Developing Websites with Wikispaces

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Image:Wikispaces Logo.jpg Wikispaces is a popular place for teachers to put together quick, free sites for instructional use. For some examples of teacher Wikispaces sites around CESA #3, visit Teacher Wikispaces Sites or check out My Demo Class for an idea of what is possible. You've heard quick and free before, but until you have experienced Wikispaces, you don't know what you are missing. This hands-on experience takes you from A-Z with time left over to build in your own content.

Contents

[edit] Welcome

  • Who?
  • Where?
  • What?
  • Why?

[edit] Where are We Going?

  • Overview
  • Why?
Image:Activity.png Activity
Registering with Wikispaces.

[edit] Registering With Wikispaces

Image:Wikispaces Registration for Teachers.jpg

  1. Choose a username. It needs to be different than anybody else's.
  2. Choose a name for your space. This will be the first part of your new web address. http://__________.wikispaces.com. Make it count.
    1. No Punctuation or Spaces
    2. Make It Memorable and Easy to Spell
    3. It has to Be Unique
  3. Choose whether you want your wiki Public, Protected, or Private. (This can be changed at any time.)
  4. Check the box to certify you are using this for K12 education.
  5. Click "Join". Congratulations. Write a little bit about yourself. Kick the tires on the editing toolbar. Click save.

Your new website address is http://_________.wikispaces.com

[edit] Basic Editing Inside Wikispaces

Picking a Web Browser Firefox is your best bet on both Mac and Windows.
Internet Explorer (Windows Only) works on 98% of the stuff.
Safari (Mac Only) works in "Text Edit Mode" only. Not recommended if you are going to edit.

Basic Editing

  • Bold, Italics, Underline, Sizing
  • Creating Links to Other Websites
  • Creating Links to Other Wiki Pages Within Your Site

Things You Can't Do

  • Change Fonts
  • Center and Right Justify Text
  • Cheat with Tabs and Spaces

Rule: It's a fluid document. "Wiki is not paper."

[edit] Sharing is Caring

Image:Activity.png Activity
Trading Wikispaces usernames.

[edit] Your Sites

Image:Activity.png Activity
Building content.

[edit] Adding Images and Files in Wikispaces

[edit] Advanced Features of Wikispaces

  • Editing the Navigation Bar
  • Printing Spaces
  • Tables
  • Setting a User Avatar
  • Importing Video
  • Discussion
  • History
  • Notify Me
  • Recent Changes
  • Manage Space

[edit] Links and Resources

Copyright Friendly Images
Thinkfinity Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

[edit] Connections to Your Curriculum

Wikipedia is all free content. Use any of the Wikipedia resources to borrow content for your own classroom wiki content.

Content area specific resources for Wikispaces.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior_Dinosaurs
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Bugs
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior_Big_Cats

[edit] Exploring Wikipedia

Image:Wikipedia Splash Screen.jpg Visit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org

Wikipedia Adventure A: The I35 bridge collapse from the point of view of Wikipedia.
Before Collapse - Today

Wikipedia Adventure B: Scout out your hometown. Once you have exhausted home, move on to your favorite state.
Platteville, WI - LaCrosse, WI

Your task: Play with it.

  • Read through the article.
  • Explore the "Discussion" page (see the tabs across the top). What's this about?
  • Explore the "See Also", "References" and "External Links" sections at the bottom of the article.
  • Poke around on the "History" page (see tabs across the top). Review the story at different points in time.

Stuff to think about...

  • Is this a reliable source? What elements support you trusting it? What causes concern?
  • What did you learn that you didn't already know?
  • Where *else* does this article bring you?
  • How is this "Web 2.0" (read/write)?

If you finish early, try searching on a few of these topics...

  • Cities, States, Countries
  • Animals. Try Certain Breeds of That Animal.
  • Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Food
  • Biographies of Famous People
  • Current Events
  • Movies

Discussion Questions

  • What did you find?
  • Where do you see this fitting in your classroom?
  • Is there anything out there you found to be incorrect, controversial, or questionable?

[edit] Help for Teachers (From Wikispaces)

Q: How can I learn how to use Wikispaces?
A: Try video tutorials. They are a great way to get started.

Q: Is there an easy way to create accounts for all of my students?
A: If you don't want your students to have to create accounts themselves, just email help@wikispaces.com with a list of usernames, email addresses (if you have them - if you don't just leave them out), and passwords in the following format and we'll create the accounts for you.

user1,email1@address.com,password1
user2,email2@address.com,password2
user3,email3@address.com,password3

A few important notes that will help us create these accounts for you quickly:

Usernames: We have a large number of accounts on Wikispaces, so many combinations of first names, last names, and initials are already taken. It's much more likely we can make all the accounts you ask if you add a school identifier to your students' usernames. For example, if your school is called John Smith High, instead of asking us for the usernames, adam, james, and dom, we recommend jsh-adam, jsh-james, and jsh-dom.

Length of Usernames and Passwords: Please make sure that usernames are at least 3 characters long (we allow letters, numbers, underscores _, or dashes -) and that passwords are at least 6 characters long.

Which Space?: Finally, make sure to let us know which spaces we should add them to as members.

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