Faculty Content Area

Add WIKI

A WIKI is a website of one or more pages that allows people to add and edit content collectively. This WIKI has an easy-to-use editor that lets you quickly add content and style your work. WIKI pages start off with one page: the homepage. Users can add new pages at any time and link them together.

Click to learn more about FERPA: Student Privacy and this tool.

Note: If you add a WIKI with the TOOLS feature, that WIKI content will NOT COPY into other Blackboard courses. The TOOLS area is the section in Blackboard within "Student Tools". WIKI content within the Content Area (instructions below), will copy to other Blackboard courses.

Adding a WIKI
About TeamsLX (WIKI)
Text Editor and Tips Quick Sheet
How to Use the WIKI Tool
View Demo Video

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Adding a WIKI

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Content Area link where you want the assignment added (Syllabus, Course Materials, Assignments, External Links).
   Note: do not use the TOOLS area WIKI if you want your content to copy to other Blackboard courses.
2. Choose WIKI from the Add Other drop-down menu on the right of the screen.
3. Click on the Go button.
   
4. Type the assignment’s information in the appropriate Content Information fields.
   
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

TIPS

Q: What are the minimum browser requirements?
A: Firefox 1.0 and above - Mozilla 1.3 and above on Windows, Macintosh,and Linux - Internet Explorer 6.0 and above on Windows.

Q: How should I setup the wiki?
A: It depends on the project. Is this for the whole class, a group or single users? You can create as many as you need, BUT only one user can edit a page a once. Creating a wiki page for each group would help to allow more users to contribute to their wiki pages at the same time (if there are multiple pages to edit).

      Basic Decisions

• How do you envision using the wiki? (group, class or individual work)
• Who will be able to see the wiki? (whole class, group or individual)
• Who will be able to edit the wiki? (whole class, group or individual)
• What parts of the wiki will you “protect” (lock from changes)?

More Information

Q: How can wikis be used in the classroom?

• Group projects: Students work together in one place to research, outline, draft, and edit projects within the wiki
• Assignments: Post homework, course materials, study guides, and more
• Resource Collections: Organize articles, websites, videos, and other resources for students
• Peer Review: Post questions for student brainstorming, or have students post papers for peer feedback
• Online Newspaper: Create a student-published online newspaper

Q: How many wikis can I create in my course?
A: You can create as many as you need. TeamsLX places no limits on the number of wikis that can be created in a course.

Q: Can I customize how wikis look?
A: You can customize the look and feel of any content you put in your wikis. The overall look and feel of the wiki is not yet customizable.

Q: What is the difference between a website and a wiki?
A: Wikis are easier to create and edit than websites, and they allow collaborative content creation. Unlike websites, wikis allow multiple users to easily create and edit pages without learning HTML or any programming languages. Many wiki applications, including TeamsLX, allow users to create content using a rich text editor which is as easy to use as a word processor.

Links between pages are also created much more easily in a wiki than in a website. In a wiki, links are created with just the title of the page to which the current page is being linked. Creation of new pages is as simple -- creating a link to a new page that does not yet exist will not only create the link, but it will create the new page as well.

In addition to being quicker and easier to create and edit, wikis allow collaboration. Multiple users can work on a wiki at once, and they can monitor and manage changes through the page history which displays the details of all changes made to each page and allows some management of those changes. While collaborating on a wiki, users can typically discuss their work by posting comments to other site contributors on any page in the wiki.

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References

http://www.wetpaint.com/category/Education--Wikis-In-The-Classroom

http://www.learningobjects.com/

http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/