This is an online tutorial in the DETAIL series offered by the CPS Department of Educational Technology.

1. Chicago Public Schools
Department of Educational Technology
CPS DETAIL TECHNOLOGY TRAINING
WIKIS: CLASSROOM WEBSITES TO PROMOTE
EFFECTIVE COMMON CORE IMPLEMENTATION
ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

2. What is a wiki?
A wiki is a website with a “what you see is what
you get” editing interface. It allows the user to
easily create basic, functional websites.

3. Wikis as Teacher Websites
Teachers can use wikis to
• create classroom websites to assemble assignment
information, materials, and resources aligned to
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
• create online centers and assignment pages to maximize
students' time-on-task
• provide remedial and extended learning opportunities
• support strong home connections
• encourage additional reading and writing experiences
• communicate about upcoming special events and field
trips

4. Using Wikis to Address CCSS
(Primary Example)
Teacher classroom wikis can be used to address a very wide range of
CCSS.
• A primary grade teacher creates a digital center on a page at his wiki on the topic of
“Transportation”. On the wiki page are links to selected websites vetted by him, a
slideshow of various modes of transportation, an educational gaming site on the
topic, a poll to gather information on the students’ most used type of
transportation, a link to several primary online database articles to be used for
research reading, a link to a CTA route map, and links to books and eBooks that
students can read. He also includes homework information, a communication to
parents, and news of an upcoming fieldtrip. This center can be used and updated
throughout the year, as new resources are identified. He, also, uses this center as an
anchor resource for his unit of instruction on the top, as he leads his class through
basic research activities that they do together and in small groups.
Selected related anchor CCSS: R2, R7, R9, R10, W2, W7, W8, SL2, SL5, L4, L6

5. Using Wikis to Address CCSS
(Intermediate Example)
Teacher classroom wikis can be used to address a very wide range of
CCSS.
• A middle grades science teacher creates a set of science fair resources on her class
wiki page. In her wiki, she includes a embedded calendar with important dates, a
project list, and instructions for preparing for the fair. For the research
component, she includes information on how to write a paper, examples, links to
appropriate online databases, a bibliography of available library books, and a link to
a citation generator. She embeds a podcast with some introductory
information, links to vetted websites, a slideshow of the previous year’s fair, and
some video of winning students’ presentations. She includes steps of the scientific
method and helpful graphic organizers. She, also, includes information for
parents, for judges, and later adds post-fair updates.
Selected related anchor CCSS: R2, R7, R9, R10, W6, W7, W8, SL2, SL5, L6

6. Using Wikis to Address CCSS
(High School Example)
Teacher classroom wikis can be used to address a very wide range of
CCSS.
• A high school history teacher creates a wiki to support student research that occurs
during the school year. For her unit on “Immigration and the Progressive Era”, she
includes vetted websites that provide quality resources to supplement the
textbook, links to selected online database articles and streaming video, a
bibliography of related library books and eBooks, and a link to a recommended
citation generator. For the research unit itself, she creates topics, work
groups, assignment details, graphic organizers, support documents, and assessment
rubrics. She includes links to historical pictures of the era and links to podcast oral
history interviews. An embedded calendar provides a schedule for intermediate and
final assessments. Later, some student work is posted to be shared with the class
and parents.
Selected related anchor CCSS: R3, R7, R9, R10, W2, W6, W7, W9, SL2, SL5, L6

7. Samples of Teacher Class Wikis
2nd Grade Classroom
http://mrsibrahim.wikispaces.com/home
CPS Inter-American Magnet School Library
http://iamslibrary.wikispaces.com/home
French Classroom
http://ah-bon-french.wikispaces.com/home
Chemistry Classroom
http://salksperiodictable.wikispaces.com/Periodic+Table
History Classroom
http://megreene.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/home
Music Classroom
http://rhsmusic.wikispaces.com
Middle School Instructional Support Classroom
http://jstyles.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/home
Middle School Science Classroom
http://clollar.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/home
Middle School Social Studies
http://collaborationnation.wikispaces.com

8. Step 1: Create a Wikispaces Account
1. Go
tohttp://www.wikispaces.com/content/fo
r/teachers
2. Complete the form to create your
Wikispaces account
3. Select a wiki name that is unique and
reflects your school, classroom, or
teacher name
4. Make the wiki protected and certify that
it is for educational use

9. CUSTOMIZE
YOUR WIKI

10. Step 2: Modify “Look and Feel”
1. Log in at your new wiki
2. Click on “Manage Wiki”
3. Under “Settings”, click on
“Looks and Feel”

11. Step 2a: Add a Logo
Browse for a logo on your computer. The logo
must already be sized correctly. It will appear on
the upper portion of your new wiki. Hint: You can
create your own custom banner in PowerPoint, if
desired. Save as a .jpeg, then use as your logo.

12. Step 2b: Change wiki template and colors
Select “Themes and Colors” to further personalize your wiki.

13. Step 2b (con’t): Change wiki template and colors
Choose a layout & colors that you like. Select “Preview and
Customize” to more highly customize your wiki.

14. Adding Wiki
Content

15. Step 3: Adding Pages
Click on the top left to add a new page. Name the page and add tags, if you
choose. Go to Manage wiki > Pages to lock/unlock, tag, or delete pages

16. Step 4: Add Text to Pages Using the Editor Toolbar
Click “Edit” to launch the editor toolbar. This toolbar allows you to
boldface, italicize, or underscore text; resize text; add bulleted or
numbered lists; add horizontal rules; and perform other functions.

17. Step 5a: More Text & Toolbar Options
Note “undo”, “redo”, “preview”, &
“cancel” options.
Select heading
sizes.
Further edit text by selecting
fonts, size, text color, background
colors, and strikethrough options.

18. Step 5b: More Text & Toolbar Options
Check “New Window” if you want your wiki
to stay open when the link is clicked.
Add internal & external links to your wikis by clicking on the
“Link” button on the Editor Toolbar.

19. Step 6: Uploading Files
Documents
MS Word (.doc, .docx)
MS Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
MS PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
Portable Document Format (.pdf)
Text, HTML, and XML documents
(.txt, .html, .xhtml, .xml)
OpenDocument Formats
(.odt, .ods, .odp, .odg, .odf)
Rich Text Format (.rtf)
Other
Outlook mail folders (.pst)
Java class files (.class)
Image metadata
(.png, .gif, .jpeg, .tiff, .bmp)
Audio metadata
(.mp3, .wav, .midi, .aiff, .au)
Add downloadable files to your wiki by clicking on the “File”
button on the Editor Toolbar.

20. Step 7: Uploading Images
Use the image editor toolbar to align, resize, caption, or add
a link to an image.

21. Step 8: Embedding Widgets
3. Click “save” on the widget
1. Copy the code from various box, “save” on the editor toolbar
embeddable objects, such as to view your embedded object.
forms, video, polls, calendars, Voic
eThreads, Glogs, etc.
2. On the Editor Toolbar, select
“Widget”, “Other HTML”, then
paste the code in the box. Hint:
You can easily alter the height and
widget of the object, if needed.

22. Step 9: Inserting Tables
Table Editor Toolbar
Tables are a great way to nest content across the page. The table cells look
small initially, but expand as you insert content. Use the table editor toolbar to
change the table configuration.

23. Wiki Management

24. Step 10: Discussion, History, Notifications
Use the discussion tab to allow other members to comment on the page. This
is a great way to support formative teacher & peer assessment, as well as foster
collaboration. Use the history tab to monitor contributors to the page and roll
back to previous versions, if necessary. Set up notifications to receive emails
when the page is changed.

25. Step 11a: Editing Navigation
1. Traditional navigation lists every page.
With many pages, that becomes
cumbersome. You can select “edit
navigation” to create a more
manageable navigation list
2. Delete the “Include navigation” widget
to create your own custom navigation.
3. To create your navigation, build lists of
section titles and links to specific wiki
pages.
Sample constructed
navigation pane

26. Step 11b: Navigation Trees
Navigation Trees
Once you are comfortable with wikis and
have many pages, create navigation trees
to manage tiers of related pages and to
keep the top level navigation simple.
For example, this page is a
top-level page called “training” which
leads to various other pages that are
found by click on the link on the page.
Teachers may create top-
level pages such as “homework” or
“research units” which leads to other
pages that don’t appear on the main
navigation pane.
Wiki:
http://cpsproflib.wikispaces.com

27. Step 12: Management Features
Special features under “Manage Wiki”
include the ability to manage wiki
members & organizers, to control the
ability to join the wiki, and the ability to
monitor user statistics.

28. Step 13: Help with Wikis
Wikispaces Teacher FAQs: http://help.wikispaces.com/faq+teacher+wiki
Contact Wikispaces: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/help?src=help

29. Growing Your Classroom Wikis
• Go slow and let your wiki grow over time.
• The only way you can “damage” your wiki
is to delete it. Otherwise, you can always
recover your work. (Drafts are saved or
you can revert to previous pages in the
History tab.)
• Once you feel comfortable managing your
own class wiki, consider using wikis with
your students. They support a very wide
range of CCSS for students and have many
applications.
• See CPS Educational Technology DETAIL
training to learn how to use wikis with
students.
• Join the “CPS Wikis” email group to talk
with others about wikis, to get help, or to
share your new wiki with other teachers.
https://sites.google.com/site/cpsedtechportal/wikis