Wikis in Education Part I: Introduction Helena Baert

A wiki is an easy-to-use free web page that multiple people can edit.

Wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian

In the classroom, a wiki is a free tool that empowers every student to participate in group projects.

James has assigned a team research project. What can he do to encourage the students to work together, share resources and create high quality work?

Converse Post ideas Respond Forum Write Publish Comment Create Publish Comment Converse Post Ideas Respond Share Edit Collaborate Engage Blog Wiki Three great ways to communicate with students

“It's so easy to create a site to help guide students along with projects. I have found that it's a good way to make handouts available to students - I just point them at the web address. I post links to my PBworks Rockford's site so that parents can access project guidelines as well.” Justin Wylie Rockford High School

Possibilities in Education: Class Resources - Publish class notes, PowerPoint lectures, schedules and policies; show off examples of great student work. Group Projects - Build collaborative pages, start discussions and encourage comments. Parent Outreach - Keep parents involved. Post assignments, key dates and volunteer lists. All available at home, from work, or anywhere. Student Portfolios - Give students their own page to post content, upload homework, and share their work. Expand Horizons - Share and interact with other classrooms or groups, across town or around the world. 50 Ways to use wikis in classroom

How can she make certain her online site is off limits to child predators? How can she be sure that her students won’t be drawn onto the web? Mary wants to be sure her students are protected from the wider internet.

YOU control who sees your wiki You invite your students Each student has a unique login and password

Education wikis are free and never display advertisements NO ADS

Jamie wants to make certain her students act appropriately on line. Will her students write offensive comments? How can she monitor her students’ activity?

You have a history of every edit You are notified of every change

No more “dog ate my homework” Edits are time-stamped. You know who made changes and when they were made.

PBworks is Free and Easy to set up No IT department is needed!

Simply create a password and begin

Set it up and it works just like typing in Microsoft Word

Just like creating a Word document Easily insert Images and Video Just click and begin

Post a picture or a video

Teachers can make coursework and homework information easily available to both students and parents. With easy-to-use plug-ins you can create a calendar.

Quickly create new pages Templates designed with teachers in mind

For more ideas check out the PBworks educator page. You can find tips, suggestions, templates and a community of fellow teacher users.

Join the more than 400,000 teachers who have used PBworks for their classrooms, from elementary schools to Stanford and Harvard

Educator wikis are free, fast, and ready to use. Create one now at Follow along with Part II to create your own wiki! Parts of this presentation used with permission of