Week 5: Wikis

Introduction
A wiki is a web page or collection of web pages that can be easily edited by any number of people with no knowledge of HTML. It allows individuals or groups to share text, video, audio, graphics and documents and is particularly well-suited to projects that require input from several people.

The person who sets up the wiki controls privacy options for it, including deciding who can see the wiki and who has editing privileges.

Most wikis also include a history option, so that previous versions of a page can be accessed and restored, and a discussion feature so that people may comment on individual wiki pages without actually changing the page. To learn more about wikis, try these presentations:

• Wikis in Plain English
• WikiIt--Wikis in the Enterprise

For this week's module, we've set up a Work Literacy wiki using PBWiki where you can practice editing and sharing resources. Instructions for using PBWiki are available here.

A Continuum of Wiki Usage
Ray Sims has suggested that it's useful to realize that there are a variety of ways that wikis can be deployed. You can have:

• A private wiki used by one person for their own personal knowledge management
• A behind the firewall wiki in a company where the wiki (or namespace within the wiki) is only available to some employees, but not other employees due to confidentiality and/or legal or other considerations
• A behind the firewall wiki in a company where the wiki is available to all employees
• A company wiki also open to business partners, but not the public at large
• A public wiki editable only by a few — perhaps even just one person, as in a wiki used as part of a blog infrastructure for static page creation, but which is not open to edits by other than the author
• A public wiki editable by anyone registered
• A public wiki editable by anyone, without registration requirement

The purpose of your wiki will ultimately determine the deployment strategy you select.

Wiki Tools
There are a variety of wiki tools available. Wiki Matrix allows you to make side-by-side comparisons between all major wiki platforms.

Additional Readings/Resources

• 5 Uses for a Wiki at Work

• Wikis as Personal Space

• Examples of Educational Wikis

• Horizon Project--Vicki Davis's "Flat Classroom Project"--outstanding example of how to use a wiki for learning.

• Wiki Wake-up Call and Use Cases

• WikiPatterns--A great collection of patterns and "anti-patterns" that spur (or impede) wiki adoption

• Wiki Pedagogy--discussion of how wikis challenge and shape traditional notions of pedagogy

•  Guide to Using Free Tools to Create an Online Portfolio--includes info on creating a portfolio using a wiki

Activities

Spectators--Read through the articles and forums. Check out the PB Wiki set up for the Work Literacy course

Joiners/Collectors--Read articles and forums and comment.  Make an edit to the Work Literacy Wiki we set up for the course. You can add a link to a resource, embed a video, upload a document etc.

Creators--Review different examples of how you can use a wiki and then set up a wiki for your own project. This project can be for individual use (i.e., setting up a wiki to manage a personal project) or for a group (setting up a wiki for a class).

Forum Discussions

Wiki Tools--here we're discussing popular wiki platforms and any technical questions you have about using a wiki.

Wikis for Personal Learning and Productivity

Wikis for Formal Learning--wikis in the classroom or as part of elearning.