Wikis for classroom use

I had a request from a teacher to send a tutorial on how to create/use a Wiki in an English class, specifically to teach "Catcher in the Rye." Can anyone direct me to a tutorial? Does anyone have examples of how a Wiki is used in this type of setting?

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Permalink Reply by Penny Hildinger on April 2, 2010 at 7:55am

I did a Google search for literature + wiki and found quite a few examples. Mostly they were used as informational though, not many interactive.
These are two very interactive wikis. The students contribute much of the material: http://mrbruceshistory.wikispaces.com/ and http://westwood.wikispaces.com/.

Wikispaces has a tutorial available: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour
I don't know much about PBwikis. Good luck! Penny

Permalink Reply by Terri on April 2, 2010 at 8:44am

I checked out the mrbrucehistory.wikispaces.com and found it to be very informative a great site.

Permalink Reply by Terri on April 2, 2010 at 8:37am

I'm new to classroom 2.0 and not sure what a wiki is and how it is used. I understand it is content that anyone can modifiy or add to, but I'm just not sure what to do with it or how to get started. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Penny Hildinger on April 2, 2010 at 11:43am

Check out the tutorial.
It is basically a web site. And if you sign up for an educational website, it has no ads.
It is as easy to create pages as using a word processor.

Permalink Reply by Terri on April 2, 2010 at 12:26pm

Thanks for the info. I just signed up and will see if I can use it as an aid to teaching my classes. I'm always looking for new and inventive ways that I can capture the atteniton of the students.

Permalink Reply by Kate Bust on April 24, 2010 at 6:02am

Do you use this as a blog for students?
Do they create a webpage demonstrating their knowledge? How do you use this?

Permalink Reply by Peter Spencer on April 22, 2010 at 8:22pm

Hello Josh,

I have posted just what you may be looking for as far as an example,on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000886327298

Scoll down to a video link called "21st Century Learning". This is the benchmark example of a Wiki being applied to education by the Korea International School. I think you will appreciate this.

All the best.
Peter

Permalink Reply by Kate Bust on April 24, 2010 at 6:01am

Do I need to add you as a friend on facebook to view this?

Permalink Reply by Barry Bakin on May 11, 2010 at 11:17am

I use wikis for my ESL class as a way to present information and give assignments, display student work, and provide students an opportunity to collaborate with other students learning English in building their own "class wiki" project. My ESL students are currently collaborating with a university EFL class from Mexico to write about themselves and their interests. Every student in both classes has his or her own wiki page which they are responsible for. The students work on their own pages but also read and make comments on the pages of students from the other school. I also train other educators how to get their own wiki and in basic editing, wiki creation and management techniques. Here are a few links that may be of interest to you:

My "training" wiki which I use during my trainings. http://barrytrainsu.pbworks.com/Wiki+Training+Page
You can actually view a Slideshare presentation here (a PowerPoint style slide show embedded directly into the wiki) that I used at a recent training showing how to sign up for a wiki at pbworks and some basic editing and management techniques.

My classroom wiki that I use to present lessons and display student work http://mrbakinsesl.pbworks.com/

The student project wiki from this semester http://pueblapacoima.pbworks.com/

While I use pbworks, you may find other wiki providers to be suitable for your needs. Pbworks does offer lots of tutorials at their website and also a very unique "Summer Camp" opportunity every year. The Pbworks summer camp is a free training effort supported by pbworks educator users who mentor new users through a series of exercises and practices over several weeks during the summer. Summer Camp participants who complete all of the exercises (and in so doing learn basic and more advanced editing techniques and management skills) earn an upgraded wiki for a year. You can find out more information about pbworks summer camp at http://educators.pbworks.com/PBworks-Summer-Camp

Permalink Reply by Josh Nelson on May 11, 2010 at 11:32am