Introduction to Wikis

What is a Wiki? (and why would extension agents want to use one?) John Dorner [email_address]

What is a wiki?
A website that allows anyone* to add, remove or edit content
A community on a shoestring
A collaborative tool
Totally open
Flexible.

What is a wiki?
Simple
Quick
Document based
Not message based
The sum of its contributors.
Democratic

Popular Wikis
Wikipedia
"Imagine a world in which every single
person is given free access to the sum
of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.”
WikiHow
“ The How-to Manual That Anyone Can
Write or Edit”

Why do wikis work?
Fast and easy to use
Open and Transparent
Scales (2 to millions)
Compromise and Consensus
Collaborative
Community
Jon Udell – Heavy Metal Umlaut - ö

What makes a crowd smart?
Diversity
Decentralized
Independent
Develop a collective verdict.

Why don’t wikis work?
Organizational Culture
Lack of ‘control’
“ We are the experts” mindset
Openness
New technology
Small community

The “Wiki Way”
If it “ain’t right” fix it!
There is no ultimate authority
Work to develop consensus
Think before you write
Respect diversity of ideas.

Why Wiki?
E-mail for groups
Great for Collaborating
Nothing is ever lost!
Being open.

Potential uses - internally
Event planning
Collaborative writing
Develop a class or presentation
Documentation
Agent training
eXtension

Leader Training
Wikipedia.org
WikiHow.com
Potential uses - externally

Some common wikis

Editing content
Different wikis use different tags
Look at content in other pages
Use the online ‘Help’!

Starting a new page
Create a link - then click on it
Edit an existing page’s URL
go to a page that doesn’t exist.

Questions?
John Dorner
[email_address]

Introduction to Wikis

by John Dorner on Jun 29, 2007

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