Tips on How to use Wikis
Day One
This is Kristine from PBwiki, and today I’m going to show you how easy it is to edit your wiki and create new pages.
The more you edit your wiki, the more likely it is to succeed. Editing your wiki is just like editing your usual word-processing software -- only it's online, and easier.
1. Log in to your wiki at my.pbwiki.com and chose my411.
2. Click "Edit page" at the top of your wiki. Type "Hello world!" on the page and click "Save."
Click here to see a video demonstration on how to edit your wiki
Day Two
This is Kristine from the PBwiki team, and this is the 2nd in a 7-part series. Today I'm going to walk you through creating new pages and linking them together in your wiki.
How to create new pages
1. Log in to your wiki at my.pbwiki.com and chose my411.
2. Click "Create new page" at the top of your wiki
- Type "English Syllabus" into the page title and click "Create new page"
- Once you type something on the page (anything! It's ok!), click "Save"
Link pages together
To navigate from one page to another, you'll want to link pages together. (Unlinked pages are called "orphans," and that's no fun.)
1. Go to your wiki's front page and click "Edit"
2. Type "English Syllabus"
3. Select the text and click the "Insert link" button (the world icon on your tool bar)
4. Choose "Link to wiki page" and locate "English Syllabus"
5. Once you click "Ok" and "Save," you'll see that your page now links to your English Syllabus page
You can now set up as many pages as you want and link them together!
View a video demonstration on how to create a new page and link to your home page.
http://pbwiki.com/content/supportcenter-linktootherwikipages
Stay tuned, tomorrow we will discuss 3 easy ways to prepare a wiki for your students.
Day Three
PBwiki
See example educational wikis and learn what other teachers, librarians and administrative staff have done.
PBwiki Public Directory
Hi there,
It's Kristine from the PBwiki team, and today I'm going to share some of the best tips for preparing your wiki for your students.
Log into your wiki to follow along. Go to My.PBwiki.com
and chose my411.
Give Students Clear Instructions
To make sure your students understand how to engage with this new online resources make sure you post clear directions om the front page.
* Add student assignments and instructions on the front page.
* Treat your wiki front page as a short introduction with links to other pages.
* Type a few bullet points and create links to the pages (to link, edit a page, select the text, and click "Insert Link").
* If you have handouts, create a page called "Handouts" and upload the files there.
Next, use a creative activity to engage your students on your wiki. Here are three examples:
Individual pages- Ask each student to create a wiki page, posting information about their interests and what they hope to learn from the class. Be sure to comment on the pages, and engage them by referencing their personal interests in discussions. Use this as an easy icebreaker to have students get to know each other.
Online spelling list – Create a page titled ‘Spelling’ and post your spelling list. Ask students to post the definition or upload a corresponding image.
Class notes - Each week assign one student to write up the class notes, including important points and class discussion. Be sure to comment on the notes, and add additional insight from the lesson.
Check out our public directory of Educational wikis.
Day Four
PBwiki
Hi again,
Today we’re going to talk about how you can keep track of what your students are doing on your wiki. It’s important to know how to what information your students have put online – so we’ve made it easy to monitor wiki activity and find what you’re looking for.
Email Notifications
PBwiki tracks every edit made to your wiki page and then sends you email notifications when changes are made. You can change your notification setting to receive changes immediately—or not at all. Here’s how:
1) Go to My.PBwiki.com
2) Scroll down to the box titled “Preferences” and to change your notification setting.
Page History
Every edit you make on your wiki is saved – this means that you always know who edited the wiki and when it was changed. If your students accidentally delete your work or upload inappropriate content – you immediately know who did it and you can reverse the changes. Here’s how:
1) Log in at My.PBwiki.com and choose my411
2) Click the page history link on the top of your wiki page.
Watch a video demonstration on how to compare edits, and change back to a previous version of your page
Search
Once you have a lot of content on your wiki, search makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. You can search by keyword to find text, pages, tags and even comments.
The search box is located on the top right hand panel of your wiki. Try it today!
Tomorrow, we'll discuss how to create private pages on your wiki.
Day Five
Hi again,
Welcome to day 5 of our 7-day series. Now that you know how to track your students work, I'm going to share how to create private pages and lock your pages from others on your wiki.
Hideable pages allow you to create private content on your wiki - this is great if you are developing a syllabus or group project on the wiki, but aren't yet ready to share it with your class.
Lockable pages let you place information on your wiki, and lock it from future edits. Use this to post assignments that you don't want your students to edit.
How to Hide and Lock pages
1. Log in to your wiki at my.pbwiki.com and chose my411.
2. Look to the right-had side of your wiki there are three options:
- Put this page in a folder
- Add Tags
- Page Security
3. Chose Page Security
4. Chose to Hide or Lock your page.
View a video demonstration on how to create hidden and locked pages.
Tomorrow we will discuss how to add multimedia on your wiki.
Thanks!
Kristine
The PBwiki Team
Day Six
Hi there,
This is day 6 of our 7-day series. Today, we'll cover using multimedia in your wiki.
Video, audio, and chat rooms, oh my!
You can insert all kinds of multimedia applications on your wiki with just a few clicks. Let's insert a sample video:
1. Upload your video to Teachertube.com
2. Copy the embed code to your video
3. Go to your wiki (http://my411.pbwiki.com)
4. While editing, click "Insert Plugin" and choose the "You Tube" plugin. Paste your embed code and save your page.
Some of our most popular plugins:
- The Calendar plugin lets you insert a shared calendar for setting dates and milestones for your classroom/library
- Chat rooms let your students or staff communicate with each other. This is a great additional way for you and your students to collaborate
Here's a special way to get free storage space: Because of a special arrangement with a third party, if you upload your videos through our Video plugin (or embed through
YouTube
), your videos won't consume wiki storage space.
Inserting images
Inserting images is easy: While editing a page, use the "Insert Links" box on the right side of the page.
Remember, all of this is free with your PBwiki.
Try it out today by editing a page: Log in at my.pbwiki.com and chose my411.
Thanks!
Kristine
Your PBwiki Team
PS--3 ideas to use your PBwiki for: Showcasing student multimedia work, encouraging different collaboration by chat rooms, setting up a shared calendar for test dates.
Day Seven
Hi there, and congratulations!
You have all the tools to launch your wiki to your students and peers. Now you're ready to invite your students!
Here's how:
1. Log in to your wiki at my.pbwiki.com and chose my411.
2. Click the 'Settings' link (on the top right hand side of the page).
3. Choose 'users' Invite anyone by entering their email address and setting their wiki-wide permission level.
Watch this short video on how to invite students to your wiki.
Students don't have email?
Our classroom accounts allow you to add students to your wiki without email addresses.
1. Click the 'Settings' link (on the top right hand side of the page).
2. Choose 'users'
3. Click on the link 'Create accounts for your students'
4. Simply enter in the number of students who need accounts and PBwiki will automatically generate them for you.
Your students will be able to create new pages and enter their own information on your PBwiki. Remember, you'll get notified by email anytime something changes.
If you want great ideas on how to engage your students, remember to check out our teacher led community!
Until we talk again, congratulations on your new PBwiki -- and let us know how it goes!
Thanks,
Kristine and the entire PBwiki Team
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