Wikis

[Robbi De Peri]

Aloha! Welcome to the wonderful island of Wiki Wiki where one finds a “virtual” paradise. The word “Wiki” is the Hawaiian word for “quick.” And “quick” it is! Although a Wiki has the look and feel of a traditional web site, it actually is an application that allows all users to create and edit web content without the use of fancy software or expertise. If one can create a word document, one can create wiki content.

Share your comments, wiki experiences and ideas here in the Wiki forum!

As is our usual routine, check out our lesson to the left and post in our forum below!

Special thanks to our subject specialist of the week: Susan Jennings with help from Robbi De Peri.

[Ronda Y. Foust]

The first "website" I built for my school library (before they settled on using Webfusion) was actually a wiki, so the concept of wiki isn't new to me. That said, I wasn't aware of just how many different wikis were out there on so many topics. I explored Wookiepedia (to cheat and find out what happens in the next Republic Commando novel) then moved into Lyricpedia. As someone who is always looking for lyrics to one thing or another, I was surprised that Lyricpedia had never come up when I've been searching. Last, but not least, of course, was Wikipedia. I've just been doing a lesson with my 3rd-5th graders on online encyclopedias and we've been discussing pros and cons of Wikipedia in comparison to things like Britannica Online. Now, I have something new I can share with them! (By the way, thanks for the link to the Commoncraft video on wikis--I'd forgotten about those guys and I love their explanations.)