Wikis and Blogs: Applications for Educational Environments

Nina McHale

Assistant Professor/Web Librarian

Auraria Library

Wikis and Blogs: What are they?

• Websites that allow readers/users to contribute content

• Based on open source software that makes creating and maintaining a web page easy and often free

• Quick, easy, and fun to create and maintain!

Quick Definitions: Wiki

• What’s a wiki? Wikipedia says:– “A wiki is software that allows users to create,

edit, and link web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative and to power community websites. These wiki websites are often also referred to as wikis; for example, Wikipedia is often considered one of the best known wikis.”

– “Wiki wiki”: Hawaiian for “fast”

Quick Definitions: Blog

• What’s a blog? Wikipedia says:– “A blog is a website where entries are commonly

displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”

– “Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.”

• Short for web log

What’s the difference?

• Wiki=collaborative– Good for collaborative projects– Users create/alter main content– Like a white board

• Blog=chronological– Better for any time-sensitive content– Users add comments to main content– Like the bathroom wall

Some Wiki Examples

• Auraria Library Web Advisory Committee– http://aurariawac.pbwiki.com/

• K-12 Examples– Science fair projects, literature circles, student

porfolios– http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Wiki_in_a_K-

12_classroom

Some Blog Examples at Auraria

• Library News & Events– http://aurhottop.blogspot.com/

• Research behind the News– http://aurariaresearchnews.blogspot.com/

• Library FYI– Using free tool Feed Digest, content from library blogs

is posted to the Auraria Library’s home page: http://library.auraria.edu

– Content from any blog can be posted in this way

Free Software

• Wikis: require some HTML knowledge– Mediawiki (what Wikipedia uses)– PBWiki (what Auraria Library uses)

• Blogs: HTML knowledge helpful– Blogger (Google; very popular; what Auraria

Library uses)– Wordpress