Technology in the Homeschool: Gettin’ Your Wiki On

               

                 I spend a good deal of time gleaning the internet for information and resources to enhance our home school.  In my first year of homeschooling, I would find a website that looked promising and I’d write it down on a piece of paper so I could come back to it later if I ever needed it.  Sometimes I’d bookmark it.  Or put  a sticky on my computer.  This system started to deteriorate rapidly as my bookmark bar became overloaded and I could never find that piece of paper with the link to the really cool animation of mitosis.  I needed a solution to help me organize the cool and useful stuff I was finding.  That’s when I learned about wikis. 

             

              If you’re like me the first thing that pops into your head when you hear “wiki” is “not a credible source for research papers.”  Actually, that’s Wikipedia, which is one of about a gazillion wikis out there.   According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), a wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWIG text editor…etc…  Whatever that is.  Don’t let the HTML talk scare you, it’s easier than it sounds. It’s just a great big organization tool to help you rein in the information dragon.   I attended a full day seminar teaching home schooling parents how to utilize a Wiki in the classroom and it has revolutionized the way we organize and manage the power of the internet for school. 

               The internet fosters collaboration and the sharing of knowledge.  As a result, incredible amounts (I think the technical term is “scads”) of information and data are added to the collective intelligence each day.  For those of us who are still trying to figure out how to play 10 simultaneous games of Words With Friends this can feel very overwhelming.  Suddenly, we not only have to tend to vast amount of laundry, lesson plans and healthful meals (and WWF) but we also have to somehow conquer and harness the internet and bring it under our dominion.  A place for everything and everything in its place.    This can be a fast and steep learning curve.   Sometimes it’s tempting to just pretend it’s not there.  Like that pile of papers we’ve been meaning to go through. 

               I remember when I was in high school one of my classmates at our private school showed up in the parking lot with a new car- that had a phone in it!  A no-kidding full-sized bat phone.  We were all amazed.  This was 1989 and we all thought it was ridiculously decadent and “out there”.  Who in the world talks on the phone while they are driving?  Who would they talk to anyway?  No one has phones in their car. You can always stop at a pay phone if you need to call someone.  Or just wait till you get home, for goodness sake!  Little did we know…20 years later we would be wondering what we did before we carried phones with us everywhere we went.  Technology makes it easy for people to stay connected  in ways we might not have thought possible.  Same with the Internet.  Technology is making it easy to get information.  The problem is what to do with it once you’ve got it.  That’s where it starts to feel daunting.  A wiki can help you organize information, media, resources, discussion threads, lists and collaborate with others.  It’s very versatile.

           Let me give you a more concrete example of one way you could use a wiki.  This year my son is taking Apologia Physics.  I have set up a page on the wiki called Apologia Physics 2011-2012.  Off of that page I have all of the book chapters listed and each one links to a separate page.  So for instance, I have “Chapter 4 Motion in Two Dimensions”.  On this page I have links to the lectures for Chapter 4 from an open source online Apologia Physics Class.  So there is a link for “Lecture 1- Navigation in two dimensions” and “Lecture 2- Range Equation”.  I’ve also linked to several Khan Academy lectures and physics sites in case he needs extra clarification.

            You can do this for any course.  Last year, I took the Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science curriculum and found links to videos and extra resources for many of the concepts in the chapters.   So for instance, one whole page was dedicated to Chapter 3 and on that page there were links to extra material for the kids to watch.  Yes, it took some time to search and gather information to put on the wiki but it helps to have it all in one place.  Plus, you can use the information year after year because it’s always right where you left it- on the wiki.

            I could walk you through all of the steps to setting up your wiki but someone has already beat me to it.  Thank goodness.  No sense in reinventing the wheel.  Here’s a tutorial called How to Build an Educational Wiki to get you started.  

            Not many things in life are free- but your wiki can be! Sign up for an account at WikiSpaces for Educators to get your free wiki.   Be sure you make it private unless you want to have it viewable and editable by everyone.

             One thing I will mention is to pay attention to whether you are linking to an internal page or an external page.  If you find a web page or video on You Tube you want to link to your wiki you should have it open in a separate external web page opened in a new window (click the box for new window) so it isn’t stored on your wiki.  Likewise, all private pages should be linked internally. 

              I am not terribly techie so if I can do it, you can probably do it even better.  If you are just getting started here’s how I suggest you organize your (very basic) wiki:

1. Click the Edit Navigation link and delete the blue Page List widget. Now you will be able to edit the navigation bar just like you would edit a wiki page to add links and explanatory text.

If you need assistance editing a page you can watch the very helpful Wikispaces video tours.  In fact, you should probably watch it right now before your proceed. All of the “Getting Started” video tutorials are great.  I’ve also had good success with their customer service when I needed to find out the answer to a question I couldn’t ascertain from the website. 

Now that the blue page list widget is gone, type in these words- one per line- and save.

Home

School Members

Classes

Resources

RSS Feeds

Now you should see these pages in a list in your navigation bar, which is probably on your right.

 

2. In your navigation bar, click on “Home”. This will take you to a page that says it does not exist yet.  Click on “Edit Page” and type an introduction of who you are and the purpose of the wiki.  For instance: “Welcome to the XYZ Home school Wiki!   Here’s where we post assignments, logs, links to websites and resources for our school. “ Save your page.

3. In your navigation bar, click on “School Members”. Click on Edit Page and type the names of your children and yourself.  One name per line.    

Highlight the first name in the list and click on “link” in the toolbar.  A box will open that has two tabs on it on the top.  One is for internal links to pages within your wiki- this is called “Wiki Link” and one to “External Links”. External links are for anything outside your wiki- like a You Tube video or a webpage address.   External links should always be opened in a new window.  Link these to internal pages with the same name as your highlighted text.

These personal pages can be used by each individual as a bulletin board where they can organize resources and fun stuff they find on the web. 

4. In your navigation bar, click on “Classes”.  Off of “Classes” make internal Wiki links to pages for each class you have and include information that will identify the specific student, subject and school year.     

For example: 8^th grade Art History- son#1- 2010-2011.

 Off of “Classes” make links to assignments, external videos, resources, finished work, etc.  (You could also put these class specific pages under each child’s section under “School Members”.)

5. In your navigation bar, make an internal link for “Resources”.  Off of this page make internal links to general subjects and topics.  For instance: Home school links, Co-op Resources, Stuff I want to read sometime, Curriculum, Inspiration, Technology,  Science, Literature, Math, Projects, Sports, Scouting, Music, Blog and Log, Administration, etc. Off of each of these you can create pages where you link to external websites, videos and  RSS Feeds.

5.  You may want to keep up with certain websites that have RSS feeds. In your navigation bar, make an internal link for “RSS feeds”.  Off of this page use the edit button and click on “Widget” to add a widget.  It will open a link where you can paste the RSS HTML  For the feeds you want to watch.

6.  If your family blogs or your have blogs you want to watch, you can make a page that keeps them all in one place.   I also link to internal logging charts I‘ve made using the “Table” button in the toolbar.  We use these to keep up with reading logs, volunteer service logs and physical fitness logs. (More on those later)

            You can use a wiki to collaborate on projects, reports, papers, or classes.  Just invite other people to join you and start working together.             

            I consider our Wiki to be “fair to middlin” as we say in the south. We use it almost daily and it serves us very well.   No doubt there is a ton more I could be doing with it and as soon as I fold this next basket of laundry I’m going to get right on it.  

            While I’m folding, I encourage you to poke around WikiSpaces for Education and give it a try. (You could also try Wet paint.) You’ll probably find ways to use a wiki that I haven’t even thought of.  If so, leave me a comment and do your civic duty of adding to the collective intelligence.  Let me know how you use your wiki in your home school!