Tuesday, November 17, 2009

What's A Wiki?

Okay, so you want a simple explanation of what a wiki is and why use one? Here is a YouTube that I found, "Wikis in Plain English." You can also find on YouTube and TeacherTube tutorials for using wikis such as Wikispaces.com and Wetpaint.com. Wikispaces has a direct link for K-12 Wikispaces.

5 comments:

Lori said...

The YouTube video was good. I really had no idea about wikis before seeing it. I think I get the idea. In checking out the link, which took me to the Private Label page, I notice they charge for the wiki. Do you usually have to pay for Wiki access? I see their point about school system's firewalls and filters making other wikis undesirable and want to buy from them. Due to my novice understanding of wikis, I have some other questions not answered by the video. Is there any limit to the number of people able to view a wiki? Are there ways to restrict who can view a wiki? Is there a time limit to how long a file stays active in a wiki? I still have a lot to learn about wikis.
Lori

Kate said...

I think this was an excellent visual representation of what a wiki is. I was thinking about starting a wiki possibly with another fifth grade class at the other middle school so that students could communicate with one another about a particular unit of study such as Japan or Africa. Of course I would have to develop some kind of project possibly collaboratively with a fifth grade teacher from the other middle school so there was a purpose to use the wiki. I think this would be a great tool to use to encourage learning with the use of technology. I would like to create a video similar to this one, but more kid friendly to expose my students to what a wiki is before actually starting it. This video has given me inspiration!

Kate said...

I think this was an excellent visual representation of what a wiki is. I was thinking about starting a wiki possibly with another fifth grade class at the other middle school so that students could communicate with one another about a particular unit of study such as Japan or Africa. Of course I would have to develop some kind of project possibly collaboratively with a fifth grade teacher from the other middle school so there was a purpose to use the wiki. I think this would be a great tool to use to encourage learning with the use of technology. I would like to create a video similar to this one, but more kid friendly to expose my students to what a wiki is before actually starting it. This video has given me inspiration!

Sarah B said...

This video was extremely helpful. I thought that Wiki's were like websites but I didn't realize that any user can change the information in the site. I visited a couple examples of Wiki's earlier by teachers and now wonder how the teachers are able to keep certain items available without other students deleting or changing the information. Is there a way for the original poster to lock certain information?

kate said...

This video was very informative for a beginner. I was under the impression that Wikis where for creating webpages. This is a great tool to use for students in any subject. Collaborating with other schools within the same content is an excellent way to use this technology. I have a lot to learn about wikis and the ways to use it.

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