guide

=Introduction=

This wiki is a self-contained professional development presentation that will help you describe and explore the role of wikis in K-8 education. It was originally developed by Mark Wagner, Ph.D., President & CEO of EdTechTeam, Inc., for the K12Online Conference 2006. It is intended to be given as a webinar, directly from the wiki itself.

It has been revised for use at St. Peter Lutheran School in Hemlock, Michigan.

=Components of the Wiki Presentation=

Use these as your speaking notes as you give this presentation. To get an idea of what this can look like, explore the original Wiki While You Work wiki. Mark and Chris Bell have hosted this presentation and modified versions of this presentation from that wiki for multiple events, and you can find histories and recordings of the live webinars.
 * Bulleted talking points**

The people attending your presentation will be able to follow these links to do research and complete the activities you will be asssigning through the course of the presentation. Go through these links before you deliver the presentation to make sure you feel comfortable with the wikis and other resources being presented, and to add your own favorite references and links. You can update the example either by following the **Examples** link in the left navigation bar or by using the **edit** link at the examples section of the **Wiki Presentation** page.
 * Links and references**

These activities were designed to give the people attending your presentation a sense of what can be accomplished with wikis, let them see how wikis might help them achieve their own goals, and give them a hands-on introduction to the basic functions of a wiki. Each activity is on its own page, and includes instructions for how the activity should be completed.
 * Activities**

=Giving the Presentation=

The session begins with a **Welcome Activity** that will give you a sense of your attendees’ level of familiarity with wikis, and give them a chance to use the Discussion feature of Wikispaces.

Next, you will move to a discussion of the “old” read-only Web v. the read/write Web, and the implications that has for the role of the Internet in education.

Once your attendees are comfortable with the concept of the read/write Web, you will introduce them to the idea of wikis, using the most famous wiki, Wikipedia, as a familiar example. You will discuss the potential applications of wikis in education, and take a look at some active education wikis. This leads into **Activity 1**, in which your attendees will do some online research to evaluate existing education wikis and share the results of their research by participating in a wiki discussion. (Please note that the Examples section here is editable independently from the rest of the Presentation page. You can also edit the examples by clicking the **Examples** link in the left navigation bar.)

Now that you’ve given everyone a firm grounding in the idea of wikis, you will give them a chance to get hands-on. In **Activity 2**, your attendees will take turns editing a page on the presentation wiki. In **Activity 3**, you will show them how they can start free Wikispaces wikis for their classrooms and walk them through some of the basic highlights and features of those wikis. You will give an introduction to creating multimedia wikis using the Embed Widget tool. Then, time permitting, you can show your attendees some of the more advanced editing tips, tricks, and wiki features available on Wikispaces.

Wrap up with an explanation of the benefits of wikis and a frank discussion of the concerns of integrating wikis into your pedagogy. Give your attendees a chance to ask questions. If necessary, discuss proactive strategies for dealing with their concerns before they become problems. Before your attendees sign out of the webinar, have them do the **Reflection Activity** and share what they have learned through the presentation. Encourage them to log back in later and complete **Activity 4**, to share the work they’ve done in their own wikis.

If you want to give the presentation again, just revert Activity 2 to its original state and update your examples.