Monday, February 11, 2013

Wiki Practice

This week I learned how to add content to Wikipedia and to create my own wiki.  Wikipedia is fairly simple to edit entries on, but not as simple as posting to your blog.  Some knowledge of special text to make sections, add emphasis characters, make citations and create links is necessary but fairly easily learned on the tutorial pages.  Within a few minutes of starting I had created an account and started practice editing.  After a bit of study and practice I was able to make my first edits to an existing page.  I choose the page on Extensive Reading (my university is extremely sensitive about public image and so I am unprepared to edit information on the related Wikipedia site) and made some updates.  First, I updated the external links section by removing a link to a site I knew had been shut down, added a new site taking on some of the functions the other was providing, and then added two more sites for groups providing support for Extensive Reading.  After succeeding with that, I decided to add a section on these two groups, which you can see in the screen shot below.


In addition, I set up a wiki here. I set it up to use in a writing class in the next academic year and I will have class members join it, set up their own pages, and then create group and individual projects for them so they can have the work they post protected from other people changing it.  Since students will post their work here, which may include private information, and since my students are minors under Japanese law, I have opted to keep this wiki private to class members and "other teachers."  If you are a teacher and would like access to be able to view it, please let me know and I'll give you permission, at least until students start adding information.

1 comment:

  1. Nice work, Thomas! I'm glad you found some things to edit in wikipedia. It is amazing how we can all work together and crowd source information.

    ReplyDelete

You are welcome to post comments, though they will be moderated before appearing and comments deemed inappropriate by the blog owner will be deleted.