I.+Intro+to+Wikispace

=Introduction to the Wikispace=

Intro
Wikispaces can serve many different functions from an educational standpoint. They can warehouse documents such as word documents, pictures, audio files, video files and the like. They can be used as communication tools (synchronous or asynchronous). They are truly an organic, grass-roots, organismic entity. They foster creativity, albeit digital, and can be customized to meet the needs of the user, or standardized to meet the needs of the group or team. The wikispace may begin as a fairly simple aggregation of a couple pages, and can expand into a complex, highly organized, interactive and multifaceted space. The wikispace that you are reading here is fairly bland or vanilla. This will also be true of the wikispace that you create. However, as you progress and explore, you will be able to customize your wiki so that it has a style and functionality that suits your needs as a teacher and the needs of your students, and other important members of your learning community.

Usability
The first time I taught an instructional media and technology course I thought it would be a good idea to teach teachers how to use a web-page-creation application called Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is a fantastic application for web-page design and development (very powerful). However, it has three shortfalls: (1) a steep learning curve; (2) an expensive price tag; and (3) requires software for all authoring participants. Wikispaces, on the other hand, supplant //application powe//r for //usability//; //machine-driven applications// for //cloud-computing applications// (wikispaces are not the only cloud-computing applications); expensive //training/time// for //learn-by-going// training. Just like popular computer games, the way you learn the wiki is by "playing". This approach may initially cause anxiety, but I have seen learners with very little technical background do wonders with the wiki (See Michelle's wiki). Not everyone who is teaching is computer-savy, but with a little practice you can easily become wiki-savy. Wikispaces have an intuitive, albeit simple, user interface. Again, this means that your wikispace begins as vanilla (i.e., //blank slate//), but can evolve into neopolitan or something not yet conceived. For instance, the wikisapce default template is based on usability studies of how users interact with interfaces. It turns out that the template organization of having pages links on the left and "white" space in the center is a highly usable and effective arrangement. There are other applications available that are wikiesque (e.g., pbwiki or jottspot), however, I have chosen to use wikispaces in my courses because it has rated as the most usable wiki application according to my teachers.

Learning the Wiki
To learn wikispaces you do not need a manual (although there is one if you would like to read it). You just hop on a computer with internet accessand get into the sandbox. The more you play, the more you learn. This means that you don't have to train students, parents, or others to use the space. Wikispaces can be edited from any machine that has internet connectivity and they do not cost a dime to run!

Membership
In the context of teaching, wikispaces are powerful tools as they allow a multi-tier membership capacity. By this I mean that the teacher can have a wikispace for each class, or a collective wikispace for all of their classes. Students can have individual wikispaces. The privacy of your wikispace can be highly controlled. You can make it so that only specified memebrs can see your space, or you can make your space completely open. You can also control who has priviledges to edit and modify your wikispace. For instance, you may want to have complete control over your class wikispace or you may want to allow learners to also participate in authoring style, content and discussions within your wikispace. Learners can create their own "group" spaces in which all memebrs are contributors and authors of the space's style, content, and discussion. Again, the space membership can be highly controlled or highly open, depending on your classroom needs.

Widgets
Believe it or not, there is an actual class of applications called widgets which are compatible with wikispaces and can be used to improve the functionality of your wikispace. These applications are based on a coding standard which allows them to be created and shared by people across the globe. These widgets for instance can be used to create surveys or polls, embed spreadsheets, pictures, slideshows, music, and so on. In fact, I have recently come across a [|gradebook widget] and an online real-time "office-hours" application ([|Gabbly]) that allows you to talk and instant message with members of your space.

Extending the Classroom
Regardless of what your stance may be on attendance, it cannot be mandated. By this I mean to say that our obligations as teachers is to make every effort possible to provide our learners with learning opportunities inside and outside of our classroom. This means that learning does not ONLY occur within the walls of our classroom, but rather extends well beyond our classroom walls. For instance, it is quite possible that you have students in your class that for a variety of reasons (e.g., health, safety, extracurricular events, recitals, etc...) will miss your class. Here are a couple of actual cases from my chemistry classroom. See what you think and what tools you might be able to use to extend your classroom to meet the needs of these students.

Discussion
Each page that is created in a wikispace has an associated //discussion// tab. By clicking on the discussion tab, the organizer can create posts or threads to which members can reply. Also, members can post their own discussion topics. As an organizer you will need to decide on posting and discussion etiquette. I have found the [|Core Rules of Netiquette] reasonable guidelines for discussion rooms, and expect that learners in my courses follow the same guidelines in their discussions. I recommend that there be a general FYI discussion that all learners will uses as a common place to ask questions and to get clarification regarding course details. For instance, I recommend that all memebrs of a wikispace enable the function that allows for an email to be sent when there is a posting to a discussion. You may think that this garbles up your inbox, but what happens in actuality is that you will be prompted to do all online communication via the discussion or forums within the wikispace and simply erase the emails in your inbox. I have had courses where ALL asynchronous communication occurs within the wikispace and in such cases have received zero emails. Certainly I accept emails, but give the discussion board a shot. You can also communicate within the wikispace through its own "email" application, whereby you can easily send private messages (1 to 1) or public, (1 to many).

History
For each page there is a history feature which allows the user to view changes that have occured for a given page. Wikispaces has an autosave feature for each page. This means that if you are working on a page for some time, and have not saved your work, the wikispace has been autosaving your progress on the page. Still get into a habit of manually saving often, but explore the history feature. Also, you are able to see the changes specific to the member who made the change. Once you get a page the way you like it you can also restrict changes to the page.

Notifications
Members and organizers to wikispaces have the option to be notified regarding changes to the space (e.g., page changes, and/or discussions). You can have these notifications sent to you via email, or through an RSS feed, or both.