Welcome to

Wikis
Learning and Collaborating in a Virtual
Space

With:
What is a Wiki?
Wikis are editable websites
Very simple to manipulate


Ward Cunningham – WikiWikiWeb

◦ “The simplest online database that
could possibly work”
Wiki – Hawaiian word for “fast”
w w w . flickr. co m / p h o to s/ e lkit/ 1 1 4 3 8 2 9 9 6 /
Why Wiki?
No HTML knowledge required
Share knowledge quickly
Easy way to collaborate
Revert back to old versions
Follow who’s done what, when &
where
Fostering collaboration

How does it work?
A wiki page starts more or less empty
Wiki pages are connected by internal
hyperlinks
Every page should be connected
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Where to find a free Wiki
Wikis: Pros: Possible Cons:

Anyone can edit or It is easy to Vandals and

add a page collaborate to inappropriate posts
construct knowledge

Wiki control & Users structure the Newcomers may

organization set by information in ways have trouble
the users meaningful to them navigating

Content is often Information Rich Not pretty

more important than
style
“Something that’s 80%


accurate, on time, and

shareable is better than
something that is too much,
perfectly formatted, too late,
and over-classified.”


Chris Rasmussen, Knowledge Management



Officer, Intellipedia, National Geospatial-

Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense

Piaget: Constructivist
Theory
Collaboration is at the heart of
learning
◦ Deeper level of knowledge generation
◦ Promote initiative, creativity, and
critical thinking
◦ Learning community / Shared goal for
learning
◦ Address all learning styles
◦ Addresses issues of culture


Recent surveys of top companies

found that collaboration was one of
Collaboration With Wikis
Collaboration does not just
happen
Requires planning on the
instructors part


◦ Set the stage - explanation

◦ Create the environment – the Wiki
◦ Modeling – demonstrate the
process
◦ Guide the Process – create a
presence
What do you think so far?
Do you have any ideas for
potential projects using wikis?

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