Presentation for FCTE Conference 2009

1. 
What in theWorld is aWiki?
Please log in using the web address and username on your handout!

2. Workshop Objectives
 Participants will gain the technical knowledge needed to set-
up and maintain a classroom wiki in a secure manner.
 Participants will be presented with creative methods to bridge
the gap between Language Arts and Reading through online
wiki communities, including literary review libraries, readers'
response, collaborative book report projects, literary
magazines, and more.
 Participants will be given criteria to assess student wikis and
maintain a high standard of grammar.
 Participants will themselves experience logging in and writing
on a wiki.

3. Overview
 What IS a wiki??
 “wiki” is the Hawaiian word
for “fast”
 A website consisting of user-
generated content
 www.wikipedia.org
 PBworks is a wiki-hosting
company that offers free wiki
accounts for educational
purposes.

4. WhyWiki?
 Fosters collaboration between students
 Expands time outside of the classroom
 Facilitates peer review, revision, and editing
 Instant publishing of student work
 School-wide applications
 Increased student motivation

5. WhyWiki?
 “When students write a paper, they're usually only
writing for their teacher. When they know their
peers will read what they write, students care and
they try harder.”
- Mike Lawrence, Executive Director, CUE
 “Teachers should use wikis in their classrooms
because it is a user-friendly, effective way to create
an online learning community. It’s a fun and easy
way to incorporate technology into the learning
environment.” – KC Rice, 7th grade Reading

6. WhyWiki?
 “Using a wiki motivates me because I can see other
assignments that were written before mine and see
what other people have thought of what I have
done. A wiki benefits me as a learner because other
students can comment on my work and I can see if I
should do better.” – Dreyton, 6th grade
 “Most kids hate to write so they will not do their
homework, but if the teacher says to go to the wiki
and do it, most kids will because it involves the
computer and it's easier.” – Codi, 6th grade

7. Possibilities
 Book Reviews
 Collaborative Projects
 Literary Magazines
 Classroom Discussion
 Student Writing Portfolios
 Big Ideas and Questions
 Homework help forums
 PTA and Parent forums
 Classroom Websites
 Department Websites and
Lesson Libraries
 Professional Development
 And so much more!

8. YourTurn
 In our Wiki, click the
Discussion: Questions
About Wikis link. Post
your response as a
comment at the
bottom of the page.

9. Security Concerns
 Completely private, password protected
 Teachers can set up accounts for students – no email
accounts needed!
 Automatically generates passwords and usernames

10. Security Concerns
 All changes to pages are logged automatically with
the “Page History” feature.

11. Security Concerns
 Teachers receive
notifications via email of
all edits and comments.
 Be sure to have
consequences in place for
students who misuse your
wiki.

12. Set-Up Concerns
 PBworks has an outstanding user manual that will
help you get set up in no time.
 They also send out daily emails during the first
week of your subscription to help you.

13. Set-Up Concerns
 On our wiki, we have collected some of the most
helpful guides, along with some of our tips to help

14. Example – Book ReviewWiki
 Creates a student
generated data base of
book reviews
 Students summarize
and evaluate great
books they have read

15. Example – Book ReviewWiki
 Fosters literary
community and
excitement among
students
 Students comment on
reviews to share
opinions and
recommendations

16. Example – Book ReviewWiki
 Dividing reviews by
genres turns the wiki
into a database to help
students select new
books for personal
reading

17. Example – ClassroomWebsite
 Post online
directions for
assignments
 Host PowerPoint
slideshows,
handouts, and
other digital
media to support
class lessons

18. Example – ClassroomWebsite
 Create an online
assignment
calendar to
increase
communication
with parents and
students

19. Example – Group ProjectWiki
 “Expands” classroom
time- students can
work collaboratively in
and out of the
classroom

20. Example – Group ProjectWiki
 Encourages peer evaluation and
review: students edit and review
each other’s work to ensure
project meets guidelines

21. Example – Group ProjectWiki
 Templates allow
teacher to
outline project
requirements

22. Example –Writer’sWorkshopWiki
 Students compose
and edit their writing
online
 Gives students
access to work at
home and at school
without flash drives
or disks

23. Example –Writer’sWorkshopWiki
 Classmates give
feedback for
improvements
 Increases student
pride in work,
creates community
of writers, and
facilitates the
revision process

24. “Wiki-fying”Your Lessons
 Almost any lesson can be adjusted for use with a wiki
 Benefits of doing this are innumerable
 Encourages academic interactions between students
 Gives teacher control over project while still giving students
freedom
 Built-in framework for project through use of templates,
folders, and links
 Can be used to scaffold learning by guiding students’
thinking

25. “Wiki-fying”Your Lessons
 Three Keys to Success:
 Clear Objectives - keep students focused
 Framework and Scaffolded Instruction - helps
students achieve more than they could normally,
with minimal intrusion on your part
 Rubrics for Assessments - avoids "Facebook
Syndrome"- that everything on the computer is just
for fun and not serious. Helps you grade fairly in this
new medium

26. “Wiki-fying”Your Lessons
 Clear Objectives – both for your wiki and for your
students
 Wiki Objectives:
 Who is the wiki for? Who will it be seen by? Who can
post? Set security options
 How will the wiki be organized? Use folders and
linking
 Student Objectives:
 What skills do you want students to demonstrate?
 What information should students include? Templates
help shape student responses

27. “Wiki-fying”Your Lessons
 Scaffolding Instruction
 Post directions in obvious, easy-to-find places:
FrontPage, Sidebar
 Templates support student thinking process while
helping them follow directions
 Unlimited multimedia resources- post TeacherTube
videos, photos, website links, etc.
 Upload Word Documents, PowerPoint Presentations

28. “Wiki-fying”Your Lessons
 Rubrics for Assessments
 What criteria will students be assessed on? Number
of posts? Quality of posts? Commenting on each
other's posts?
 Use PBworks’ email notifications to keep track of
edits and updates to make monitoring and grading
easier
 Post rubrics in conspicuous places, hold students
responsible for both content and conventions

29. YourTurn
 Follow the directions on either the FrontPage or the
SideBar on our wiki for creating your own page.
 Use the “Workshop Attendees Template”
 Place your page in the “Workshop Attendees” folder
 When you finish, browse the pages being created by
other participants.
 Click on “Workshop Attendees” folder in Navigator on
right hand side to browse all pages
 Leave a comment to say hello!

30. YourTurn
 Take some time to
explore the “Excellent
Examples of Wikis to
Visit” link in the
SideBar
 Links to view three
of our own wikis
 Link to PBworks’
Public Page where
you can view wikis
from teachers
across the country

31. YourTurn
 Click the “Possible
Applications” link in the
SideBar.
 Collection of lesson
plans and other ideas
for using wikis.
 Post a comment with
one idea for how you
can use a wiki in your
school or classroom.

32. ThankYou!
 Jessica Campbell, Oak View Middle School, Alachua
County
 campbellj@gm.sbac.edu
 Kathleen Safi, Florida Virtual School Connections
Academy
 kathleen.safi@gmail.com
 Our wiki will remain active after the conference.
 Please refer back to it for ideas and post a comment
letting us know how you are using wikis at your school!