This document discusses using Twitter and Wikis for educational purposes. It provides information on how to set up and use Twitter accounts, including introducing participants, polling, and discussions. Wikis allow for collaborative editing of content. They are useful for distance learners to work together. The document describes free, fee-based, and self-hosted wiki options and provides examples of how wikis can be used for student collaboration, such as building a shared resource archive or exploring issues through debate. Participants are assigned a project to research educational uses of Twitter and Wikis and create related activities.

1. EDT 620
Telecommunications Across
The Curriculum
Twitter and Wiki’s for Education
Dr. Mark P. Fazioli

3. Twitter
Twitter is a microblogging tool that allows users to
publish chronologically ordered “tweets” of 140
characters or less.

4. Twitter
Twitter is a wonderful tool for sharing quick ideas,
links, and articles
Twitter is a pure communication tool, with a
quick flow of information and a single feed
available to all users (unless you choose to block
a particular user or one chooses to block you).
Twitter is very interactive, with something going
on all the time.

5. Twitter
Set Up an Account—or Several Accounts
Simply go to www.twitter.com to begin the free
account creation process.
To post a tweet to anyone following you—and to
the public timeline—just type it in:
To reply to someone, use the @ symbol:
@MarkFaz66

6. Twitter

7. Twitter
Before the Training Event
Prior to the first class gathering, use Twitter to do
quick introductions and pre-course assessments.
http://www.slideshare.net/hopkinsdavid/twitter-in-education

8. How to use Educationally
Ask learners to introduce themselves. Say:
 Please tell us your name, location, and job title.
 Please tell us your name, location, and one thing
you would like to learn in this training.
 Please tell us your name and the “three
keywords” that represent your mission,
philosophy, focus, or priorities.
 Please tell us your name and single biggest
challenge you face in performing at your best.

9. How to use Educationally
 Polling
 Role playing
 Course wrap-up
 Reflections
 Discussions on articles, materials, videos,
lectures
 What else?

11. Wikis
A wiki is an interactive web page on which
everyone with access can change the content.
Think of the wiki as most useful for collaboration,
editorship, and data compilation.
Wikis are designed to help groups collaborate,
share, and build online content, and are
especially useful for distance learners who are
separated by time and place.

12. Wikis
Although the concept of wikis has been around
for many years, the first true wiki, called
WikiWikiWeb, was created by Ward Cunningham
in 1995
http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiWikiWeb

13. Wikis
Wiki, derived from the Hawaiian word for “quick,”
to mean a collection of Web pages that can be
edited by anyone.

14. Types of Wikis
Once you have decided to use a wiki, where do you
find the one that will work best with your online
course? Wikis are available through a wide variety of
services and open-source software tools, and
generally fall into three categories, each with its own
set of strengths and limitations:
 Free wiki services
 Fee-based wiki services
 Self-hosted wikis

15. Free Wikis Services
Free Wiki Services Free wiki services are available at
no cost through a wiki provider, such as:
 @Wiki (http://atwiki.com)
 Wikihost.org (http://www.wikihost.org)

16. Fee-based Wikis Services
Fee-based wikis are also hosted and accessed from
the wiki service’s Web servers. These services offer
expanded features based on the type of subscription
you select. Features may include more advanced
management capabilities, more storage, or added
security. In addition, fee-based services typically
allow a larger, or even unlimited, number of members
and pages.

17. Self-hosted Wikis Services
Wiki software can also be installed directly on a
personal or campus-controlled server space. A
variety of free, open-source wiki software is available
for download from the Interne
 Mediawiki (www.mediawiki.org)
 Twiki (www.twiki.org)

18. Wikis
 Allow readers to collaborate with others in
writing it and adding, editing, and changing
the Web page’s content at any time.
 Teachers can use wikis for students to
collaborate on a document by writing, editing,
and revising it in their own class.
• http://www.wikispaces.com
• http://www.pbworks.com

19. Wikis for Education
The following are examples of activities that lend
themselves well to collaboration in a shared wiki:
 Your learners are building an archive of resources
on a particular topic.
 Your learners are exploring different sides of an
issue by means of a debate.
 Our learners need to work together to create a
unified project, such as a collaborative research
paper or media design project.

20. Wikis for Education
This is a list of a small number of them.
 Wikimatrix: (www.wikimatrix.org)
 Wikispaces: http://www.wikispaces.com
 Wikiversity: http://wikiversity.org/
 How Does MediaWiki Work?:
(www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_does_MediaWiki_work%3F)
 TWiki Success Stories: (http://twiki.org/cgi-
bin/view/Main/TWikiSuccessStorie)

21. Project
 Research the various Twitter sites related to
use in education.
 Create a Twitter activity for your topic.
 Research Wiki for education and sign up for a
free account and create a activity for your
topic.
 Either link to your project PPT or PLE.

22. Reference
Solomon,G., Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.
Washington DC: International Society for Technology in Education.