WikiTraining

Wikis are one of the most accessible and yet powerful of web 2.0 tools. Easily providing a quick web presence for any educator without any required web design skills, knowledge, or experience. And yet a wiki is a powerfully interactive tool for online collaboration and publishing. Wikis may be edited by one person, a controlled group of people, or anyone – and still provides for the ability to recover previous versions in case something goes wrong. In addition, wikis can embed a wide variety of other web 2.0 tools, giving it tremendous potential for communications, creativity, collaboration, and on-going learning. While this hands-on BYOL session will focus on the beginner, I will also share capabilities that will allow intermediate users to enhance existing wikis to make them more interesting and more useful. At the same time, I will make a point of sharing a wide variety of ways of using wikis for educational purposes – from a simple web presence to world-wide collaboration involving students, teachers, and experts alike. I will also share ways to organize and manage wikis for maximum educational benefit including how to use with students as well as using wikis for professional development. We will look at wikis I have created and used as well as other good examples of educational wikis.

I will also share how to keep track of changes made to a wiki by others. We will also look at ways to work around the restriction that only one person at a time can edit a wiki page. Finally, we will consider when to use a wiki and when other tools can be more effective. Participants will have a working wiki at the end of the session with an understanding of how to manage and maintain the wiki to achieve the purpose they have for their wiki.

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Outline
In order to accommodate varying experiences and comfort levels of participants, materials will be available on my wiki site to provide step-by-step visual instructions to accompany directions during the presentation, and there will be materials to extend the session experience for those that may want to and be able to move ahead of others.


 * I. Introduction (5 minutes)
 * A. Short Wiki Video
 * i. from Commoncraft.com
 * ii. []


 * B. Poll participants to form common purpose pairs/triads
 * i. Teachers planning to use wiki with students
 * ii. Educators planning to use wiki for own professional purpose
 * iii. Educators planning to use wikis for professional development
 * II. Getting Started (5 minutes)
 * A. Wikispaces – 350,000 free educator wikis (Plus subscription)
 * B. Setting Permissions
 * i. Public – Anyone can edit
 * ii. Protected – Anyone can view; only members can edit
 * iii. Private – Only members may view or edit
 * III. Determining Purpose to Guide Design with Examples (10 minutes)
 * A. Display student work or classroom information
 * B. Display or create work by multiple contributors (teachers, students, etc.)
 * C. Present information that will be changing
 * D. Present information that is expected to grow and expand (based on contributions from limited contributors or anyone)
 * IV. Basic Design (10 minutes)
 * A. Colors
 * B. Logo
 * V. Editing (10 minutes)
 * A. Mac users must use Firefox, not Safari
 * B. Floating Editor
 * C. Text
 * D. Links
 * E. Images and Files
 * F. Widgets
 * G. Tables
 * VI. Embedding Special Capabilities (10 minutes)
 * A. Table of Contents
 * B. Flickr slideshow
 * C. PollDaddy and/or Poll Everywhere
 * VII. Tracking Changes (5 minutes)
 * A. Specific Pages
 * B. Entire Site
 * VIII. Q and A (5 minutes)

Get a Free Educational Wikispace
If you haven't already, determine a name for your wiki that will appear in the URL. Try to keep it short __//**and**//__ descriptive, but include __//**no**//__ spaces! || //**Select a name that reflects the purpose of your wiki:**// || **Right Click or Control-Click and open the link in a new Browser Window or Tab so it is easy to get back to this page.** || If you don't already have an account, you can create one when you get your new wiki below. || ||
 * **FIRST:**
 * Between 3 and 22 characters long
 * Use letters, numbers, and/or hyphens (cannot begin with a hyphen)
 * NO spaces
 * The name you choose will be the first part of the URL for your wiki (e.g., http:// thenameyouchoose .wikispaces.com)//
 * If you already have a wikispaces account and have not yet signed in, do so now by clicking the Sign In link in the upper right of this page.
 * If you already have a wikispaces account and have not yet signed in, do so now by clicking the Sign In link in the upper right of this page.
 * ** Right-click or Control-click on the link or badge to the right, and open the link in a new Browser Window or Tab ****so it is easy to get back to this page.** || []
 * ** Right-click or Control-click on the link or badge to the right, and open the link in a new Browser Window or Tab ****so it is easy to get back to this page.** || []
 * On the page that appears (containing the fields shown at right), **fill in the following information:**
 * On the page that appears (containing the fields shown at right), **fill in the following information:**


 * Enter the name for your wiki.
 * Click on "Private" -- you can change the Wiki Permissions later when you are ready.
 * Check the box to certify that your wiki is for Educational Use.
 * Click the Create button. || [[image:whipupawiki:MakeNewWiki.png caption="MakeNewWiki.png"]]

**If you don't yet have an account** //, you can create your account at this point by selecting a Username, a Password you won't forget, and your email address in the Join Now box (below) that you will see: Be sure to check your email and confirm your email address and account when you receive the message from Wikispaces. This completes your account setup.// ||

Your First Page
Your new wiki will appear with either of these screens showing on your first page: ||
 * [[image:whipupawiki:WelcomeMsg.png width="469" height="213" caption="WelcomeMsg.png"]] || [[image:whipupawiki:GettingStarted.jpg width="338" height="230" caption="GettingStarted.jpg"]]



**Extension**
Manage your wiki spaces in your Account Settings - set favorites so you can easily access your most-used spaces using the “My Wikis” green arrow link next to your account name (very top line of every page)

**Editing Basic Text**
This may look different depending on the theme of your wiki -- more on that later. || __**From left to right**__: Bold, Italic, Underline, Font Color/Style — Heading Level — Number List, Bullet List, Horizontal Rule — Make Hyperlink, Remove Hyperlink — Insert File or Image, Insert Widget, Insert Table, Insert Special Character, Insert Code — Toggle between Visual Editor and Text Editor, Preview, Save, Cancel// ||
 * ~ 1— || Click the Edit Button[[image:whipupawiki:EditButton.jpg width="117" height="37" caption="EditButton.jpg"]]
 * ~ 2— || The floating editor allows you to format text and more.
 * ~ 3— || Type a **title** for your home page. Then write a **sentence or two about the purpose** for your wiki. ||
 * ~ 4— || **Format** the title to your liking. If you wish, change the format of your paragraph. ||
 * ~ 5— || Make a **bullet list** of pages you might want in your wiki. No commitment -- these can change later... ||
 * ~ 6— || **Be sure to** ** SAVE when you finish. And check your work. You can always go back and edit some more...** ||

Extension
Nothing will appear until you save your work. Then, any Headings you have designated using the Heading Level drop down menu in the floating Editor will appear in the Table of Contents box at the top of your page. If you use more than one heading level, the display will be indented to indicate relative rank of headings. Simple, eh?
 * Want a Table of Contents?** Here's how. Simply type the following on a line by itself near or at the top of your page: