The Wiki Wiki Web of Collaboration
From Shifted Learning
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Jimmy Wales set out a few years ago to make a different encyclopedia. He wanted it to be radical. His goal was nothing short of aggregating the sum of all human knowledge…and making it available for free…for everybody in the world. He turned to a wiki to build this resource. Wikis are websites that allow anybody to edit anything. That’s where this gets complicated. And powerful. Five years later we have Wikipedia. http://www.wikipedia.org. 1,965,000 articles in English. Interestingly, Wikipedia provides really good information. The drawback…we need to understand how and why it works before it can be used effectively as a classroom resource. There are a few important concepts and a handful of skills needed to equip the information literate teacher.
Wikis aren’t limited to Wikipedia. Teachers can take advantage of a web service called Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers) to create their own classroom wikis. They can support anything from classroom bulletins to collaborative story building with students. We’ll take some time to practice a few strategies that can be incorporated into your curriculum.
Session Objectives
- Play with Wikipedia and understand how it has developed into a quality resource.
- Learn critical terminology particular to this new online environment.
- Discuss issues of quality of information, copyright, and the skills necessary for learners to evaluate information.
- Practice with tools that allow them to be effective consumers (readers) and producers (writers) of this information.
The Escalator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKrHX6afkhs
Introductory KWL Activity Where Teachers Use a Wiki to Document What They Know
Contents |
[edit] What is "Web 2.0"?
Web 1.0 - One way. One to many. Read only. Text and images.
Web 2.0 - Two way. Many to many. Read and write and listen and speak. Text and images and audio and video.
Image:What People Are Doing Online.jpg
[edit] What is a Wiki?
- It's a web page.
- With an edit button.
Wikis in Plain English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
Stephen Colbert - Wikiality
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=72347&is_large=true
[edit] Jimmy Wales Talks about Wikipedia
Video - Jimmy Wales Explaining Wikipedia
Image:Jimmy Wales Wikipedia.jpg
This video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/37
Other very cool talks: http://www.ted.com
[edit] Tour of Wikipedia
[edit] Basics of Wikipedia
We'll start with a basic search on "cattle". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle
- On the surface.
- You have a great source for copyright free images. Right click on them and grab 'em.
- Most well developed articles have a Table of Contents. Simple navigation.
- Things are very linky. The article constantly links itself to related information.
- Articles have tags. This example asks people to further develop the section on "Cattle Husbandry".
- Image gallery. More pictures!
- Citing the resources used in this article. Follow things toward the primary source.
- External links. More information.
[edit] Going Deeper in Wikipedia
- Switching languages. Start in English, switch to Spanish. Start in Spanish, switch to English. Question why, in 2007, we aren't studying Chinese. That's an entirely different presentation.
- Cite this article. Yep, you can. But, but...I'm not supposed to use Wikipedia for research?!?! Another thing that World Book can't do.
- Printable version. Hey. It's all free. You don't need a lab of computers. Make copies! http://www.creativecommons.com
- Discussion page. This is where things are discussed. While the discussion page behind Boscobel, WI probably isn't that interesting, try checking out the Discussion Page behind George Bush.
- History page. See how the article has evolved.
Wikipedia Templates for Messages & Disputes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/Disputes
Wikipedia by Portal View
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:List_of_portals
[edit] Wiki Exploration Actvity
[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] Wikibooks
Wikibooks - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wikibooks - Featured Books - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Featured_books
Wikijunior - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior
Wikijunior - World War II - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:World_War_II
Wikijunior - Dinosaurs - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Dinosaurs
Wikijunior - Languages - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior_Languages
The Muppet Wiki - http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
[edit] Build Your Own Wiki
Wikispaces - http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers
[edit] Registering With Wikispaces
Image:Wikispaces Registration for Teachers.jpg
- Choose a username. It needs to be different than anybody else's.
- Choose a name for your space. This will be the first part of your new web address. http://__________.wikispaces.com. Make it count.
- No Punctuation or Spaces
- Make It Memorable and Easy to Spell
- It has to Be Unique
- Choose whether you want your wiki Public, Protected, or Private. (This can be changed at any time.)
- Check the box to certify you are using this for K12 education.
- 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] Three Important Skills
- Creating a new page.
- Creating a link to another page.
- Inserting an image/file.
[edit] Behind the scenes of Wikispaces
- Securing your site.
- Setting up notifications.
- Managing your pages.
