3. What is a wiki?
“A collaborative website which can be directly
edited by anyone with access to it.”
(Wiktionary, March 20, 2007)
From the Hawaiian word “wiki wiki” meaning “quick.”
4. Wiki “flavors”
Mediawiki –
Used for Wikipedia. Install it on a
local server. Harder to use, but
potentially very powerful
PBwiki –
Can create your own free wiki, pay
for more features
Simple but less sophisticated
Wikispaces
Also simple but more basic
Operated by Google
8. Wikipedia
The biggest collection of human knowledge
ever created
Although it has a radically different method for
content creation, studies show that it is as
good, or better than, traditional encyclopedias
We can’t avoid it – but why should we want
to! Let’s teach our students to use it
properly!
9. WikiTrust
Downloadable as an extension to Firefox, this adds a
tab above the article:
10.
11. Wikipedia as a resource
Wikipedia can provide a valuable service to students:
Context
A portal to the literature
Quick definitions, facts
Source of images
Quality is now much better, and can be roughly
checked – but Wikipedia is still not 100% reliable
GLAM – Many museums (e.g., Smithsonian) now have
a “Wikipedian in residence” uploading materials
Expect to see more books, flash drives etc with
Wikipedia content
12. Related resources
Wikimedia Commons – pictures, videos
dBpedia – A searchable database that allows
complex queries: “Find all baseball players
born in NY State between 1918 and 1925.”
13. RSC LearnChemistry
An example of a more specialized site – but
other wikis exist for many other subjects
Student-friendly information on over 2000
chemical substances
Around 120 experiments aimed at UK high
schools
A selection of quizzes at many levels
Tutorials and guides on specific topics
25. Lessons from LearnChemistry wiki
Wikis can do much more than text:
Pictures, video links, Powerpoints, PDFs, etc
Mashups containing content from other sites
Quizzes – even open-ended quizzes, with the right
extensions!
Forms to make it easier to write new content
“Bots” allow automation of standard edits
Collaborative projects (in next section)
26. USING A WIKI AS A PLATFORM
FOR COLLABORATIVE
LEARNING
27. An in-house wiki for
“The Sustainable World”
An online course taught on a MediaWiki platform
set up on the college server.
All course materials embedded in the wiki (e.g.,
schedules, Powerpoint lessons) or linked from it
(e.g., assigned readings, additional resources).
Blackboard was used only for grades & a final exam
Regular synchronous discussions held using an IM-
style chat
Students participate in a role-play where they
share Powerpoints in real time
Students also share their term papers via the wiki
31. RSC LearnChemistry projects
Organic chemistry students were given a three-
week research project to make anisyl alcohol
from anisaldehyde:
Research the literature as a group, share results in real
time and choose a “best method”
Run the chosen method in lab
Isolate product and analyze results
Results were recorded in the LearnChemistry
wiki, as well as in the course Moodle site
The wiki was particularly useful for sharing data
during the literature research session
34. Poster projects shared via the Web
Advanced organic chemistry students write up a
synthesis both as a poster and as a web page.
35. Collaborative experiments
Students in different lab sessions carry out a series
of related experiments, then results are uploaded
by a TA
This allows students to contribute to a bigger
overall goal. When they “see the big picture”, this
adds meaning to their results
Data are open and available for use by scientists
Students write up a full-length lab report which
includes a discussion of the entire class’s data
We hope that other colleges may be willing to
share their results on the same wiki
40. Benefits of wiki-based projects
Students can:
Learn about collaboration, and how to behave
appropriately in a group project
Learn how to follow rules, which can be very strict in
the case of Wikipedia
Learn about the academic process
Information literacy
Peer review
It’s hard work!
Contribute to the world’s academic resources
See their work published on the Web for all to see.
With Wikipedia the reach is amazing -(70,000 hits/year
for the Clastic rock article)
41. Conclusion
Wikis provide some valuable educational
resources on the internet, especially for user-
generated content
Wikis can also provide a unique platform for
coursework, especially useful for:
Group collaboration, especially on writing
Sharing information rapidly within a group, or even
perhaps between groups
Allowing students to share their work with the
world
42. Acknowledgements
Michael C. Rygel (Geology, SUNY Potsdam)
Wikipedia projects in the classroom
Thanks to my coworkers at RSC:
Lorna Thomson, Duncan McMillan, RSC Education
Dr. Aileen Day, RSC ChemSpider
Dr. Antony Williams, RSC ChemSpider
Also thanks to
Dr. Richard Kidd, RSC Publications
Dr. James Iley, RSC Education
Many Wikipedians including Users Beetstra, Physchim62,
Smokefoot
Dr. Luca de Alfaro and the WikiTrust team
43. Copyright information
All of my own content in this presentation is
released under a Creative Commons BY-SA-3.0
license
Copyright information for images is usually attributed
on the slide itself
Content from Wikipedia and RSC LearnChemistry is
reused via a Creative Commons BY-SA-3.0 license.
For authors, please visit the original page and select
the “history” tab.
Other pictures not attributed should only be my
own personal pictures, also CC-BY-SA3.