Wired online has a nice article today talking about Wikis beyond WikiPedia. In particular, it explores some of the other programs that are useful for groups creating a WiKi:
Several companies are trying to cash in on wikis by making it easy for non-techies to start sites allowing quick and easy collaboration. Among them are Jot, Wetpaint, PBwiki, Wikispaces, Wiki.com and Wikia, started by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Some of these wikis already allow WYSIWYG editing. “I’d like to see the PTA wiki. We are on the cusp of making the tools simple enough for the Parent Teacher Association,” said Socialtext CEO Ross Mayfield. Socialtext is attempting to make its WYSIWYG click-and-type editor more widespread; at this year’s Wikimania conference, Socialtext announced it was working with Wikia and Wikimedia to integrate Wikiwyg into Wikipedia’s software.
I am wondering if any of our readers (or bloggers) have used any of the above Wiki sites for course-related wikis.
Check out the article!
Also: file under meta-blogging, I guess, but I just copied and pasted from Wired’s website and noticed that all the hotlinks carried over. I never noticed that before. WordPress (the blogging medium we are using here at http://cac.ophony.org) is good.
I am in the process of setting up a PBWiki to collaborate with my students on a textbook for my subject.
I teach in Biology (The Living Environment) in New York State. Normally, this course is offered in High School, but we do it with 8th graders. While the students do pretty well on the Regents, one problem we have been experiencing is with textbooks. Most are written (appropriately enough) for a 9th or 10th grade student. For students reading below level, these books are a killer.
So, I have set up a PBWiki for my students and I to collaborate on an age-appropriate textbook for the course. My students are excited about the project which I will start with them next month.
Reply to Gerald
I’d love to hear how it works out, Gerald. Please keep us posted.
Reply to Mikhail