
 * 2) [|Teachers First Wiki Walk-Through]

So, now that you have become familiar with what a wiki is and have some ideas how it can be used in the classroom, I want you to share your thoughts to the reflection questions below. To share your thoughts, you will be posting a comment at the bottom of this wiki page. Just type in your comment and click the "Add Comment" button. Reflection questions: 1. What ideas do you have for using wiki's in the classroom with students? If you are not a classroom teacher share how you would use a wiki in your position. 2. What safety concerns might there be when using this type of tool? 3. Are there any questions that you still have about this type of tool?

Additional Resource - If you like wiki's and think this is something you would want to create and use in your classroom, but need some help then check out these great [|PBworks teacher training videos].

Reflection by: Carrie Alvernia I have a couple of ideas for using the wiki in my future elementary classroom. I think it can be used for something as simple as students working on a cooperative learning project that requires them to do several steps or different topics to be researched. Each student could pick a portion of the topic being researched and each could go on and add their different items. All of the students get to see how the others are adding their different research responses and they also get to post their own in turn completing the group project. I think it can be very useful. The teacher could assign the whole class a state to research and require them to work on it continuously throughout the week lesson during computer lab time at school. At the end of the lesson, the teacher's wiki could have pages from all the students with all the researched states which could be shared on the smartboard for all the students. The only safety concerns for the students would be inappropriate posts being made, but the teacher could keep the wiki private so that only certain people could go on and edit it. The teacher would just have to make sure they are monitoring it regularly. I would be curious if your wiki gets deleted after a certain amount of time if no one has logged on or edited it?

Reflection by: Jacob Alvernia There are several wiki projects that I have observed in my field experience class work. One of them was Audacity. It is a free open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds. Here is a list of some of the things it can do: You could have the students pair up in groups of 3 or 4 and create a podcast for almost anything. The rubric on one of the classes assignments were to create a storyboard, then create sound effects, next they had to clarify the sound (making sure it was at the same level), then make it sound professional, and lastly, they were graded on their group participation. Some safety concerns for this would be keeping the students on task and not letting them record anything that woudl be considered offensive or abusive toward other students. I have not personally created a podcast, but I plan on trying as I get more time this summer.
 * Record live audio.
 * Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
 * Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
 * Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
 * Change the speed or pitch of a recording.

Justin Jenkins- Reflection As an teacher you can set up an online classroom with a wiki for your students and manage their progress and activities online. You can use wikis for collaberation and group tasks for your students, like this. The safety for this has to be controlled by the teacher. This wiki for example is open to the entire world, if you are in a high school you probably need to limit access to just your students, to keep outsiders from tampering with the content, and putting inapropriate content.