Episode+1+What+is+a+wiki

toc =Resources for This Podcast=

Videos
media type="youtube" key="-dnL00TdmLY" width="425" height="350" media type="youtube" key="asDD2cFI5cQ" width="425" height="350" media type="youtube" key="6gbMNhnl1SU" width="425" height="350"
 * [|Wikis in Plain English]: This video, created by Common Craft, is an exceptional overview of what a wiki is and how it can leverage the Internet for planning and communication.
 * [|Wikis and Collaboration]: A video that demonstrates how a wiki is a beneficial tool for collaboration and planning in contrast to email.
 * Editing a Media Wiki: Overview of how to edit Media Wiki, the same platform used by [|Wikipedia].

Website Links

 * Note:** All of the links below are listed in the order that each one appears in the podcast script.
 * [|Wikipedia]
 * [|Yahoo!], [|Google], and [|Amazon]
 * [|Encyclopedia.com]
 * Wikispaces
 * [|PBwiki]
 * [|Wetpaint]
 * [|Newsweek: Power in Numbers]
 * [|UN Global Compact COP Project]
 * [|Fast Company: Brave New Mouse]

=Podcast Script= Trinity Podcast: What is a wiki?

Welcome. My name is Willy Kjellstrom, and I work at Trinity School as a webmaster and video production teacher. This episode reviews a relatively new kind of website called a wiki. Wikis are fascinating collaboration tools that I find useful in my profession as an educator. But, before I begin, I would like to say that the entire script for this podcast can be found at my wiki called Technology in Education. You can access this wiki by typing in tie.wikispaces.com without a www. There you will also find links mentioned in this podcast as well as videos that do a good job of explaining wikis. Please feel free to edit this wiki page.

So, what is a wiki?

The word, "[|wiki]," is Hawaiian for "quick" or "fast." While that is a useful tidbit of knowledge, it doesn't explain why this website is a wiki. Think of the word "wiki" as a label that describes a particular type of website. You can apply the wiki label to any website that allows users to change or add content (most often text) to any page by clicking a change or edit button (which, btw, is visible on all wiki pages). By users I mean people that might have no immediate connection to the website itself. The most cited example of a wiki is [|Wikipedia], an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. I think that Wikipedia is a good example for explaining what is a wiki.

When you go to wikipedia, it looks and feels, for the most part, like any other website. It has a web address, lots of text, images, links, and (because it is an encyclopedia) a search box. Many people use wikipedia as a source for finding information on a topic of interest by just typing a word or phrase into the search box, visiting the page or pages that come up, and reading through the content. (If you are listening to this podcast and have Internet access, go to www.wikipedia.com, choose a language, and run a simple search) When people use wikipedia in this manner it is no different than any other online encyclopedia like [|Encyclopedia.com]. But, the way in which content on Wikipedia is created is much different.

Anyone, even people without an account at Wikipedia (which are free by the way and only require filling out a simple online form), can go to a page on Wikipedia, click "edit this page," and begin changing or adding text or content. After changes are made, the person who made the changes needs to only click "save page" and the page is republished to Wikipedia for the world to see. The ability for anyone to change or edit content on pages is what makes a wiki like Wikipedia different from an ordinary webpage like [|Yahoo!] or [|Google]. Try to find a way to change or edit the text on Yahoo's main page- I bet you can't.

I bet you are thinking to yourself, "This is a bit scary. You mean anyone can edit any page on Wikipedia? Why would I use Wikipedia for information if Joe Shmo can make changes that might include incorrect information? What if someone adds profanity or obscene material to a Wikipedia page? Furthermore, why would I want to use a wiki when someone can change my work causing me to waste hours of time?" I hear you. All of these questions reflect valid concerns. But wait a minute before stopping this podcast or dismissing wikis at large...

Wikipedia is a unique environment, some might even call it a cult-like world, where thousands of honest, truth-seeking people patrol pages for vandalism or false statements. Try this: Edit a page on Wikipedia, place a random work that isn't profane, and see how long it takes to be corrected. How do people know when changes occur? What tools are in place to help people defend against errors?

All wiki pages, including both Wikipedia as well as personal wiki sites, have a historical log that keeps track of all of the versions a page goes through. Whenever someone edits a page and clicks save, an entry in the historical log (also called the page history) is recorded that shows all of the changes. At any time, someone can view the page history to see what changes have been made. That is one way people know about changes. Wiki pages also use RSS feeds which notify people of changes made to particular pages (RSS is another topic altogether).

"So what if I know that content on a page is erased! That doesn't dismiss the fact that the either parts or all of the content is gone!" Well, with wikis like wikipedia and other personal wiki sites, content is never really totally erased because of a revert tool that is embedded in each page. The revert tool, which is in the each page's history, lets users "turn back time" to a previous version. So, even if someone erased all of the content on a wiki page, the page could be reverted to a version right before the mass deletion. That's pretty cool.

There are a few other tools that safeguard people's work within wikis. These tools, which really need no lengthy explanation, include locking a page so that no edits can be made and an ability to make pages private to only select people.

So, now that you know a bit about wikis, what benefit might they have in a general since? Well, a wiki is both an online communication tool as well as a collaborative space where many people can create, share, and contribute content. It is a relatively "open" tool by nature, one that can be seen and accessed by many people. These four defining characteristics, online-communication-collaborative-open, make wikis quite beneficial in the context of projects and group work. For example...

How many times have you been a part of a project that involved sending a single email attachment back and forth between two, three, four, or more people who all needed to make changes or additions to the attachment? The email attachment might be an agenda or a paper or whatever. During the course of the email exchange there might be 5-10 different versions of the attachment and, inevitably, someone will mistakenly use the wrong version... Or someone will have to synthesize and combine two people's attachments... Or someone won't be able to open the attachment... You get the idea.

Now consider this same scenario and ponder... What if the attachment was placed on a wiki and everyone edited the content on a wiki page? There are a number of companies that provide free wikis for personal use like Wikispaces, [|PBwiki] and [|Wetpaint] so the opportunity to do use a wiki is not limited to Wikipedia (which I would not recommend doing in this situation). I imagine that people might enjoy not having the flurry of emails, full inboxes, and logistical hassles of managing numerous versions of attachments. People could access the content on a wiki, see the latest version, make changes by clicking an edit button, and revert the page if mistakes or errors appear. Plus, did I tell you that all wikis have discussion boards for behind-the-scenes conversations? They do.

Wikis (like email) make physical distance a non-issue because work is done online. As long as someone has access to the internet as well as the wiki that contains the project content, then it doesn't matter if a person lives in Seattle or Atlanta or Beijing.

Apart from the characteristics of being online, open, communicative, and collaborative, wikis also add a high degree of utility in terms of content creation... and I am not just talking about text. Sure, wikis are text based in terms of the most logical way of adding or changing content or information on a wiki page. In addition, most wikis allow users to embed video and audio from sites like [|YouTube] or [|Odeo]. Most wikis allow users to upload pictures to pages. Most wikis allow users to upload files like .pdf's, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. Sold yet?

National organizations, government agencies, and businesses have begun to see the benefits of using wikis for communication and collaboration. According to [|Newsweek], the United Nation's Global Compact Office, a branch of the UN that oversees corporate responsibility, recently began using a [|wiki] to disseminate progress reports about different company's environmental and social responsibility. The public is invited to view the UN's Global Compact wiki and edit the progress reports of "more than 2000 companies" from around the world. The US government is even in on the wiki revolution; approximately 16 "U.S. intelligence agencies have begun using a common wiki called Intellipedia, a government-run—and top-secret—information-sharing source that allows them to merge research and intelligence gathering" ([|Newsweek]). Needless to say Intellipedia is private and not accessible by the public. But it isn't just non-profit and government agencies who are using wikis! Tech mainstay IBM uses a private wiki called "WikiCentral, which more than 100,000 employees use for updating product documentation and modifying company policies, and for maintaining their own corporate profiles" ([|Newsweek]). Even the big-eared mouse is 'getting wiki with it;" employees in the Digital Media branch of Walt Disney have a wiki to "review new social- networking applications, compare vendors, and share their latest projects" because the branch is spread across a number of offices in three different cities ([|Fast Company, June 2007]).

After listening to this podcast I hope that you can answer the question, "What is a wiki?" I also hope that this podcast made you think about how your personal work could be enhanced by using a wiki. I believe that it is only a matter of time before you are confronted with wiki-type software, either in your personal or work life.

If you are a teacher or educator, then the next episode in this four part series about wikis is for you. I will discuss how teachers and students are using wikis for collaborative work.