Prof. Burks Oakley II
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Director, University of Illinois Online
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois
January 2006
The What, Why, and How
of Wikis
What is a Wiki?
Essentially a dynamic, collectively authored set of web pages.
Invented in 1995 by Ward Cunningham to facilitate online collaboration about
programming and design best practices.
Evolved by the early 2000’s into a way to facilitate all kinds of online
collaboration.
Wiki – Wikipedia Definition
A wiki (according to Ward Cunningham) is a type of website that allows users to add and edit content and is especially suited for
constructive collaborative authoring.
In essence, a wiki is a simplification of the process of creating HTML pages combined with a system that records each individual change that occurs over time, so that at any time, a page can be reverted to any of its
previous states.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
http://burkso2.wikispaces.com/PAC442B
How the Wiki Got Its Name
Wiki is the Hawaiian word meaning
“quick”, “fast”, or “to hasten”.
Wiki-Wiki is the name of the bus line in the Honolulu International Airport.
Ward Cunningham ca. 2004
How the Wiki Got Its Name
How the Wiki Got Its Name
“Wiki-wiki to the beach.” - Elvis Presley (as Chad Gates) in the movie Blue Hawaii (1961). The line was said with a snap of the fingers.
More about Wikis
Wiki (according to UIC Prof. Steve Jones)
– Web-based – Interactive
– Kollaborative (collaborative) – Iterative
Wiki is sometimes interpreted as the
backronym for “What I Know Is”, which describes the knowledge contribution, storage and exchange function.
What Can You Do With a Wiki?
Easily create and edit web pages, including styled text, hyperlinks, pictures, audio, video, etc.
Easy for a group to collaborate on creating online documents
Obstacles to Adoption
Wikis are usually open to anyone, and
“if anyone can edit my text, anyone can ruin my text” (not so, since changes are logged, authors are notified, pages are easily restored – no challenge to
hackers).
Authority is unclear – who “owns” a collaborative document?
Wiki openness is at odds with typical work habits
Wikipedia
Wikipedia – “A multilingual, Web- based, free-content encyclopedia
written collaboratively by volunteers … (with) editions in over 180 languages.
According to Hitwise, an online
measurement company, Wikipedia is the most popular reference site on the Internet.”
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Collaborative Authoring
Esquire article about Wikipedia
Written collaboratively using Wikipedia
The article was edited 224 times in the first 24 hours after it was first posted, and another 149 times in the next 24 hours.
The final draft, which was locked on
Sept. 23 to protect it from further edits, reflects the efforts of the many users who worked on it.
Jon Udell Screencast
Heavy Metal Umlaut in Wikipedia (ö, ü)
“The 8.5-minute screencast turns the change history of this Wiki page into a movie, scrolls forward and backward
along the timeline of the document, and follows the development of several
motifs.”
http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/01/22.html http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/umlaut.html
Wikipedia vs. Britannica
AP article on CNN website
Things You Can Do With RSS
News syndication
Search for information via RSS
Aggregate your feeds
Display news on your website
Display news on your mobile device
Collect all your email in RSS
Get RSS content through your email
Track Fedex packages
discount air fares
Bargains at Ebay
Get stock updates
Get the weather reports
What people are saying about you, your c ompany, your products
Music, radio shows, TV clips
Stay updated on someone's schedule
Get cinema schedule updates
Read your favourite comics
What other people are surfing
Automatically backup your weblog posts
Get software updates
Get the latest bittorrent files and p***
Shopping deals at Amazon.com and others
What your friends and family would like f or Christmas
Be notified of traffic conditions
Be notified of updates in police and fire department logs
Web metrics
Virus and security alerts
Events and happenings in your city
Gaming statistics
Search for jobs
Easing government bureaucracy
Create your own news aggregator page
Keep track of your notes
Find recent photos taken near you
Build maps
Make Tag Clouds
All those sites without RSS
Become a comment blogger
Patent Searching
Keep your acquaintances updated with you r latest contact details
Ditch Your Girlfriend
Print Your Feeds
http://www.timyang.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lists:thingsyoucandowithrss
More Uses for a Wiki
Use a wiki for your family’s holiday lists
“Instead of sending around 83,259,325 emails to see what your family wants for Christmas, use a wiki instead. Everyone can put what they want and see what
other people want. Set one up at http://
www.pbwiki.com (takes 10 seconds)
and even Grandma will be able to use it.
We promise.”
http://burkso2.pbwiki.com/
More Uses for a Wiki
100 things to do before you die
The world’s largest “How-To” manual – wikiHow
Things to do in Seattle
World-wide travel guide – wikitravel.org
Everything you want to know about VoIP
All about the flu – Flu Wiki
Business/Customers
Apple iPod Nano
Business/Productivity
Michelin China
Wikis – Great Resource
Seven Things You Should Know About
… Wikis
– from EDUCAUSE
– What is it?
– Who is doing it?
– How does it work?
– Why is it significant?
– What are the downsides?
– Where is it going?
– What are the implications for teaching and learning?
Wiki Adoption in Higher Education
Why use wikis in higher education?
– Participatory
– Progressive knowledge building – Collaborative
– Encourages student-faculty interaction – No hierarchy
– Web-based – anytime, any place access – Software is incredibly easy to use
– Follow the evolution of thoughts and ideas.
Higher Education
Romantic Audience Project at Bowdoin College – Chronicle article
Higher Education
Romantic Audience Project
Institutional Wikis
http://www.futureofpr.com/higheredwikis
MIT IST – Use of a Wiki
Track presentations and publications
UMBC – Biology Group Wiki
Group wiki assignment
Examples of Wiki Usage
Example uses in higher education
The Future of Wikis
Working in teams is increasingly common in many fields
Knowledge management is increasingly useful
Education benefits from collaboration and interaction
Wiki tools are being planned for word processors, and even for operating systems
Free Hosting of Wikis
wikihost.org
free-wiki-hosting.com
wikicities.com
educational.blogs.com
duckcomputing.com
pbwiki.com
wikispaces.com
http://ieee-edsoc.wikispaces.com/
http://ieee-edsoc.wikispaces.com/
An (Optional) Assignment
Create your own wiki
– Sign-up for a free account at http://
www.wikispaces.com/
Edit the IEEE EdSoc demo wiki
– http://ieee-edsoc.wikispaces.com/
– Add a new page in the wiki – Tell us about yourself
– Add comments or questions about the IEEE Distinguished Lecture Series
Burks Oakley II
web: http://www.online.uillinois.edu/oakley/
e-mail: oakley@uillinois.edu
The What, Why, and How of Wikis
Submit questions to Rob Reilly: reilly@media.mit.edu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial - ShareAlike 2.5 License.
