K-12 Wiki Resources (Updated!)

K-12 Wiki Resources

In this posting, I'm going to provide a bunch of resources for using Wikis in education, K-12 primarily. (Thanks to Christopher Sessums for the photo of the original Wiki Wiki--a Hawaiian bus.)

First, if you haven't yet, go take a look at Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org

And then, the more recent Wikia--a collection of wiki-based communities. Have an interest like Star Wars or the Civil War? Start up a wiki on the topic and work together with the world to provide a collaborative resource on the material. Not a lot of K-12 oriented stuff there yet, but you could start up one there.

Then:

Make Way for Wikis
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6277799.html
Excellent overview of wikis in a K-12 environment. "Teachers and librarians nationwide have begun to explore the role of wikis (pronounced wee-kees or wih-kees) in classroom settings—and the possibilities do appear endless. At Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, CO, Bud Hunt began an experiment last spring using a wiki to teach writing. “The quality of writing across the board was better than any of the work they had done previously,” he says. “I think it was because the students had an authentic audience. They knew others were looking.”

Wiki in a K-12 classroom
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-12_classroom
Some specific examples of how you might use Wikis in your teaching.
It's on a wiki itself, so feel free to add some more!

Turning Wikipedia into an Asset for Schools
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2005/07/
turning_wikiped.html
Proposes an activity to check the accuracy of Wikipedia.

High School Students (and Teachers) Write Collaboratively on a Wiki
http://www.nycwp.org/paulallison/2005/12/04
A teacher provides a screencast to demonstrate "both how simple it is to begin composing together with students, and how profoundly paradigm-shifting a wiki can be in the writing classroom."

Weblogs & Wikis and Feeds, Oh My!
http://www.nycwp.org/paulallison/
Regular postings on wikis here.

Examples of Educational Wikis
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis
Many, many K-12 wikis linked here, from all around the world!

Holocaust Wiki Project
http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/holocaust/tiki-index.php
This teacher is using a wiki to have his students collaboratively write about the horrific events of the holocaust.

Entire textbooks are being written via Wikis at Wikibooks.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Here's an example of a book for K-12 students that is being written collaboratively using a wiki: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior_Big_Cats

• Here's an example of a book for K-12 teachers: ttp://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blended_Learning_in_K-12

Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp
This article focuses on higher ed uses of wikis

Using Wiki in Education
http://scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?
title=Using_wiki_in_education
This one also focuses on higher ed, but a lot is applicable to K-12 too.

k12wiki
http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com/
An interesting online conference in which K-12 teachers worked together to create wiki entries on a number of educational topics

Wiki Grading Rubric
http://k12online.wm.edu/WikiGradingRubric.pdf
Very useful!

Even humble Bloomington has its own wiki:
http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Bloomingpedia
Does your own community? A great idea for a class project!

How to get started? Find a free wiki site. Here's one:
http://pbwiki.com/

If you're an IU student, like those in my Education W505: Using the Internet in the K-12 Classroom course (totally online, open to anyone in the world who is a graduate-level K-12 teacher, librarian, counselor, administrator, homeschooler!), you can use the wiki tool in Oncourse CL.
http://kb.iu.edu/data/atkg.html

Feel free to submit further wiki resources. Especially if you're a K-12 teacher using a wiki in your teaching!

Chris