Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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Setting up a wikiWiki is a Hawaiian word meaning ‘fast’. A wiki is an electronic page in a website that is fast to make. It can be set up so that others can make changes of additions – a bit like a whiteboard.

A wiki website is a collection of wiki pages that are linked together. Wikipedia is a good example of a wiki – a very large one. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can add to. Check it out – go to www.wikipedia.com.

Take a look at this video to see one way that a wiki can be used – go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY&feature=related.

There are several sites where you can make your own wiki. A couple of popular ones are wikispaces.com or pbwiki.com. The instructions below explain how to set up a wiki through wikispaces.com.

Note: Children should be supervised when using interactive sites.

Getting started

Go to www.wikispaces.com.

There are different types of wikis that you can set up. You can create a public wiki space that is free. There is an option to create a private wiki for a school or an organisation, but private spaces have a hosting charge – select the Private Label options to find out more.

The following instructions are about how to set up a public wiki for free.

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Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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Once you’re at the wikispaces.com site, it’s worth taking the tour to see how to set up a wiki – select the Tours option.

To set up a wiki at wikispaces.com, you will need to create an account. Fill out the requested information.

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Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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You may be prompted for further information. On this screen, if you select the Public option, your wiki will be available to the public. If you select the Private option, only those you invite will be

able to make additions or changes to the wiki.

View the tutorials

Once you have set up your wiki, the first screen you see will give you the option to view tutorials about how to use a wiki. It’s really worthwhile spending the time to go through the tutorials – they’re straightforward and easy to follow. They will introduce you to how to get your wiki working. Work your way through the numbers at the bottom of the screen to view the tutorials.

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Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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Editing your wiki

To start editing (or changing) the wiki, select the Edit this page link on the top menu.

Once you are in edit mode, you can add text and format it, using the options on the menu above the text area.

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Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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You can also upload files, images or video from your computer, or from the internet. Select the Insert images and files option on the top menu (that’s the one that looks a bit like a tree ), then Browse to find the file, and then Upload. Alternatively, find the URL to an image or file.

The image will appear within an Insert a file box. Place the cursor at the position in the wiki where you would like the image to go, and then double click on the image. The image will be copied to the wiki.

You can name the image, and change the alignment (position on the left, centre or right) in the Image properties box that appears.

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Engaging Indigenous learners in education through ICT

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You can add video, calendars or other widgets (things like audio files, spreadsheets, maps, etc) are using the links on the top menu. You will see different prompts for adding different types of programs. Have a go – explore the options.

You can preview your changes at any stage by selecting the Preview option on the top menu, and remember to regularly Save your work.

You can send the URL of the page to others to make a contribution.

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