Working+with+Wikispaces

What is a Wiki? | ** Working with Wikispaces ** | Teaching and Learning with Wikis

=Why Wikis?=

= = =Wikispaces -- Wikis for Educators=
 * [[image:what_can_you_do_with_a_wiki.jpg align="right"]]Extremely easy way to create a web presence and is the ultimate collaborative environment online.
 * WSIWYG editor -- What You See Is What You Get. No coding necessary for most basic use.
 * Students learn how to upload files and images.
 * Students learn how to hyperlink.
 * Students may also learn more advanced skills such as embedding, basic HTML, layout, etc.
 * Every edit on a Wiki page is kept on the page history. Any page may be reverted to an earlier edition of the page.
 * This is especially helpful when working with students as an instructor can easily see who has done what work on a page.
 * It also helps trace issues on a page if a student erases another student's work either on purpose or by accident.

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 * ==Benefits of Using Wikispaces==
 * Free for educational use. Request upon Wikispace creation that you receive the [|educational upgrade].
 * Wikis are the ultimate online collaboration tool.
 * Some Wikis are public so that anyone can edit the pages - the original idea behind Wikipedia.
 * Other Wikis like this one may be viewed publicly, but only Dr. Salemi and Mrs. Carter can edit the pages.
 * When verified for educational use, Wikispaces allows teachers to make a class Wikispace that is entirely private.
 * This is especially important when working with students under the age of 13. No one can view the Wiki except those who have been invited.
 * With the site is verified for educational use, teachers have the ability to create student accounts without student e-mail addresses.
 * Only invited members and guests can edit pages on a private class Wikispace.
 * Verified educational Wikispaces are ad free.
 * Wikspaces provides several [|Tutorial Videos] to assist Wiki beginners.
 * Discussion pages allow students to discuss prompts and issues in a discussion board format, a skill required by almost all online classes.
 * Free educational Wikispaces include several premium features including unlimited pages and the ability to embed video, audio, and other media as well as the ability to customize to some degree the Wikispace. One of the most useful premium features available only to educational wikis is [|Wikispaces Projects].
 * Wikispaces projects allow teachers to create, assign, and manage project teams while allowing students additional opportunities for collaborative work. Students with Internet Access do not have to arrange to meet somewhere, but can work collaboratively from their own homes as Mrs. Carter and Dr. Salemi did on this Wiki.
 * We have not utilized this feature yet, but have plans to create individual "teams" where students can create portfolios of their work throughout the year.
 * We feel this will allow them more creative expression as they pick and choose samples of their work.
 * Wikispaces project pages may be made public even if the class wiki site is set to private and these portfolios could be made public and used by our students to showcase their learning as they apply to middle school and beyond.

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 * ==Challenges==
 * Posts and work placed on the Wiki are immediately live on Saving the page. Students must have clear guidelines as to appropriate online behavior and Wiki Etiquette. Our students collaborated to create some Guidelines for the class Wiki.


 * Since any member can edit a page, students may edit another student's work. This can be useful at times, but students may also use this privilege to erase someone's work. The Wiki page history is quite helpful in following the progress of any page.
 * While WIkis are collaborative, when the same page is worked on simultaneously, overwriting issues may arise. It is best used in an asynchronous collaboration.