100,000 Wikis in the Classroom

Posted by Kenneth Ronkowitz on


I started experimenting with wikis in early 2006. Tim and I set up a wiki using Mediawiki software. That's the open source software that powers Wikipedia and you'll find lots of other wiki sites that use it (and have a similar look). It was simultaneous experimentation with blogs, so we created Serendipity35 and Wiki35. (Why the 35?)

Wiki35 has become a metawiki, that is, a wiki about using wikis. If you're new to wikis or teaching someone about them, you might find the site useful in talking about these topics that deal with the "pedagogy" and the technical aspects of wiki use in education and even in the corporate world.

  1. What is a wiki?
  2. Is a wiki the same thing as a "blog"?
  3. What are the benefits of wikis?
  4. How are schools and corporations using wikis?
  5. How do you maximize collaboration?
  6. Why go public with your wiki?
  7. What security options exist for wikis?
  8. What wiki software is available?
  9. What are the system requirements for serving a wiki?
  10. How is a wiki installed?
  11. How do you create content (pages) and format them?
  12. Can I export content?
  13. Can I add podcasts and RSS feeds to my wiki?
  14. Mediawiki EXTRAS
  15. Join our wiki DISCUSSION
  16. Sample Wikis

    

In January 2006, Wikispaces decided to offer their Plus Plan to K-12 teachers for free as a way to get them using wikis in the teaching.

10,000 educational wikis later, they have collaborative writing projects, essays, group study guides, online lesson plans, and classroom notice boards coming alive on Wikispaces.

They want to give away 100,000 free K-12 Plus wikis. That includes all the features and benefits that normally cost $50/year - for free. No fine print, no usage limits, no advertising, no catches.

I have a number of Wikispaces sites that I either "manage" or participate in as a member. I started to collect links to Wikispaces that I contribute to or simply use so that I could share them with others - click here for the list. It's a great way to enter the wiki in the classroom experience with no or low cost and a very simple to use wiki product.

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