Wikis

From ElateWiki

Wikis are used in higher education to promote communities (and networks) of practice around shared informational and learning interests. These are built on "wiki" technologies that support the open co-creation of contents and the co-editing of these contents.

1 Wikis in Higher Education
2 Open Source Wiki Software
3 Wiki Farms
4 Other Functionalities
5 See Also
6 References

[edit] Wikis in Higher Education

Wikis are used in password-protected spaces in higher education for the collection and sharing of knowledge. For example, this is a popular strategy in some developer and IT offices. Some helpdesks will use wikis to collect and organize knowledge.

Public-side wikis in higher education tend to be domain-specific. They are used to enhance learning and the co-creation of knowledge and digital resources.

The following video provides an overview of using Wikis at Kansas State University.

[edit] Open Source Wiki Software

Some wiki tools are open-source and free. Developers collaborate around various functionalities to improve the underlying technologies to enhance what may be done on wikis. Setting these up will require some IT expertise to make sure the various functions work.

[edit] Wiki Farms

So-called "wiki farms" offer a range of services--from usable interfaces to the hosting of contents on their servers. Some of these cost money while others offer some cost breaks for those in education. (These are listed in their fine print.)

[edit] Other Functionalities

Wikis are not only text-based but may include photos, audio, video, and other types of digital files.

Wikis are created not only to be editable by visitors, but a system operator (sysop) may revert revisions to a site, particularly if the contents were graffitied or mistakenly deleted.

Wikis may be subscribed to, with emails being sent to individuals who want to know when an update has been posted to a particular article or topic grouping.