Using Wikis in Education
Welcome to the AATSP/AATF Conference Workshop on Wikis in Education!
This page contains an outline of the points we'll be covering in the workshop. You can return any time to review what we covered and further investigate the resources that are linked from this page.

1. What is a wiki?
You've probably heard of Wikipedia, but that's not the only wiki out there. A wiki is a web site that can be modified easily and quickly ("wiki" comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick"), and by more than one person.

To sum up the key characteristics of a wiki:

  • Easy to modify
  • Can be modified quickly
  • Can be modified by anyone with access to the page

Remember: Edit, Write and Save!

Useful links: Videos from PBwiki / About Wikis, from Wikipedia

2. How can wikis be used in education, and specifically in foreign language education?
Because a wiki functions in many ways like a web site, it can be used as a class home page or a space to organize information and links. In this case, the advantage of a wiki over a traditional web site is its ease of use and the fact that it can be edited quickly, with no need to upload files. The only disadvantage to using a wiki as a replacement for a traditional web site is that the formatting options are more limited, so those adept at web site design may find their options limited.

However, the possibilities for using wikis in education go beyond their potential as web site replacements. Remember that a wiki page can be edited by anyone who has access to it, though this access can be controlled by password protection. This feature makes wikis useful for group projects or collaborative web sites.

Useful links: Using Wiki in Education (a wiki book)

3. Specific Ideas for using wikis in the foreign language classroom.

Let's look at some examples of how educators are using wikis:

Useful links: How educators are using wikis (From PB Wiki)

4. Time to practice!

Of course, I've set up a wiki for this workshop: http://ncfl.pbwiki.com/ (thats n-c-f-l, as in North Carolina Foreign Languages)

I have not modified this page in any way since I set it up, so what you'll see there is exactly what you would see if you created your own educational wiki. However, we can now start personalizing the page, and adding content. Let's imagine that we want this wiki to be a site where language teachers from all over the state could find information and resources.

5. Sites that offer free wiki hosting for educators

  • PB Wiki: Has a free version for educators and various premium versions that offer more features. The free version is ad-free.
  • Wikispaces: Has both free and premium services. The free version contains advertising.
  • Wet Paint: Has only one version, which is free. Educational wikis can be ad-free but teachers must register to prove that the wiki is used for educational purposes.