In honor of the reign of the Wiki Queen

Today marks the end of the reign of the great Wiki Queen. Susan Cline announced today that she is officially relinquishing her Wiki crown and stepping down from the throne. She shut down her EduWikiTorial wiki, which has been a valuable resource for many educators as an introduction to wikis and how wikis can be used in learning. Susan kindly endorsed to her community this Wiki'd Ways blog and the Everything Wiki site as resources for information about wikis. I welcome the EduWikiTorial community here on Wiki'd Ways and at Everything Wiki. Through this blog and the wiki, my goal is to describe the easy ways to build web content and collaborate with your community by using wikis -- a shared common purpose with Susan and her wiki. I also encourage you to visit Wiki'd Places, where I hope you will share with me examples of how you're using wikis in education and learning.

Wikis in education and learning

It is difficult to truly estimate the number of wikis currently used in education settings. The use of wikis, a natural tool for distance education, is increasing in education. Wikis are used to facilitate group study or team projects. Wikis are used in a number of ways.

Here's a short video by pbwiki with some suggestions on using wikis in education:

As posted on YouTube by ramitsethi

How can wikis be used by educational institutions (e.g., universities)?

• to create knowledge repositories
  
• to build communities of practice by creating a collective repository of information
  
• to build expertise in a subject area, which can be refined over time by the community members and other interested individuals
  
• administrative scheduling
  
• faculty profiles (e.g., research interests, courses taught, areas of expertise)
  
• current events and activities
  
• clubs and organizations
  
• student feedback
  
• journaling
  
• establishing and managing study groups, study buddies, and mentor matching
  
• student services, such as ride sharing
  
• fan sites for teams (e.g., football, baseball)
  
• posting job opportunities
  
• posting opportunities to participate in research
  
• building intranet sites for groups or events
  
• posting volunteer opportunities
  
• creating a local restaurant directory with reviews
  

How can wikis be used by instructors or teachers?

• to post course information such as
  - course syllabus,
  - study resources,
  - external links,
  - assignments,
  - project requirements,
  - project planning and management,
  - project information,
  - frequently asked questions (FAQs), and
  - extra credit projects or assignments
  
• to create interactive activities for the students
  
• to monitor online discussions among students to determine problem areas
  
• to post expert reviews – post student work for general discussion but post a review by an expert
  
• to build a collective knowledge base of course materials across school sessions or years
  

What types of student activities can be supported by wikis?

• homework hand-in
  
• case library of example designs and solutions
  
• student advice page
  
• build a glossary
  
• exam reviews
  
• student galleries

Some educators are apprehensive about using wikis because of the ads that are often displayed on free wiki sites. Some wiki services offer services for a fee where ads can be removed. However, some wiki hosting services offer ad-free wikis for qualified educators. Wetpaint offers free ad-free wikis for educators. Also, Wikispaces has been offering up to 100,000 ad-free free wikis since 2007.

Here's a short video created by pbwiki that describes the benefits of using wikis and collaboration in education:

As posted on YouTube by ramitsethi

If you're using wikis in education and learning, post a comment and tell us all about it.