Ways+to+Use+a+Wiki

=Ways to Use a Wiki...=

A wiki can be used in three basic ways:
> First, a wiki can serve as an easy web-publishing tool that is managed by a single individual. Whereas a blog can serve a simlar function, a blog has an inherent chronological structure which is limiting. A wiki, on the other hand, has the capacity to allow for the organization of data in either a hierarchical or hyperlink fashion, according to the designs of the publisher. With no expense for a web publishing program, and with the independence of being able to work from any computer with a connection to the Internet and a web browser, a wiki is an incredibly effective tool for writing to the web. > Second, a wiki can be "partially collaborative." Multiple individuals, again only requiring access to a web browser, can participate together in the building of information in one website. In a "partially collaborative" wiki, while they are publishing together to a single website, their content does not overlap and may be delegated or assigned. > Third (and clearly the real "magic" of wikis), a wiki can be "fully collaborative." In this method of using a wiki, multiple individuals work together and often work on the same content. [|Wikipedia] is a good example of a fully-collaborative wiki. While it might seem that allowing many people the ability to work on, modify, or overwrite each others work would result in chaos, it typically results in the participants choosing to write in a thoughtful, non-partisan fashion so that others will feel comfortable with the content and minimizing the need for a tug-of-war. Most wiki software allows for a mirrored "discussion" page for each page of content, where contributors can actually talk over the content of the page and their feelings about how it should be presented. A good example of a "fully collaborative" wiki that many people are familiar with is Wikipedia. Wikipedia allows anyone to edit any page that they want to, with pretty amazing results.
 * 1) **__Simple Web Publishing__**
 * 1) **Joint Web Publishing**
 * 1) **Fully Collaborative Web Publishing**


 * Topics Appropriate for most Grade levels and subjects:**
 * __Study guides__ made by student groups for themselves and peers: each group prepares the guide for one aspect of the unit or responsibility rotates: one unit guide per semester.
 * __Vocabulary lists and examples of the words in use__, contributed by students (ongoing throughout the year).
 * The wiki as the __organizational and intellectual epicenter of your class__ (see the **Aristotle experiment**)- Wiki all assignments, projects, collaboration, rubrics, etc.
 * Products of research projects, especially __collaborative group projects__: civil war battles, artistic movements, the American electoral process, diseases and prevention, etc. Remember that the products do not have to be simply writing. They can include computer files, images, videos, etc. Creating an organizational structure for the content is an important part if the project.
 * An annotated collection of __EXAMPLES from the non-school world for anything:__ supply/demand, capitalism, entrepreneurship, triangles, alliterations, vertebrates or invertebrates, etc. Include illustrations wherever possible.
 * What I Think Will Be on the Test wiki: __a place to log review information for important concepts__ throughout the year, prior to taking the “high stakes” test, AP test, or final exam. Students add to it throughout the year and even from year to year.
 * An __“everything I needed to know__ I learned in Ms.Teachername’s class” wiki where students add their own observations of ways the class knowledge has spilled over into the “real world.” For example, a student might write about actually using a simple algebraic equation to figure out dimensions for cutting lumber or foamcore for a display or write about ways that her friend shows tragic hubris and is heading toward a fall.
 * A travelogue from a field trip or __NON-field trip__ that the class would have liked to take as a culmination of a unit of study: Our (non) trip to the Capital and what we (wish) we saw.
 * __Articles by students who miss school for family trips__, written about their travels on the class wiki, relating what they see to concepts learned before they left: mammals I saw on the way to Disney, geometric shapes in the Magic Kingdom, the most cost-effective lunches while traveling, etc. Remember: hotels usually have Internet access. Make the world a part of your classroom!
 * __An FAQ (or NSFAQ- Not So Frequently Asked Questions) wiki__ on your current unit topic. Have students post KWL entries and continue adding questions that occur to them as the unit progresses. As other students add their “answers,” the wiki will evolve into a student-created guide to the topic. Example: Civil War FAQ or Biomes FAQ. You may find that the FAQ process can entirely supplant traditional classroom activities, especially if you seed a few questions as the teacher. This would also depend on whether you have consistent computer access on a daily basis, a luxury many schools do not have.

**Wiki ideas for younger students (elementary):**

> An elementary class __“encyclopedia__” on a special topic, such as explorers or state history – to be continued and added to each year! > A wiki __“fan club”__ for you favorite author(s). > > > > > **Wiki ideas for math:**
 * An annotated virtual library: __listings and commentary on independent reading students__ have done throughout the year
 * collaborative __book reviews__ or author studies
 * A __virtual tour of your school__ as you study “our community” in elementary grades
 * A __travelogue from a field trip__ or NON- field trip that the class would have liked to take as A culmination of a unit of study: Our (non) trip to the Capital and what we (wish) we saw.
 * __Detailed and illustrated descriptions of scientific or governmental processes__: how a bill becomes a law, how mountains form, etc.
 * __Family Twaditionwiki-__ elementary students share their family’s ways of preparing Thanksgiving dinner or celebrating birthdays (anonymously, of course) and compare them to practices in other cultures they read and learn about.
 * __A //Where is Wanda// wiki:__ a wiki version of the ever-favorite Flat Stanley project. Have each Wanda host post on the wiki, including the picture they take with Wanda during her visit. Even better: keep an ongoing Google Earth placemarker file to add geographic visuals to Wanda’s wonderful wanderings as a link in the wiki. WOW! Where in the world IS Wiki Wanda?
 * A __calculus wiki for those wicked-long problems__ so the class can collaborate on how to solve them (a “wicked wiki”?)
 * A __geometry wiki for students to share and rewrite proofs__ (a geometwiki?). What a great way to see the different approaches to the same problem!
 * __Applied math wiki:__ students write about and illustrate places where they actually used math to solve a problem.
 * Procedures wiki: __groups explain the steps to a mathematical procedure__, such as __factoring a polynomia__l or converting a decimal to a fraction.
 * __Pure numbers wiki__: student illustrate numbers in as many ways possible: as graphics to count, as mathematical expressions, etc. Elementary students can show graphic illustrations of multiplication facts, for example.

**Wiki ideas for science:**


 * A student- __made glossary of scientific terms__ with illustrations and definitions added by the class (using original digital photos or those from other online Creative Commons sources, such as Flickr). Linking to separate pages with detailed information would allow the main glossary list to remain reasonably short.
 * A __taxonomy of living things__ with information about each branch as you study Biology over a full year.
 * __Designs of experiments__ (and resulting lab reports) for a chemistry class.
 * __Observations from field sites__, such as water-testing in local streams, weather observations from across your state, or bird counts during migratory season. Collaborate with other schools.
 * __Detailed and illustrated descriptions__ of scientific processes: how mountains form, etc.
 * A __physics wiki__ for those wicked-long problems so the class can collaborate on how to solve them (a “wicked wiki”?).
 * Wiki ideas for social studies:**


 * A __mock-debate__ between candidates, in wiki form (composed entirely based on research students have done on the candidate positions).
 * A __collaborative project with students in another location or all over the world__: A day in the life of an American/Japanese/French/Brazilian/Mexican family. (This one would require finding contacts in other locations, of course).
 * A collection of __propaganda examples__ during a propaganda unit.
 * Detailed and illustrated descriptions of governmental processes: how a bill becomes a law, etc.
 * A __“fan club” for your favorite president__(s) or famous female(s).
 * A __virtual tour of your school as you study “our community”__ in elementary grades.
 * __A local history wiki__, documenting historical buildings, events, and people within your community. Include interviews with those who can tell about events from the World War II era or the day the mill burned down, etc. Allow adult community members to add their input by signing up for “membership” in the wiki. This project could continue on for years and actually be a service to the community. Perhaps the area historical society would provide some assistance, if you can get them to think beyond the closed stacks of their protected collections!
 * __A document-the-veterans__ wiki for those in your community who served in the military. Interview them and photograph them, including both their accounts and your students’ documentation and personal reflections on the interviews.
 * __A travel brochure wiki:__ use wikis to “advertise” for different literary, historical, or cultural locations and time periods: Dickens’ London, fourteenth century in Italy in Verona and Mantua ( Romeo and Juliet), The Oklahoma Territory, The Yukon during the Gold Rush, Ex-patriot Paris in the Twenties, etc.

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