Wiki
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What is a Wiki?
"The simplest thing that could possibly work."
At its most basic, a wiki is a collection of text based information that can be easily edited and expanded. At its most complex a wiki is a dynamic tool that facilitates and enables the use of information as a community/social/cultural product. Like many things, a wiki in its purest form has only the most basic of rules:
- Everything can be acted upon by Everyone.
- Editing existing things is trivial (simple, easy).
- Creating new things is trivial (simple, easy).
- Linking things is trivial (simple, easy).
The complexity of a wiki results from three main components: everything, everyone, and easy of use. What gives the wiki shape is the complexity of its users and of their interactions with each other.
For a more detailed guide to the wikis here at Dalton, please see Wikis For The Reasonably Intelligent.
Dalton Wikis
The Math Wiki
The Math Wiki is entering it's third year as the online hub of the Mathematics Department. It's initial intent was to provide math student with access to LaTeX, the academic standard for typesetting equations (at the request of math teacher David Gomprecht). LaTeX is quite complex to install and use on a personal computer, however, using LaTeX on The Math Wiki requires only a web browser and an internet connection. Since its inception, The Math Wiki has expanded rapidly to include course material for many HS Math Teacher, student work, embedded Cinderella constructions, and a growing archive of challenge problems authored by our math faculty.
Den Haag Wiki
The 07/08 Academic year includes a international exchange program with The Dalton School Den Haag. Like other exchange program, students spend a short period of time face to face with their foreign counterparts relative to the full length of the program. To extend the amount of time that the student spend communicating and collaborating, the exchange has centralized all of its activities onto a wiki that can be accessed by both schools. Each participant has been given a blog, for which the wiki serves as both an aggregator and directory. There is a shared calendar used to coordinate transatlantic activities. There are shared photo galleries that parent and friends anywhere in the world are welcome to view.
Dalton faculty currently using a wiki
Other Wiki Samples, Examples, and Discussions
Ward's Wiki (The Wiki Wiki Web)
Ward Cunningham (@Wikipedia) is the originator of the Wiki. The Wiki was a response to the question "What's the simplest thing that could possibly work?". Ward's Wiki has some nice notes on Wiki Design Principles.
Bowdoin's Romantic Audience Project - Web Site
This is a wiki that was the subject of a classroom wiki discussion at the CCNMTL. The New Lab members in attendance were impressed with the degree of student participation that happened. Happened is the key word because the Romanticism professors had not anticipated the level of student participation that this project received.
The Wikipedia - Web Site
The Wikipedia is likely the most well known wiki. It is a vast online encyclopedia maintained by the public (although there is a great deal of administrative structure within the communities that maintain each section/page). The Wikipedia is often the subject of public debate about the value of wikis and whether or not it can be a reliable source of information. Please talk to Russel Philip in the New Lab if you have questions about this debate.
a brilliant failure using wiki in the classroom - Article
This is a nice little blog post that contains some brief thoughts on what not to do with a wiki in a classroom environment (or any tech as Alan November pointed out). There are also some links to further discussion.
