Hi John (and all)
Wikipedia has a list of hosted wikis, together with an indication of their
popularity, pricing, and technical features. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_farms However, these descriptions
aren't exhaustive and don't indicate specific educational features. Most
wiki hosts provide a basic free service, but advanced features may require
payment - however, educational uses may be exempt or discounted.
I've been using Wikidot for my site http://tla.wikidot.com This is free
for educational use (adverts also removed), the pages are fast to load
after changes are made, and there is a nice community feel. An unlimited
number of users can be registered. On the other hand, the permissions
settings are rather rudimentary - you can only assign editing permissions
for the entire site, not for specific pages or individuals. Also, the
editing uses wiki syntax, rather than WYSIWYG, which might be an issue if
you won't want your students to have to spend time getting to grips with
the syntax.
My colleagues in London Met's Writing Centre CETL have been using the free
basic wikis offered by PB Works (formerly PB Wiki). I've also got a
registered site here, but it's undeveloped as yet. This offers WYSIWYG
editing, as well as html, but page loading is slower than with Wikidot.
Page-level permissions settings and registration of > 100 users requires a
paid plan, as described here: http://pbworks.com/academic-pricing.wiki
Zoho (www.zoho.com) offer an impressive suite of online applications, of
which wikis are just one. Page and individual-level permissions are
available with the free service, and the paid services are quite cheap:
http://wiki.zoho.com/Wiki-Pricing.html?ff
I've tinkered briefly with Zoho, and it seems easy to use, with WYSIWYG,
though also slower to load than Wikidot.
Wetpaint is one of the, possibly THE, most popular wiki host:
http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/ Educational use is free;
non-educational use is also free if you accept advertising, but is charged
otherwise. I haven't used this service (yet) but from the FAQ it appears
that page-level permissions can be set. There is also someone at the
service dedicated to handling educational enquiries.
YouTube has some instructional videos about using some of these sites, and
others; just type in the name of the service and see what comes up.
Cheers,
David
> David - thanks .. I really enjoyed this and found it inspiring ... so
> where should we go now to set up our wikis? Could anyone recommend wiki
> software or providers they think are good? I played with a free one from
> 'Wikispaces' a couple of years back, but not enough to get to know it ...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: learning development in higher education network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Hardman
> Sent: 13 June 2009 14:38
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Excellent video on wiki use in education
>
> I wrote a little while back asking about the use of wikis in education.
> I've just discovered an excellent video on this topic - a 55 minute
> lecture by Richard Buckland of the University of New South Wales. The link
> is here:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1-8OOrBi0o
>
>
> David
>
> --
> Dr David Hardman
> Principal Lecturer in Learning Development
>
> Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Psychology
>
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/davidkhardman
> Teaching Learning Assessment: http://tla.wikidot.com
> Science, Education, and Technology: http://www.davidkhardman.com
> JDM textbook: http://judgmentanddecisionmaking.blogspot.com
> Other shared stuff: http://www.google.com/profiles/davidkhardman
>
>
>
> Companies Act 2006 : http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/companyinfo
>
--
Dr David Hardman
Principal Lecturer in Learning Development
Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Psychology
Twitter: http://twitter.com/davidkhardman
Teaching Learning Assessment: http://tla.wikidot.com
Science, Education, and Technology: http://www.davidkhardman.com
JDM textbook: http://judgmentanddecisionmaking.blogspot.com
Other shared stuff: http://www.google.com/profiles/davidkhardman
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