I am about to go nuts. I have spent almost all day investigating different wiki options for my class. Here are the details of my journey in the hopes that it may help you in yours.
A few days ago I got a pretty good idea for a collaborative learning “project”. My kids watched a video about a young lady who lives on the shores of the Amazon River in Peru. We watched what life is like there and compared it to life here. Since I have been to Peru more than once to live, I could relate my own ideas. So here is the idea…when the video ended, I asked if my kids would like to meet “Elida” the subject of the documentary. They of course were excited about the idea. I strung them along for a bit and then dropped the bomb that Elida can’t come into the United States at will. She would be rejected without special permission (read: a visa). Bearing in mind my kids are 11 years old (mean age) they were particularly shocked.
This led us into a stimulating discussion about immigration. We began with the question, “Should the United States let people in”, just for the asking. Well the reason I am posting this here is I have been investigating ways to collaborate. I divided my class (rather, they divided themselves) into two sides, the Pros and the Cons. Some did not necessarily agree with their chosen side, but wanted to explore the reasoning behind it. So, how do I make this open source and web 2.0 tasty?
Here are my wiki-based thoughts…
1. Since I know teachers in Peru, I could easily have my kids post to a Wiki and then have the professors and students comment to it.
2. I could have other teachers from other classes around the world, from San Fernando, CA (maybe Marco Torres ?) to Shanghai (Jeff, you listening?) have their students read and comment.
It’s also worth noting that I pay for web hosting so I have lots of space, gobs of bandwidth, and enough MySQL databases to keep me going for some time. So I am not limited to a free or ad-supported wiki.
Since I have six classes with roughly 25 students in each class, and since they are divided into groups of typically four, I wanted a wiki with a quality drill-down menu and easy commenting, so that people reading my kids’ work would be encouraged to leave their two cents without frustration. Ease of commenting is crucial to a truly collaborative project.
So that ultimately led me to a Wiki search. I was over at EdTechTalk Sunday night and listened into the first half of the broadcast. I will catch the rest via podcast. They were interviewing the co-founder and VP of Marketing of PbWiki. So Monday morning I fired up Flock and went to work trying to find a wiki suitable for young minds not accostumed to this type of learning.
I began with Mediawiki, made famous by Wikipedia, of course. I found it to be feature-rich and enjoyed its full range of extensions. The trouble is simply that it requires too much knowledge of WikiText, and my kids are doing well if they can handle even basic WYSIWYG commands! Wikimedia is full and robust, but not a great choice for the type of Wiki I want for my class. I am aware that it is possible to integrate FCKEditor into Mediawiki, and I have done so for some of my other Content Management System installs, but the security risks were too much for me to handle. I need an easy solution for my kids.
As I mentioned a moment ago, I listened to Ramit talk about some of the neat features of Pbwiki. I like the concept and it certainly was easy to sign up. I know they have some features that are in the batter’s box to be rolled out, and I’d like to know what they are. I was a little taken aback when I got an email offering me a big savings if I upgrade. One of the things I like about Wikispaces is that while I know there are premium upgrades, they seem to be totally fine with me staying at my level of comfortable freeness. I felt a little strange getting a sales ad in my email inbox so shortly after signing up for a free service. Ok, have to pay the bills, so I won’t hold it against them. What ruled Pbwiki out for me is of course, the lack of a good WYSIWYG editor based on a non-Wikitext format. My kids have such a short time left that there is no time for a learning curve. I know they can figure it out, but at what cost?
So I moved on to Jotspot. I have had a Jotspot account for some time, but not really used it based on the severe limitations given to the free account. At least until recently. Thanks to Miguel Guhlin and two posts, I went back to Jotspot to give it another shot. I loved the Spreadsheet integration, although it is not anything I can really use right now. Again, I found it to be a little tough to use (from an 11 year old standpoint) given the lack of a quality WYSIWYG editor integrated. I just know my kids would get confused by exclamation points and the like. Remember, these students leave me on October 20, so that cancels the teach-them-and-it-will-be-ok argument. I have 9 classes left with them, I need a turnkey solution.
So my next idea was to investigate Wikispaces. I am sort of a big fan of the Technospud blog and she seems to have a special place in her heart for Wikispaces, so I gave them a shot. I especially like that they are giving away 10,000 free wikis to educators. So I went and signed up. I like the Wikispaces idea, it was a really clean environment and I like the natural feel of the WYSIWYG editor for my kids. I think it would seem native to them and reduce the learning curve. I would prefer a little more ability to categorize the pages, but I can deal without it. So far, Wikispaces is my front runner, and I love that there are no ads. That’s a big deal.
I decided to investigate a little more into the world of installed, database backed-up Wikis thinking that since I have hosting, I may be at an advantage. So I headed over to my favorite Open Source Content Management System (and Learning Management System) playground, Opensourcecms.com. There I found a good list of different wikis that are installable and fun. The nice thing about Opensourcecms is that you can log in to their demo installations that are refreshed every few hours. So I was able to see how all of these different wikis function without having to install them on my own server first. There are also a number of different LMS’s, such as Moodle, Site @ School, and ATutor, not to mention others. If you’ve ever wondered what a fresh install of any of these pieces of software looks like, go play!
My travels to Opensourcecms.com turned me on to Dokuwiki. As noted by the name, Dokuwiki is mainly aimed at developers and small companies trying to create documentation on something, such as a project of piece of equipment. Nonetheless I decided to try it since it stores information in simple text files and requires no database. This means that installation is a simple matter of FTP’ing the directories to my web space and running it. I liked that a lot because there is zero risk of SQL Injection hacks or other security worries. Inherently, one can’t build a large Wiki this way, but no bother since I am going to refresh it each nine weeks. This solution would also keep me from having to manually run the MySQL queries using phpMyAdmin to empty the Wiki tables each time (a potential problem using Mediawiki if there were residual entries in the tables, albeit a low risk). Additionally, upgrading would be a breeze since one would only have to copy new files into the directory and not replace the text files from which the information is called. Troublingly, there was very little in the way of access control (outside of the standard .htaccess) and no commenting ability built it. There is a plugin manager, but I quickly hit roadblock after roadblock that I could not justify overcoming with Wikispaces luring me back with a siren’s call. So Dokuwiki went out the window, although it remains installed to play with later should the desire return.
So following my Dokuwiki disappointment I turned to a resource I found in a quick Google search; Wiki Matrix. I was thrilled with the Wiki Choice Wizard, which allows you to answer a few simple questions and helps you determine what you need given your criteria. I spent a good half hour trying to figure out which Wikis went with which options. I have been wanting to learn Ruby on Rails (or either by itself) but found nothing that fit my needs. Ultimaltely, I figured out that these wikis were more designed for the coporate world than the educational world (there’s a shock) and I found no software that could defeat the strong push for Wikispaces. So as of the afternoon, it was still looking strong for Wikispaces.
I came across another turnkey site called Netcipia, which I have to admit lured in me strongly based on a fun, clean home page. I liked the “web 2.0 participation” spin they put on it so I signed up. Immediately, I was disappointed. Once I actually got into my site, I found a standard Drupal-esque interface not terribly different from any other php-based CMS. Netcipia disappointed like no other in my search. They lured with strong words, even offering to let me download their software (see bottom under cancellation), but providing no link. I find no reason to stick with Netcipia when I already have various CMS’s installed, such as phpNuke and Drupal. So bye bye, Netcipia.
I thought back to the first time I had ever used a real, live Wiki. It was during the Discovery Educator Network’s planning stages for their National Leadership Conference. They purchased some space on Editme. I liked their interface because it was clean (a recurring theme, you’ll notice) and offered a simple WYSIWYG editor and easy discussion opportunities. The obvious drawback, $4.95 per month. As thrifty as I can tend to be, spending nearly $60 per year for my kids was a bit much. Truth be told, it’s my salary and four of us, so you can imagine the budget is tight. I love my students, but I love my family more. So editme went by the wayside because I can’t afford it.
So I was back to square one. Wiser yet frustrated. I felt like there should be a better solution. I went back to Miguel Guhlin’s post concerning Wetpaint and decided to give it a shot. I was immediately captivated by the site, and how fun it looked. I signed up for an account and have been mesmerized ever since. You naturally know what my one issue is, right? While they have a great WYSIWYG editor, I am scared of the ads! Google’s AdWords works contextually, and if my kids begin wiki’ing about a certain topic like Immigration, who knows what ads will pop up. I have to be super careful about what I allow in my kids eyes and ears, especially at the tender age of 11 (some are 10!). There is no way to limit the ads, no way to turn on the ad-equivalent of Strict-Safesearch so I think Wetpaint is not going to work. This really hurts, because this has been my favorite so far. One trick I really like is that I can upload a graphic to replace the text banner. Simple stuff, really, but it got my geek attention going.
Bottom line is that I am going to focus on Wikispaces for now. The nice thing about having students for a mere nine weeks is that I can try something new each nine weeks. So if Wikispaces turns sour (and with this much time and effort researching this, how could it?!) I can move to a different solution in a short time.
Do you have a Wiki story you want to tell? Did my analysis seem biased? Did I miss something? Am I just flat wrong? Tell me! Thanks for getting this far with me!!
miguel guhlin says:
Howdy! Please note that JotSpot has a full visual editor built in that’s MORE powerful than the one I’ve seen in Wikispaces. Are you sure you didn’t settle for wikitext editor in JotSpot, rather than the more GUI one?
Revisit…I didn’t accomplish all my formatting in JotSpot wiki (mguhlin.jot.com) with wikitext!!!
Nice summary, btw. Have you looked at TikiWiki? Also, some folks like TiddlyWiki.
;->
26th September 2006 at 11:19 am
Mark says:
Hello, the issues your bring up are extremely valid. It is a bit of a wild ride for wiki right now. This is one of the many reasons I thought that a project like http://wikiindex.org/Welcome would be helpful. It gives folks many examples to look at and think about. http://wikiindex.org/Category:WikiFarm sounds like the work you have been doing already. It is frustrating, but getting better. Good luck, let me know if you have any questions. Best, Mark
26th September 2006 at 11:52 am
crafty184 says:
I will have to revisit the Jotspot option, I must have overlooked the option to switch from Wikitext to WYSIWYG, thanks, Miguel!
26th September 2006 at 1:36 pm
dave cormier says:
We’ve been experimenting with the possibility of using drupal books instead of wikis… for our book of webcasting at http://webcastacademy.net
26th September 2006 at 4:15 pm
Jeff Utecht says:
Listening and willing. This would be an interesting topic for my students. Most of who are Chinese-American. Usually it was their grandparents who immigrated to the U.S. and raised their children who now to the explosion here in China have moved back with their families to take advantage of the economy here. Let me know…this could be fun!
26th September 2006 at 6:23 pm
edbloggernews says:
Up to my ears in Wikis
A look at wikis use in the classroom.
26th September 2006 at 6:25 pm
Ramit (from PBwiki) says:
This is Ramit from PBwiki. These are great points and overall, we all need to do a better job of welcome new users to wikis.
Just a quick note that we’ll be rolling out a WYSIWYG-type editor soon.
Plus, we’re very, very active in rolling out features all the time to simplify our wikis.
We’ve set up an educational advisory panel at http://educators.pbwiki.com. I hope you give us another try.
26th September 2006 at 3:23 am
Understanding Nothing » Blog Archive » Wiki Comparison says:
[...] Mediawiki, Pbwiki, Jotspot, Wikispaces, Dokuwiki, Netcipia, Editme, and Wetpaint are all considered, and all come up short. You can read the review yourself to see why, and discover which one was eventually chosen. [...]
26th September 2006 at 4:48 am
Mark H says:
I am in the process of migrating to SocialText (away from MediaWiki) and it seems great so far. It is commercial-ware, but then again, so is JotSpot which you did try.
26th September 2006 at 7:42 pm
JenniferW says:
WOW — seems like you had a busy day??? or was it more like a week?? Your journeyed all over the place and gave a great deal of feedback. Good work.
I do have a special place for wikispaces — but have also used PB wiki as well –and they will have a teacher feature (ad free) coming soon.
As for the rest — well they are new to me — so (grins) — I guess my Saturday might be spent checking out JotSpot.
Jen
26th September 2006 at 1:20 am
Ben says:
Wow, that sounds like quite the exhaustive research into multiple wiki-platforms. I must admit, I was daunted myself about the effort I was going to have to put into finding a wiki-engine that allowed for easy WYSIWYG editing, and being comfortable for my fifth graders. I’m in a bit of a pickle after reading your reviews though.
I had hoped to maintain my own domain, and host the wiki there, so that students and classrooms outside of our district could easily find it (only students within my class would have access to edit it for the time being). I’m wondering if perhaps a blogging engine (like WordPress), or another CMS system, like Drupal, might be a better alternative for private hosting of a wiki-esque site. Any thoughts on using a CMS system?
26th September 2006 at 9:53 am
crafty184 says:
Ben,
I had given thought to using a CMS, especially since I already use to. I use phpNuke for some of my online quizzing scenarios and I use Drupal for my online blogging. Both are of course hosted on my shared hosting servers and backed up by MySQL databased. The reason I went for a hosted Wiki was 1) to try it out and see how I liked it, and 2) because I needed a super easy solution. I found that my kids got frustrated and gave up quicker using the Drupal site, whereas with Wetpaint and Jotspot they were able to figure things out a bit better. Not sure what the future holds, looking more and more into Moodle 1.6 but I’d have to find new hosting (bluehost?) because Godaddy doesn’t support a high enough version of MySQL, etc.
26th September 2006 at 9:57 am
Open Source Classroom » Blog Archive » It’s time to do Moodle… says:
[...] Wiki – I want to use a wiki for the obvious reasons of collaborative learning. I like the idea that more than one student can work on a single document. My standalone application for this has ranged from Wetpaint to Wikispaces to Jotspot to Mediawiki. See my Wiki posts for more details and applicable links. Moodle’s benefit here seems to be integration. I like that with one single login my kids will be able to access this all. I see that as the sole benefit here. I wonder if OpenAcademic will rival this integration. Oddly enough, I tried to get involved with OpenAcademic as a beta tester/amateur coder some time back. I sent two emails and got no response. There isn’t much news flowing from their feed, either. Not sure where the project stands. [...]
26th September 2006 at 4:32 pm
Miguel Membrado says:
Sorry to having disappointed you so much
I hope we will have another chance to have you in our places, like our thousand of other users.
Just to correct some points you mentionned, Netcipia is built to help communities to work with a blog and a wiki in one single place. It is not a CMS at all, it is a true wiki with all the features of a wiki, but we have choosen to provide by default not a blank page, but an interface with 3 columns and a lot of widgets to help workers that are not knowledgeable about wikis to retrieve easily their information.
Miguel
I agree that it is not built by default to help children to use this kind of tool. It is not our objective. But our interface is customizable, and you can delete all the widgets and hide also the columns, and start using your netcipia place like a blank wiki, just with you home page, and creating other pages from this home page little by little.
What we released on August 23th is just a first beta version to have feedback about our users, and provide them also with FREE private wikis, the first time this is available on internet, without no limit of time, users and place created. We are of course working hard to improve all this stuff, but the success of our launch seems to prove that their is a huge need to this kind of paradigm, private blogs and wikis, free, in one single place. Thanks again for your feedback
26th September 2006 at 10:28 pm
Dave Sapp says:
Just starting to get into wiki’s and would like to host one myself. One I would like to use with my students who also rotate every nine weeks and the other as a help encyclopedia for a school database system. I was wondering if you had looked at DekiWiki and if you have anymore insight into this?
26th September 2006 at 4:10 pm
Michael Misovec says:
Helping Students Education Corp. is a non profit that offers “A K12 Teacher Wiki” and has over 100,000 wiki school communities designed for school districts, schools or teachers wanting a class project. All 50 states are linked for easy collaboration. A high school example here: http://helpingstudents.org/JSPWiki/Wiki.jsp?page=WesternBranchHighSchool
26th September 2006 at 1:16 am
Open Source Classroom » Blog Archive » Testing out TWiki, a CGI based wiki approach says:
[...] I suppose it is no secret that I am a little bit obsessed with wikis. I think that the level of collaboration available through the use of a wiki is superb and unparalleled. As you may know, I recently did a thorough review of a short list of wiki selections in a two part series. [...]
26th September 2006 at 8:45 am
AaronF says:
Chris, you will definitely want to check out MindTouch’s DekiWiki (www.mindtouch.com or http://www.opengarden.org). It has the most sophisticated in browser WYSIWYG there is. It’s also open source. I am passionate about making knowledge easy to consume and accessible to everyone, which may be why I’m very enthusiastic about 1). education 2). open source. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.
26th September 2006 at 5:58 pm
AaronF says:
Chris, you will definitely want to take a look at MindTouch’s DekiWiki (www.mindtouch.com or http://www.opengarden.org). It has the most sophisticated in browser WYSIWYG there is. It’s also open source. I am passionate about making knowledge easy to consume and accessible to everyone, which may be why I’m very enthusiastic about 1). education 2). open source. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.
26th September 2006 at 5:59 pm
Open Source Classroom » Blog Archive » Lamenting DekiWiki’s lack of Shared Hosting capabilities says:
[...] I have heard it said that a blog is by nature a representation of one’s own life and personal interests. That said, you all probably know how interested I am in wikis. One of my more useful posts (judging by the ongoing interest) was my original post on wikis. It still seems to generate traffic. A recent comment by Aaron F of MindTouch recommends I take a look at DekiWiki. The comment reads like this… Chris, you will definitely want to take a look at MindTouch?s DekiWiki (www.mindtouch.com or http://www.opengarden.org). It has the most sophisticated in browser WYSIWYG there is. It?s also open source. I am passionate about making knowledge easy to consume and accessible to everyone, which may be why I?m very enthusiastic about 1). education 2). open source. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. [...]
26th September 2006 at 8:20 pm
Jeevan says:
I have been going through the same journey of finding a easy to use wiki. This may sound like sacrilege but the most friendly one I have come across is based on Windows Tesnology. We have now been using Perspective in our small company to capture process knowledge. Available at http://www.high-beyond.com
26th September 2006 at 10:24 am
Zed mark says:
I found that my kids got frustrated and gave up quicker using the Drupal site.
26th September 2006 at 11:00 pm