An overview of the use of wikis in education including what, how, why, and examples.

1. Wikis in Education
Kaisa Mikkola Eastern Michigan University
Kathy Lester EDMT 680

2. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki?
 Examples
 Summary

3. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki
 Examples
 Summary

4. What is a Wiki?
 Website that allows a group of people to
create and edit the website contents without
any special technical knowledge or tools.
 History
Ward Cunningham is the man behind the
very first wiki, described it as "the simplest
online database that could possibly work”
(Nations, 2009, p. 1)
 “wiki wiki” = Hawaiian for quick or fast

5. Characteristics of Wiki
 “A wiki invites all users to edit any page or to create
new pages within the wiki Web site, using only a plain-
vanilla Web browser without any extra add-ons.”
 “Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between
different pages by making page link creation almost
intuitively easy and showing whether an intended target
page exists or not.”
 “A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors.
Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing
process of creation and collaboration that constantly
changes the Web site landscape.”
(Wiki, 2009)

6.  Easy to use
 Can be used any time, any where
 Keeps track of revision history and
who has made changes
 Can be set to be public or private
 Is constantly under construction
 Collaboration is key
What? □ Features of a wiki

7. What? □ A collaborative tool
Wikis in Plain English Click arrow
by Common Craft to continue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

8. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki?
 Examples
 Summary

9. How to Use Wikis
 Choose a wiki service
 Create your wiki
 Use best practices
 Start “wiki-ing”!

10.  Wikispaces
http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers
 PBworks
http://pbworks.com/academic.wiki
 Wetpaint
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/
How? □ Choose a wiki service
- Compare wiki services at: http://www.wikimatrix.org/

11.  Each service provides instructions
 Wikispaces: step-by-step video tutorial
http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour#introduction
 Use edit button to access WYSIWYG tools
How? □ Create a wiki
-Wikispaces: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour#introduction
-PBWorks: http://pbworks.com/content/supportcenter
-Wetpaint: http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/page/FAQ

12.  Create a culture of trust
 Set up wiki rules
 Assign meaningful,
authentic activities
 Provide instructions and
allow for practice
How? □ Best Practices
-See a sample wiki agreement at :
- http://wikicentral.wikispaces.com/file/view/mrsmaines+wiki+warranty.doc

13. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki?
 Examples
 Summary

14. Why Use a Wiki?
 Allows for pedagogical strategies
 Cooperative learning
 Active learning
 Project-based learning
 Authentic instruction
 Inquiry
 Constructivism
 Differentiated instruction

15. The pass rate increased, when Paulson
switched to cooperative and active
learning strategies.
Quarter
Why? □ Research Supports Cooperative Learning
For more information on cooperative learning go to:
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/whyuse.html

16.  Mastery and retention of
material
 Quality in reasoning
strategies
 Process gains: such as
production of new ideas
 Transference of learning
Why? □ Advantages of Cooperative Learning
- Johnson and Johnson (as cited in Warburton, 2006)

17. Why? □ Active Learning
Creating, adding to, and modifying content in a wiki moves students
up into the higher order thinking skills of Bloom’s revised taxonomy
(Churches, 2008)

18. Why? □ To engage today’s students
A Vision of K-12 Students Today Click arrow
by B. Nesbitt to continue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

19. Click arrow
to continue
What Students Say (Fedigan, 2009)
(Maine, 2009)

20.  Create
 Communicate
 Collaborate
 Manage & evaluate
online information
Why? □ Essential Skills for 21st Century Workplace
“A power shift is underway and a tough new business rule is emerging:
Harness the collaboration process or perish” -Tapscott and Williams (as
cited in Ferriter, 2009, p. 38)

21. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki?
 Examples
 Summary

22. Examples
 Classroom Communities
 Global Communities
 Professional Communities

23.  Post class information
 Share resources
 Whole class projects
 Group-based projects
 Brainstorm
 Reflection/feedback/discussion
 Peer or teacher writing review
□ Use of Wikis in the Classroom
-See Educational Wikis for classroom examples:
-http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

24.  K-1: Create an animal alphabet wiki
 Elementary grades: create a spelling wiki
that could become a virtual word wall.
 MS or HS: collaboration on any group
project
 For a grammar lesson, have the students
edit a paragraph inserting all punctuation
and capitalization.
 Build a story by having each student add to
the existing story line.
 Build a wiki about the seven continents.
After reviewing, each continent ask
students to post two facts about what they
have learned.
 Have students write a daily reflection
(What about wikis, 2007-2009)
□ Some specific classroom use ideas
- See TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through for many other specific ideas:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm

25.  Mrs. Maine’s Wiki
 “wiki is the hub”
 Maine posts daily
instructions, rubrics, and resources
 Students post research, lab
data, and observations
 Students hold
discussions, collaborate on group
projects, and post their final work.
(Rubenstein, 2008)
□ Example of a HS Classroom Wiki
-See Louise Maine’s HS Science wiki at:
http://mrsmaineswiki.wikispaces.com/

26. Classroom
Instruction
Teacher Student
Created Created
Wiki
Online Online
Content Content
Cooperative
Learning
□ Pedagogy of a Wiki-Centric Classroom
(Davis, 2006)

27.  The Bear-Den
 Gary Klingman posts
instructions, rubrics, and resources
 Students post notes and
assignment work
 Students work individually, in
groups, and as an entire class
 Links to class blog and podcast
 Main focus: collaborative
learning (Klingman, 2007)
□ Example of a MS Classroom Wiki
-See Gary Klingman’s 8th grade World History wiki at:
http://bear-den.wikispaces.com/

28.  Global Gorillas Wiki
 Mainly a place to showcase
student work including:
 Movies
 Podcasts
 Blog entries
 PowerPoint presentations
 Each student has own wiki
page
 Civil War Group Project wiki
□ Example of a Elementary Classroom Wiki
-See Jan Abernathy’s 5th grade class wiki at:
http://jabernethy.wikispaces.com/

29.  Pen pals
 Global group projects with
emphasis on:
 Global citizenship
 Social attitudes and values
across the globe
 Global perspective on
current issues.
□ Use of Global Wikis with Students
-See Wikis in Education at Wetpaint for specific examples:
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Global+Connections+Wikis

30.  Flat Classroom Project
 Connects students from around
the world to analyze the 10
societal trends from The World is
Flat by Thomas Friedman.
 Students were paired with a
global partner to use a joint wiki to
describe, give viewpoints, and
create a video about their societal
trend.
(Lindsay and Davis, 2007)
□ Example of a Global Wiki
-For additional information see:
http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/

31.  Meeting Planning
 Curriculum Development
 Professional Development
 Team or Department
Collaboration
 Professional Learning
Communities
□ Use of Teacher Peer Wikis
-See Wikis in Education at Wetpaint for specific examples:
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Teacher+Peer+Wikis

32.  21st Century Learning
 A wiki with 125 members (as of 7/25/09) who share
information about 21st century learning.
□ Example of a Teacher Peer Wiki
-See the 21st Century Learning wiki at:
http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/

33. Wikis in Education
 What is a Wiki?
 How to Use Wikis
 Why Use a Wiki?
 Examples
 Summary

34. Summary
 Benefit for Students
 Can contribute anytime, anywhere
 Develop collaborative skills
 Develop skills in negotiation and
organization
 Develop critical writing skills
 Develop sense of responsibility and
ownership (Richardson, 2005)

35. Summary
 Benefit for Teachers
 Engage students with use of new
technology
 Easily track student submissions
 Increase student accountability in a
group
 Create and maintain space easily
 Foster a sense of community within
the classroom
(Lamey, 2007)

36. Summary
 Concerns
 Wiki “vandalism”
 Student privacy issues for public wikis
 No concurrent editing of a page
 Combating “copy and paste”
 Limited access to computers can be a deterrent
 Some school districts block or filter wikis

37. References
Churches, A. (2008, April 1). Bloom's taxonomy blooms digitally. Retrieved July 25,
2009, from Tech & Learning Educators' Ezine:
http://www.techlearning.com/article/8670
Common Craft. (2007, May 29). Wikis in plain English. Retrieved July 30, 2009, from
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
Davis, V. A. (2006, October 12). The web 2.0 classroom. Retrieved July 23, 2009, from
K12 Online Conference: http://k12online.wm.edu/Web20classroom.pdf
Davis, V. A. (2007). Wikis in the classroom. Retrieved July 23, 2009, from SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/coolcatteacher/wikis-in-the-classroom
Fedigan, A. (2009). What students say about using a wiki. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from
VoiceThread: http://voicethread.com/#q.b330469.i1750705
Ferriter, B. (2009). Learning with blogs and wikis. Educational Leadership , 66 (5), 34-38.
Klingman, G. (2007, December 5). Wiki: Bear-Den. Retrieved July 27, 2009, from
Examples of Educational Wikis:
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

38. References
Lamey, L. (2007, December 2). Wiki: A Tool for Collaboration. Retrieved July 21, 2009,
from wikisforcollaboration:
http://wikisforcollaboration.wikispaces.com/file/view/Wiki+Presentation.ppt
Lindsay, J., & Davis, V. (2007). Flat classrooms. Learning & Leading with Technology , 35
(1), 28-30.
Maine, L. (2008). Why wiki. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from Edutopia:
http://www.edutopia.org/files/existing/pdfs/edutopia.org-way-of-the-wiki-louise-
maine-why.pdf
Maine, L. (2009, June). Wiki central: presentation for NECC 2009. Retrieved July 23,
2009, from SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/hurricanemaine/wikicentral-reso-
for-necc?type=presentation
Nations, D. (2009). What is a wiki? Retrieved August 3, 2009, from About.com: web
trends: http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/what_is_a_wiki.htm
Nesbitt, B. (2007, November 28). A vision of K-12 students today. Retrieved July 20,
2009, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8
Parker, K. R., & Chao, J. T. (2007). Wiki as a teaching tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of
Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3, 57-72.

39. References
Paulson, D. R. (1999). Active learning and cooperative learning in the organic chemistry
lecture class. Chemical Education Research , 76 (8), 1136-1140.
Richardson, W. (2005). What's a wiki? A powerful collaborative tool for teaching and
learning. That's What! Multimedia & Internet@Schools , 12 (6), 17-21.
Rubenstein, G. (2008, August 13). Wiki woman: how a web tool saved my career.
Retrieved July 15, 2009, from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/wiki-teacher
Warburton, S. (2006). Wikis and collaboration: approaches to deploying wikis in
educational settings. Retrieved July 25, 2009, from SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/stevenw/wikis-and-collaboration-approaches-to-
deploying-wikis-in-educational-settings?src=related_normal&rel=935188
What about wikis. (2007-2009). Retrieved August 3, 2009, from Teach web 2.0:
http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/What+about+Wikis
Wiki. (2009). Retrieved July 31, 2009, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

40. Image Sources listed in slide order:
1. Wiki graphic: http://diversityfocus.wdfiles.com/local--files/start/wiki.gif
4. Ward Cunningham: http://www.clasohm.com/photodb/photo?photo_id=13709
6. Construction: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybell/2978576506/
9. Keyboard: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lapideo/198046070/
10. Wikispaces logo: http://www.wikispaces.com/file/view/www-wikispaces-logo.gif
10. Pbworks logo: http://pbworks.com/version6/images/layout/pbworksLogo.gif
10. Wetpaint logo: http://www.wetpaint.com/img/logoHome.png
11. Edit button and toolbar: www.wikispaces.com
12. Trust: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/3089201681/
14. Big puzzle: http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/authassess/bigpuzzle.htm
15. Paulsen graph: http://serc.carleton.edu/images/introgeo/cooperative/paulson.gif
16. Girls outside: http://www.flickr.com/photos/menlophoto/3257818499/
17. Blooms Simple: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Facilitating+21st+Century+Learning
17. Go On Creating: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotologic/410355440/
19. What Students Say Graph: http://www.slideshare.net/hurricanemaine/wikicentral-reso-
for-necc?type=presentation
19. Teen @ Podium: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
20. Wikinomics:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9781591841937

41. Image Sources listed in slide order (continued):
22. Hand Circle: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
23. Students with Laptop: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
24. Boys on Computers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraketchup/719557295/
25. Mrs. Maine’s Wiki: http://mrsmaineswiki.wikispaces.com/
26. Wiki-Centric Pedagogy: http://www.slideshare.net/coolcatteacher/wikis-in-the-classroom
27. Bear Den: http://bear-den.wikispaces.com/
28. Global Gorillas: http://jabernethy.wikispaces.com/
29. Hands on Globe: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
30. Flat Classroom: http://flatclassroomproject2006.wikispaces.com/file/view/cc3.JPG
31. Teacher with Laptop: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
32. 21st Century Learning: http://21stcenturylearning.wetpaint.com/
34. Behind Laptop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foreversouls/3365427886/
35. Teacher with Laptop 2: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
36. They’re not here to socialize: http://www.innovationcreators.com/SocialSoftware.png