When we started this class, I had no idea what a wiki was, other than thinking that "wiki" was simply an abbreviation for Wikipedia. What's more, I had absolutely no idea how to go about creating my own wiki. However, through experimenting with both Google Sites and Wikispaces, I have found them both to be very simple to navigate.
Wikispaces had an extremely user-friendly interface. The first time I visited the website and signed up for an account, I was still skeptical of the ease I was experiencing, but as soon as I logged in and clicked "New Wiki," a giant "Welcome to Your New Wiki" page popped up! This page was very helpful and informative as I wouldn't have known to think of all of the topics it covered, but it did get overwhelming. I noticed that I started skimming through the topics, rather than poring through them as I first did when I opened the page. As for the rest of the site, I enjoyed the various options it provides that Google Sites does not, such as: Favorite Sites, Inbox, News, Monitoring (sites you want to watch) and community. This allows the user to personalize his/her homepage based on personal interests.
When it came to creating the actual wiki, it was really easy to create and edit as well; however, it took me a few minutes of clicking around on the site to find the "New Page" link, which turned out to be housed under the "Pages and Files" tab--go figure. I had a lot of fun playing with my test wiki. Inserting pictures and links used the same toolbar as Google Sites, but it was difficult to resize the images without ruining their proportions.
Overall, Google Sites is really awesome for one's personal webpage, but Wikispaces seems to offer more for teachers. The features of the site that provide special access for K-12 and Higher Education teachers seem to open up a lot of options for including technology in the classroom. Additionally, I found it fascinating that it allows for teachers to create a whole class' worth of student accounts without requiring any of the student information. This would save a lot of time in the classroom; if the teacher can simply provide the preestablished account information to the SS, then there is more structured time for the T to help the SS become familiar with the site and it's resources, rather than wasting a lot of class time trying to set up the accounts.
Now that I have successfully navigated the world of two different "wiki farms," I feel very comfortable with my ability to create wikis. I came into this class with no wiki experience, and have successfully created one on both Google Sites and Wikispaces. I feel that the only way to really learn how to navigate web pages is to explore them, so before introducing wiki use to
my students, I would make sure that I was well-versed in the demands of each site. Furthermore, once introducing the wikis into a classroom, I would give my students class time to become familiar with the sites. I would encourage my students to navigate the sites on their own so they become familiar with wikis in a relaxed atmosphere, and I would be available to answer any questions that could come up. Through this experience, I have discovered how useful wikis can be in a teaching environment, and I will challenge myself to incorporate them in my teachings.
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