Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

ict-design.orgCOMPUTER COURSE 3.1 – Creating a Wiki: What? Why?

Welcome to an understanding of WIKIs. Today we are going to create a wiki account that you can custom tailor to suit your needs as well as create an account for you to upload documents to in order to embed in your WIKI. This is called a Scribd account and it is creating what is known as “E-paper”.

VIDEO

The videos that you just watched were “3 Steps” on TeacherTube.com

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d29b62a286909165517b

and

“Wikis in Plain English” and can be found on Youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

Now on to …

WIKIS

My first question from most people is always, “What is a WIKI?”

“A wiki is software that allows users to easily create, edit, and link pages together. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.”

Quoted from Wikipedia (One of the most famous Wikis)

The next question seems to be, “How is it different from a website?”

Well, it is and it isn’t … because a WIKI is a website.

BUT

A wiki is a website that many people can add to, delete from and modify, instead of just one (or a group) of website designers.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

Yet another question I am asked is, “Why would I want, need or use a WIKI?”

As you will see, a WIKI can be used easily in these 4 ways:1. One-way information tool - teacher uses wiki as a website to give out information2. Two-way information tool - students add content to wiki such as expanding vocabulary

lists, technical terms and notes.3. Drafting process - a vicarious tool: student creates a page in the wiki and uses it to draft

work. Restricted access editing rights to page (student and teacher only). Teacher can review and feedback at any time. Other students can also view and benefit from feedback.

4. Collaboration tool - students work together in groups to draft, review and discuss topics. All students can access and edit the page(s).

“Wikis are generally designed with the philosophy of making it easy to correct mistakes, rather than making it difficult to make them. Thus, while wikis are very open, they provide a means to verify the validity of recent additions to the body of pages.”

Quoted from Wikipedia

So, let’s get started…

First off, we have many different choices for creating a wiki. Sites I have found that I recommend are:

http://www.wikispaces.com/ - This one has advertisements in the free edition

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers - This is designed with teachers in mind

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

I recommend using a name like: CISTOM or CISKATE. This way it can be standard and students will remember it when they are trying to access it for their own benefit.

When you re-sign in, you will notice a page that looks like this. Click here (Of course it will have the name of your space)

This page allows you to see other links to learn about Wikis, to see popular Wikis, to search and to view other features.

When you enter the USER INTERFACE, you will see something that looks like this:

Notice these useful tabs. The PAGE shows you the content of the Wiki page.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

DISCUSSION allows people to talk and make comments on the content

Today, we are going to use this button to EDIT THIS PAGE.

If we would like to create a NEW PAGE, this is the button that we would use

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

Notice also the MANAGE SPACE button.

Your task is going to be to try adding text, links and gadgets to specific pages.

Notice the pages to choose from and edit, down the left-side of Wiki

When you first create a site, there will not be more than one page here.

You will add new pages and their names by pressing the new page button

Choose the EDIT THIS PAGE BUTTON

You will be presented with an editable interface and a taskbar that looks like this:

This is a basic taskbar that resembles the WORD menu. You can MOUSE OVER to see the Caption explaining what each icon does. Three to take note of are:

LINKS IMAGES AND FILES EMBED WIDGETS

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

LINKS

If we would like to make a word become CLICKABLE so that it will open another page in our wiki, or another site, we highlight the word we want and press the LINKS button.

This dialogue box appears. Choose here if we are linking to a site outside of the WIKI. Enter the URL (Website address of the site in the available form area)

IMAGES AND FILES

This dialogue box appears when we click on the IMAGES AND FILES button.

Choose UPLOAD A NEW FILE BROWSE in order to find the file on your computer. This is much like you would find a file to insert in WORD or another Microsoft Program.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

EMBEDDING WIDGETS

When you click on the EMBED WIDGETS button, you are presented with this dialogue box.

You are able to put any of these types of widgets (THINGS) in to the page of your site. Test them out.

The Widget that I am most concerned with, and you may be too, is the DOCUMENT widget.

E-PAPER

When you press this button, you are given two options:

I haven’t tested Bitty, but Scribd works great. At this point you will need to create another account at Scribd. Click on the button to take you directly there. It is quite simple as well and allows you to actually upload a document, then create the account.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

This is Scribd:

If you have an account already, log in here:

If this is your first time here, upload a document that you would like to share with your students.

Choose a file on your computer.

You will be presented with this browsedialogue box. Find a document and OPEN.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

When you have chosen a file to upload, you will need to confirm it.

At this point, you will be prompted to Login or Create an Account. If you haven’t done so already, create an account now. It should take no more than a minute.

Great!! You now have options to name, describe and categorize this document. The reason is that you are also allowing others to see this document, depending upon their search criteria. Make sure to SAVE CHANGES

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

You will be taken to the next page, which is about Sharing the document.

We are concerned with the EMBEDCODE:

Select ALL (CTRL + A)

COPY(CTRL + C)

Now, let’s go back to our WIKI.

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Hand-out Created by Tom Johnson 2008 – ict-design.org

PASTE (CTRL + V)

SAVE

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