Wikis

Wikis 

Wikis are a great place to start. A Wiki is a basic website using a fixed layout and WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) formatting. You don't need to know any code to create a wiki, just click and type. You share everyting - or nothing! Many sites will allow you to generate and assign passwords so your students don't even need to register. You can set permissions delineating levels of access (write/read/edit) . It's a great place for classroom collaboration or for simply creating your own online textbook complete with linked exercises and additional resources.

Things you can do with a Wiki

Add video clips or podcasts using the insert/embedd/or add gadget icon (depending on the Wiki service you use) that will play within your Wiki page.  Once you have posted an item of interest you can invite commentary.

Add a comments page for students to share their thoughts.  Select a topic or reading for discussion and invite students to respond. Students are more likely to post comments in a private Wiki. This is particularily helpful for those students who are hesitant to speak in class as they have time to craft a statement or response and proofread until they are comfortable posting. You may choose to mark posts, but it is better as a monitoring tool. Any corrections should be done privately. The focus should be on interaction rather than correction. If you can get your students comfortable posting on a discussion board it will be easier to graduate them them to true collaborative projects.

Create projects requiring student interaction and collaboration. Continue your classroom group work in cyberspace! Many of the projects and group work you do can be adapted to the online world. When developing collaborative projects it's good to remember the following three rules:

•  Structure This is the internet!  Your students can't raise their hand for instant clarification. Your instructions must be clear, your project should be well planned and your Wiki should be have a clean and easily navigated interface. 

•  Interaction Don't expect too much too soon. Try small projects such as surveys and polls to get them interacting with the Wiki. Google Doc  forms  will let you tailor your material to the interests of your students, making it more relevant.  Once they are comfortable sharing information with you it will be easier to get them to share with each other.

• Assessment You can use Google's forms for straight summative evaluation. You can embed all of your weekly quizzes online and mark them straight from the generated spreadsheet, but Wikis also work well with formative assessment. There are many interesting projects such as Webquests which require highly structured research and responses or keep it simple with recipe collections. Whichever route you decide to take remember to keep all corrections private. If you want to introduce peer editing you might want them top work privately in pairs before submitting work to the Wiki as students are usually very shy about submitting work.

Create a static resource page for your class. 

If all this talk about collaborative learning spaces looks like too much work, start with a static site. Break it down by week and post all relevent material, handouts and links. Students can access the Wiki any time to see what they've missed or access extra help.

Which Wiki to use? 

Try a few. You might not like the first one to come along, but there are so many free wiki services available to choose from you can afford to be picky.  If you don't like it just cut and paste your Wiki into a new service. Shop around - you didn't get married on the first date did you? Wiki Matrix is a site that lets you compare features and offers a "Wiki Wizard" to help you select the Wiki that's right for you. Many Wiki's offer commercial free educational spaces. You may also want to include helpful features such  page revision (which allows you go back to a previous version) and notifications  which alerts you each time someone posts or edits content. If you need more help creating your Wiki try  http://www.wikisetup.pbworks.com which goes into wiki creation in greater detail. Below you'll find a list of Wikis created by educators. Look at both content and layout for ideas on what you would like and not like in a Wiki. Rememebr mistakes are as important (if not more) than successes!