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= All About Wikis =

This wiki is where we, as a class, can pool our ideas about what wikis are, what they are good for, and either how they HAVE been used educationally, or how they COULD be used educationally. Please contribute to this wiki with your thoughts about wikis as well as examples you have seen or heard of, or innovative ideas you come up with on how to make wikis beneficial in a learning environment. I'll get us started...

=**What Wikis Are...**= According to Solomon and Schrum (2010), "Wikis are web pages that students can use to write, edit, and add elements, such as images and video, to create collaborative projects" (p. 135). They provide students the opportunity to collaborate on a project, pooling ideas and creativity in such a way that the end result is truly the work of the group and no one individual.

Wiki's are websites that can be private (where only the creator can edit the website), members only (where only members can edit the website), or public (where anyone can edit the website). Wiki's are a great tool for staying connected. It's also another great tool for collaboration! Megan Miller

I've never used or seen a Wiki so I'm going to fumble may way through this but I can see if we are all contributing to the same document or creation that we have the ability to edit and add as needed in order to create a collaborative project. (amerkle1)

I am in the same boat as (amerkle1) I have never used this before but it is very intriguing to say the least. It reminds of google docs and yet it seems to offer a lot more advances and interesting concepts. I am looking forward to playing around with this new site and seeing what it has in store for the classroom. (mmsmith12)

I have never used Wiki's before, but I can see the benefits and some drawbacks of them. I like how you can go in and edit them and add more information or change something. However, the drawback and what just dawned on me as to why teachers don't let you use Wikipedia as a resource is because it can be edited so you might not ever be sure if the information is correct or not since anyone can change it. But I think it would be beneficial in a classroom used for discussion and/or collaboration. = = __ **Uses of Wikis's** __ **I can see where Wiki's would be beneficial for all of the teachers who teach my subject in the district. Each of us are the only ones in each building who teach middle school business and digital media. Right now Rockwood has us on a mission to create similar Smart Goals, Data, and Pre-Assessments. Most of us do not have time to keep driving to other schools to meet. If we used a Wikis we could all put our ideas and post and come up with a common document. This is how I would like to test a Wiki out. (Sherry Teson - Post 10/22/2011)**
 * = **Wiki's** ||= **Advantages** ||= **Disadvantages** ||
 * =  ||= Allows multiple user collaboration ||= Allows for erroneous entries/information ||
 * ||= Allows for specific users (member only) ||= Some diffculty exists in effects other than strictly text entries ||

=**Educational Uses of Wikis...**= __**Exploration of Wikis...**__ //**Uses of Wikis**// **Use of Wiki's** Megan - I am curious - do you have moodle in your district? If so, why did you choose wiki over moodle? I like the collaboration piece to the wiki. Not only can I see it useful for students, but I can think of several instances when this would be helpful in collaboration with colleagues. For instance, we are in the process of implementing PBIS and RTI in our building. There are several of us on committees that need to add various information to a single presentation for the faculty meeting. A wiki could free up many early morning collaboration meetings for us. (Anne Fegan) Ann- Other teachers have used moodle in my district and they had a bad experience with it all getting deleted and got frustrated that they would have to redo all of their hard work. I started with wiki's b/c they are free and so easy!! I am just starting to play with moodles and I find it a lot more difficult to figure out all of the editing but I think there are a lot more bells and whistles with moodle. It's just a personal preference, right not if I had to vote I would vote for wiki's. I like how easy and simple they are.
 * I really like the collaboration piece of Wikis that the book talked about. As I think about how I could use this in my 4th grade class, writing comes to mind. I could picture teaming with another class and write a persuasive piece. I could link two students together, one in each classroom. They would have the same views on a topic and work together to create a written persuasive piece. This would make a great collaboration project and strengthen each students writing. Pictures could also be added to the Wiki to strengthen their arguments. What I like about this is the ability to see how much each student has contributed to the project. (loribrowne)**
 * I think that this could be useful to look at student work and comment on individual projects. It does seem a bit more difficult to maneuver than other medias that we have explored. I like the medias that can invite collaboration though! I think it is beneficial for students and adults to be able to collaborate on group projects without actually having to be together. This is great for students who do not yet drive themselves when they are working on class or partner projects! (Tanya Kollack)**
 * Wikis can be very useful for students because it is a good tool to use for collaboration. In my classroom I enjoy useing colloboration strategies in all subject areas. My students positively learn from one another when they work together. Students scores begin to improve because students can learn from each other rather than listening to the teacher on a regular basis. I will use it for the writing process. During the revision and editing stage, my students can peer edit each other papers and leave comments. Also, I can design sample writing pieces for students to edit and post links to me for grading. (j.Johnson)**
 * Use of Wiki's **
 * I use wiki's as my class websites. On the homepage I have my syllabus and expectations. Then I add pages for bell ringers and for assignments. So far it's great! I love that I can add files and youtube videos. I have mine set-up where I'm the only one who can edit them.**
 * I also seen wiki's used in the classrooms for projects. Student can create their own report or project and then simply link the project's address on the class wiki. (Megan Miller)**

=** A combination of both questions....what are wiki's and the uses... **= [|Wiki Skideshare]
 * I was trying to find information for both questions and came across a really great resource that touches on both questions called "Wiki's in the Classroom". It gives in depth information about what Wikis are and how they can be used in the classroom, and more importantly the benefits from using Wikis in the classroom. It is a really neat slideshare (web 2.0 tool) presentation that goes in depth on Wikis and gave information I would have never thought of. For example, it talks about how Bloom's questions can be developed in the Wikis for higher level thinking. However, students have an interest because Wikis are engaging and it gives educators a better perception of the students true knowledge. (Robyn Taylor) **
 * I have shared the link of the presentation and hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. **

WIKI's - A new found resource for teachers to encourage students to utilize higher order thinking skills. I know right now in our district we are communicating across the district as a team to create a Wiki for all teachers in the district. Right now our only form of communicating or sharing Great Lessons are through shared docs. This will allow us to some day have our students set up and maintain wiki pages throughout the school year. (Gwen)