Wiki+Help

= **Welcome to the Wiki Wonderland** =

In 1995, Ward Cunningham built the first wiki, naming it after the Hawaiian word for “quick”. He wanted to give people a quick and easy way to publish information online and to do so collaboratively. A wiki is a website that can be edited with just a few clicks of a mouse. Some wikis, like Wikipedia, are open and editable by the public – anyone can edit or create a page in Wikipedia. Other wikis are readable by the public but only editable by members of the wiki. As a wiki builder, you decide who can view or edit the wiki pages.

You don’t need web design knowledge or special software to create a wiki, but you do need a free account with a wiki-hosting company (unless you install wiki software on your own server). There are many options out there, including Google Sites, PBworks, and Wikispaces. Wikispaces.com offers free (and ad-free) wikis to teachers and students in K-12 and higher education.

**Here are a few examples and links to help you learn more:**

 * [|Wikis in Plain English YouTube Video] (highly recommended!) **


 * How to edit your Wikispaces wiki page (for help with our class project) **

Learning in the Cloud: a Wiki about Learning Technologies (built by Kelly Jones at Mercer University) History of American Education & Curriculum Wiki (built by Dr. Kelly Reffitt’s graduate students at Mercer University) [|Wikipedia] (the public encyclopedia wiki) [|Wookieepedia] (the Star Wars wiki) [|Strategy Wiki] (video game strategy guide)
 * Wiki Examples:**

[|What is Wiki?] [|Wikipedia entry about Wikis]
 * Wiki Definitions:**

(This resource page was adapted from the instructional handout created by Kelly Jones, Clay Jolly, Susan Thornton, Jennifer Claxton, Cindi Scott, Bonnie Green, and Dr. Kelly Reffitt for their [|2011 GERA conference presentation] entitled //A 21st Century Investigation of Curriculum History: Walking Through a Wiki Wonderland// .)