About+the+wiki

=The rules of this wiki=
 * The wiki administrator is the only one able to invite new users to the wiki
 * Students user-names are to be first name and surname initial only. No information with the potential to identify students or the school is to be published
 * No edit wars. If there is a disagreement that cannot be resolved through the discussion panel, then it is to be discussed and resolved in class
 * No inappropriate content. If you wouldn't do it in class, don't do it here
 * The wiki will not be used to pass administrative messages, these will be done by e-mail, on Studywiz or in class.

=How to use the wiki=

To get the best out of the wiki we need to use it in a flexible and collaborative way. Found a new source with a conflicting point of view? No worries, just edit it into the wiki. Think you can add something to one of your mate's work? Go right in and edit. This flexibility means we are developing our understanding collaboratively. The wiki harnesses the power of learning together, rather than in isolation. If you’re a bit shy in class, a wiki lets you contribute without having to speak up in front of a group. Try to avoid dividing work between each other, overlapping works better than parallel in a wiki. Our contributions can be tracked on the 'history' page which shows who did what and when. The 'discussion' page allows us to talk about what we think is needed in the wiki and what should be in and out. Because the wiki is visible to the world we can invite comments on our work from people whose opinion we value, and even allow them to edit if we so desire. Using a wiki also gives us skills in using new media. Wiki's and other interactive formats are becoming increasingly common as means of organising information in academic and professional environments. The wiki lends itself to more than just text. Videos, images and podcasts are easy to incorporate and are welcome. Like any other content, multi media need to be relevant and critically evaluated. This leads us to a critical point about using wikis and other interactive web tools, eveything we have learned as historians is still relevant, sustained expression, grammar, punctuation and referencing. Most importantly the use of evidence to support arguments is as important as ever, more important if we consider that the world can see what we write. =What is a wiki= A wiki is simply a webpage that is easily edited by multiple users. Don’t get too precious if your content is edited by another community member. Take a step back and re-consider: did my addition really add to the wiki? Sometimes, your content was actually what inspired another user to find something similar but that perhaps demonstrated the point the group was trying to make a little more clearly.

This video by common craft explains wikis in a simple way. media type="youtube" key="-dnL00TdmLY?version=3" height="390" width="640"

=Is this like wikipedia?= The basic principle is the same, all wikis harness the intellect of many minds. Wikipedia's strength and weakness is that it is edited by anyone all over the world. On the positive side this means that there are a lot of people out there who are willing and able to pick up errors or update information as it becomes available. On the downside it is harder to hold any individual or organisation accountable for what is presented. We know who is working on our wiki so we can be more confident about the quality of, and motives behind our content.

References: Web 2.0 Survival Guide [] Richardson, W (2011) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, 3rd Ed Corwin Press, New York