"Wiki" (/wiːkiː/) is a Hawaiian word for "fast"4 A wiki is a web page or collection of web pages that lets any visitor become a participant: you can create or edit the actual site contents without any special technical knowledge or tools. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection.
A wiki is continuously “under revision.” It is a living collaboration whose purpose is the sharing of the creative process and product by many. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. It is an online encyclopedia with no “authors” but millions of contributors and editors, and it's available in many languages.
Wikis vs. web pages:
Wikis
Web pages
Open editing
Limited editing
Simple text language
html
Earlier versions stored online
Early versions not automatically stored
Easy to create new pages
Difficult to create new pages quickly
Low security
High security
Equal user roles
Generally one user or webmaster
Multiple authorship
Limited authorship
Communal and collaborative
Individual owner and user
Pages always in progress
Pages considered finished
Read/write - construct, share, and learn
Read only format - static and click to learn
All are learners
Experts create and learners find information
Feedback
Read reviews
Learning theory at work
Wikis vs. blogs:
A blog, or web log, shares writing and multimedia content in the form of “posts” (starting point entries) and “comments” (responses to the posts). While commenting, and even posting, are open to the members of the blog or the general public, no one is able to change a comment or post made by another. The usual format is post-comment-comment-comment, and so on. For this reason, blogs are often the vehicle of choice to express individual opinions. Click to see an example of a classroom blog...
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A wiki has a far more open structure and allows others to change what one person has written. This openness may value group collaboration and consensus over individual opinion.
Table of Contents
What Is a Wiki?
Definition
"Wiki" (/wiːkiː/) is a Hawaiian word for "fast"4A wiki is a web page or collection of web pages that lets any visitor become a participant: you can create or edit the actual site contents without any special technical knowledge or tools. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection.
A wiki is continuously “under revision.” It is a living collaboration whose purpose is the sharing of the creative process and product by many. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. It is an online encyclopedia with no “authors” but millions of contributors and editors, and it's available in many languages.
Wikis vs. web pages:
Wikis vs. blogs:
A blog, or web log, shares writing and multimedia content in the form of “posts” (starting point entries) and “comments” (responses to the posts). While commenting, and even posting, are open to the members of the blog or the general public, no one is able to change a comment or post made by another. The usual format is post-comment-comment-comment, and so on. For this reason, blogs are often the vehicle of choice to express individual opinions. Click to see an example of a classroom blog...A wiki has a far more open structure and allows others to change what one person has written. This openness may value group collaboration and consensus over individual opinion.