What+are+Wikis?

= What are Wikis? = == **Wiki** - is a website that allows multiple users to create, modify and organize web page content in a collaborative manner. It is basically a website that can be easily modified by its members. Why use wikis in the classroom? == Wikis encourage collaborative learning and information sharing

They increase student engagement and participation-students who typically do not like to write or participate in the classroom are willing

Wikis facilitate communication between teachers and parents and guardians

Wikis can be used to create online portfolios showing off student work (increases proofreading skills)

Wikis can be used to create online textbooks

They are free for educators! All you need is a computer and the Internet

How do you control and monitor the content of a wiki?
First off, you have to be member of a wiki to edit it. To monitor the postings, each page has a history tab and that lets the wiki's administrator know exactly when and by who the wikis was changed. There is also a feature for discussions that the wiki administrator must read and accept the posts before they go online.

//“//Classrooms in the 21st century need to be collaborative spaces where student-centered knowledge development and risk taking are accepted as the norm and where an ecology of learning develops and thrives.//”// —Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, //No Limits//

Here is another way to learn about wikis -- take the tour. http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour#introduction