A New Wiki Application is in Alpha

Scribbleton is a personal wiki application that is stored on your own computer rather than on a vendor’s server in the cloud.

This standalone software can be downloaded in alpha version for Mac, Windows, and Linux. A wiki created on one of the platforms can be accessed from any of the platforms.

A Scribbleton wiki can be used on your own computer or it can be put on a shared drive and accessed from any computer on the network.

The description on Scribbleton’s website (http://scribbleton.com/) emphasizes text functions, features, and benefits. Many basic text functions are available in this alpha version of the software…

Formatting options are available for:

• font style… (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough)
• font size… (smaller, larger)
• alignment… (left, center, right, justify)

A toolbar at the top of the page gives access to:

• navigate pages… (back, forward, link/unlink (to link pages))
• modify pages… (rename)
• edit content on pages… (format)
• delete pages… (trash can)

A left sidebar lists (clickable) the pages in the wiki and provides a button to create new pages.

Both individual pages and the whole wiki can be exported as HTML or TEXT. Each page is individually exported when you choose to export the whole wiki.

Additional needed text functions (e.g., page reordering, bullets, text color changing) are in the developers’ plans.

But, can text stand on its own? Web writing today is visual and interactive. I am interested to see how this application develops in those directions.

I like using wikis for multiple reasons, one of which is to help me organize tasks and content. And normally I like working in the cloud because I can have access to my information anywhere I have Internet access. But, sometimes my work is more localized and could be served by a good—and versatile—tool on my computer.

The Scribbleton personal wiki application has been released early (alpha) in the development process. The developers (on their website) encourage Scribbleton users to send feedback as the product is being created.

I do not know yet if the Scribbleton personal wiki application is a tool that will work well to help me organize tasks and content. But I do know that it is easy to use and appears to be heading in a good direction. And I plan to follow along to see if it becomes a tool I would like to use.

Using Wikis for Teaching and Learning

The wiki is a tool that is useful for teaching, learning, and management in the classroom and personally. I am selecting resources to add to my current materials in an upcoming summer workshop (see last week's post) to help the workshop participants understand the value and benefits of using wikis.

Looking at the Wiki / Kathy Cassidy / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I have used several wiki platforms (Wikispaces, PBwiki/PBworks, WetPaint, and Google Sites) in the classroom and personally. My students have contributed to my wikis and created their own. We have used wikis to collaborate, to organize, and to create.

I searched for appropriate resources in my Delicious account, my educational sandbox (a customized search engine for a select set of blogs... see How Do You Search for Information on a Topic?), LiveBinders, Pinterest, Scoop.it!, Twitter, YouTube, and on the web. At this point I have developed a list of resources that should be useful in four areas:

• introduction to wikis
• interesting wiki sites
• wiki platforms / vendors and
• resources for educators.

 

Introduction to Wikis

Obligatory Wiki Photo / Alan Levine / CC BY-SA 2.0

• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/wiki.htm
• How Wikis Work... good explanation

• http://dictionary.sensagent.com/wiki/en-en/
• Definition of Wiki and Wikipedia article on Wikis... includes photo of Ward Cunningham (the father of wikis)

• http://elearninginfographics.com/the-wiki-journey-infographic/
• The Wiki Journey Infographic... embeddable, describes the use of the word wiki since the introduction of wikis

• http://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis
• Wikis... CommonCraft's video that introduces wikis... a "for evaluation only" version... site lists plan and pricing options

• http://www.coolcatteacher.com/videos/teaching-students-about-wikis
• Teaching Students about Wikis with a Wiki Sandbox Project... introduction to wikis for students... includes sandbox assignment, video, and other resources... use this to guide you (the teacher) as you create your own lesson because it uses an older version of the wiki software

• http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/index.cfm
• Wiki Walk-Through... introduction to wikis and using them in teaching

 

Interesting Wiki Sites

Representing WikiHow / Dvortygirl / CC BY 2.0

• http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page
• Wikiversity… an open educational resource… more than 26,000 learning resources (as of 5/11/2014)

• http://wikimindmap.com/
• WikiMindMap… creates a mindmap for the topic you choose in Wikipedia

• http://www.wikia.com/Wikia
• Wikia: Create. Collaborate. Be Original.… a network of games, entertainment, and lifestyle content… a collaborative publishing platform… more than 370,000 wikias (as of 5/11/2014)

• http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
• Wiki How (to do anything)… a collection of how-to guides… step-by-step instructions… a collaborative effort… more than 170,000 how-to articles (as of 5/11/2014)… volunteer recent changes patrollers quickly revert poor edits

• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
• Wiktionary, the free dictionary… a collaborative project… goal is to “describe all words of all languages using definitions and descriptions in English”… includes a thesaurus, a rhyme guide, phrase books, language statistics, and appendices… Wiktionaries are available in other languages

 

Wiki Platforms / Vendors

Google Sites / AJ Cann / CC BY-SA 2.0

Wiki Platform Comparisons

• http://www.wikimatrix.org/
• WikiMatrix… provides access to more than 140 wikis… some or all wikis can be compared based on features… matrices are also available for forums, podcatchers, and weblogs

Wikispaces

• http://www.wikispaces.com/
• Wikispaces and Wikispaces Classroom… wiki and social writing platform for education…. use for classroom management and project-based learning… pricing varies from free to $$$ and number of wikis varies from 1 to unlimited

• http://help.wikispaces.com/
• Wikispaces Help

• http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=19188
• Wikies: Ten (not so) Secrets about the Web's Most Powerful Tool... tips for using Wikispaces

Google Sites

• https://sites.google.com/
• Google Sites… create websites and secure group wikis

• https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/sites
• Google Sites Forum… share suggestions, ask questions, and connect with other users

• https://support.google.com/sites/?hl=en#
• Google Sites Help Center

• http://www.steegle.com/
• Steegle.com for Tutorials... free Google Apps and Google Sites help tutorials

 

Resources for Educators

"wiki was very good" / fin5bjh / CC BY 2.0

• http://50ways.wikispaces.com/50Mobile+Ways
• 50+ Web Ways to Tell a Story: 50 Mobile Ways… original site works with non-mobile apps… now mobile apps are included

• http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page
• The World War I Document Archive… archive of primary documents from World War One… assembled by volunteers… international in focus

• http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-wiki-references/
• How to Make Wiki References… uses Son of Citation Machine [new version: http://www.citationmachine.net/] and MLA...

• http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-budget-resource-collaboration-video
• How Teachers Collaborate Online and in School… teachers create a resource called Beyond Textbooks

• http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=504768
• 50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom… older site but the ideas are still good

• http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=wiki
• Pinterest search for wiki… many good pins… select what serves your needs

• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/wiki-classroom-audrey-watters?page=2
• Why Wikis Still Matter… reasons to use wikis

• http://www.edutopia.org/whats-next-2008-wiki-teacher?page=11
• Wiki Woman: How a Web Tool Saved My Career… a wiki is the hub for almost all class activity… students are actively involved

• http://blog.wikispaces.com/2013/06/guest-post-my-magical-wiki-adventure.html
• My Magical Wiki Adventure… a teacher’s journey using wikis in the classroom

These sites should help facilitate some interesting and useful discussions. How do you help other educators discover the benefits of using wikis?