Wiki sites

Wiki- A Brief History: Warn Cunningham created the first wiki in 1994, and released it in 1995, in order to facilitate communication between software developers. He chose "WikiWikiWeb" as the name based on his memories of the "Wiki Wiki Shuttle" at Honolulu International Airport, and because "wiki" is the Hawaiian word for "quick"

Ward Cunningham chose the name wiki and created the first wiki. According to Cunningham, "I chose wiki-wiki as an alliterative substitute for 'quick' and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web." He named it so because of quick and simple process of website creation. A wiki is a web site that is generally editable by anyone with a computer, a web browser, and an internet connection. Group members can work together to design and develop resources, solve problems and thus march forward. The detail about wiki may be read on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.

Wikis remind me of a story wherein the power of collboration and collective endeavour was emphasised. In the story when all the doves put their effort together, they could fly away with the net which the bird catcher had kept for them. Wikis show that when individuals work together in collaboration, all problems can be solved. Today wiki lets you work in-group to collaborate for larger goals.

Isn’t that interesting? Join the world of wiki while walking through the following pages.

 Video Demo Link: On internet, there is a short excellent video available. A must watch if you want to understand what is wiki? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY. The video gives a short and interesting explanation of wikis and how they can be used to coordinate a group.

In this sub units you will learn more details about wikis, Wikipedia, Wikibooks, wikisites googlesites, wikispaces, WikiEducator, pbwiki, wikispaces and Googlewiki.

Reference page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki, Accessed on 15-June-2012 http://www.wiki.com/

Reference Video: 

http://www.indiana.edu/~icy/media/de_series/wikis.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

Introduction to Wiki: The main URL of the Wiki web site http://www.wiki.com/. A Wiki is “a website which allows its users to add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor Wikis are powered by wiki software. Most are created collaboratively” (Wikipedia Wiki 2012).

Wiki true to its meaning uses a quick and easy syntax rather than the complex html code to publish on the web. It empowers users to do formatting of text, create hyperlinked pages, and develop learning material. The main strength of a wiki is that it gives people separated by time and distance, the ability to work collaboratively on the same document. You only need an internet browser. It is widely used as platform to share ideas, discuss, and collaborate. Any wiki site runs on a software called Mediawiki. It is a Free and Open source software. Wiki is used for a variety of purposes. It is used for building communities like WikiEducator- community of teachers. Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia. Wiki is gaining popularity round the world because of the community base it supports and entices. It invites like-minded people to come and work together on web base platform. If you make a mistake, it is easy to revert to an earlier version of the document.

Advantages of using Wiki:

The advantages of using a wiki are given below.

•	Anyone can edit, as it is easy to use and learn. •	Wikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update information. It empowers non-technical users to web publishing. •	It promotes collaboration as people located in different parts of the world can work on the same document. •	It allows the learners to make mistakes and learn from it as it keeps track of every edit made and at any time the error can be rectified. Reverting to a previous version of document is a simple process. •	It is a flexible tool with no predefined structure and thus can be contextualised as per the learning situations. •	Wiki allows constructivist pedagogy like cooperative learning where higher order thinking skills are exercised. •	It practices 21st century skills like create, communicate, collaborate, above all manage, and evaluate online information. It supports connectivism.

--- Wikis are very useful in education. You will enjoy going through these PowerPoint presentations

Wiki in Education – http://www.slideshare.net/suryaveer/wiki-in-education-2071400.

http://www.slideshare.net/lesterk/wikis-education

These presentations beautifully elaborate on the use of wiki in education.