-INDEX OF ADVENTURES-

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the world of wikis. Perhaps you have heard of them. Wikipedia is probably the most well known wiki at this time. The word wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for quick (wiki wiki). A wiki is an easily editable document that resides on the web. They are powerful tools for asynchronous collaborative work.

There are many different types of wiki services. You can host your own wiki at your school or you can use one of the many free hosting services. The best part, anyone can edit a wiki. You can create a wiki that is open to the public or you can set different levels of permission ranging from visible to the public but only members can edit to completely closed environments where you have to be a member to even see the content. Use wikis as collaborative tools for special projects or as web sites that are easy to maintain.

The following series of adventures will allow you to explore several aspects of the wonderful world of wikis.

Adventure 1: Exploring the information on a wiki
Adventure 2: Playing in a wiki sandbox
Adventure 3: Using a wiki for collective wisdom on 21st century schools
Adventure 4: Setting up your own wik
Resources: Suggested Resources for "Group Think"

ADVENTURE 1

Objective: This adventure will introduce you to the world of Wikipedia and group authorship

DIRECTIONS

During this adventure, you will conduct several searches in Wikipedia. With each search:

  • Examine the quality of the information in the article. Notice the article rating (This may be found on the discussion tab).
  • See if you can find the references listed. They should be at the end of the article. Citations are made inline.
  • Notice if the article has been tagged for neutrality or inaccuracies. Does this rule this article out as a resource or does it prompt you to dig deeper (where are the discrepancies and how do they compare to a textbook that presents one perspective?)
  • Look at the discussion tab. Read some of the discussion entries. What can you learn from these discussions? Can we use these discussions in our classes?

Go to Wikipedia and conduct several of the following searches while considering the points above:

  • Child soldiers
  • Branch Davidian
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Tet Offensive
  • Krebs Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle)
  • Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids
  • Terms of your choice

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ADVENTURE 2

Objective: This adventure will allow you to Play in a "Sandbox" and learn how easy it is to edit a wiki. A "sandbox" is a designation for a place to experiment and learn a new technology.

DIRECTIONS

Go to the following wiki sandbox and edit the page. You can:

  • Add content
  • Delete content
  • Change or correct content
  • Add a link
  • Add a picture
  • Add a page

Notice that the wiki has its own notation language. Most wikis now include a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) interface. You can learn the language of coding a wiki or just use the formatting buttons.

What can you do in this space? Don't worry, you can't break anything. Just don't kick the sand (play nice with others).

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ADVENTURE 3

Objective:This adventure will allow you to participate in an exercise of group wisdom.

DIRECTIONS

You have searched wikis, played in the sandbox. Now you are ready to join in the collection of group wisdom through a wiki. This wiki has been set up in Wikispaces and is open to everyone. All you need to do is go to 21st Century Schools 2008 (http://21stcenturyschools2008.wikispaces.com/ ) to participate. Your task is to review the information posted in the wiki. This is dynamic so you may want to check back several times over the course of the conference as the information should be changing. This wiki project is set up as a way to capture the take-away messages from all of the sessions we have attended as it relates to "doing school" in the 21st century. Feel free to include links to useful resources and supporting information. Please include citations when relevant.

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ADVENTURE 4

Objective: Set up your own wiki account

DIRECTIONS

For this adventure, we will direct you to Wikispaces. For your free account, simply go to www.wikispaces.com and follow the information under JOIN NOW. Once you have created a space, you can create additional spaces under the same account. Explore your new space. What do you plan to do with your new virtual real-estate? The only limitation is imagination. Hint: As a K-12 educator, you can have a free space without advertising. For more information on this offer, check the information on the front page of Wikispaces.

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RESOURCES
Suggested Resources for "Group Think"

  • Brown, J.S. & Duguid, P. (2002). The social life of information
  • Tapscott, Don and Williams, Anthony D. (2006). Wikinomics
  • Sunstein, C.R. (2006) Infotopia: How many minds produce knowledge
  • Surowiecki, J. (2004) The wisdom of crowds

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