Wikis

For collaboration or dissemination of information

• Manage access
  • viewers - read only access
  • contributors - can add comments
  • editors - can create and edit pages, manage revision history
  • admin - manage membership, roles, revision history
• Content (in a wiki, a document is a 'page')
  • create as many pages as you need
    • create folders to organize related content
  • allow comments on pages to enable feedback, notes
  • hyperlink to anything, anywhere on the web
  • embed video in pages
  • embed widgets from other web applications
• Version history archived automatically

Wikis take some getting used to

• Create documents online: do not 'upload'; do not 'attach'
• Page editors are similar to familiar tools like Microsoft Word, but not exactly the same: Send 'links' to reviewers and contributors; do not send downloaded 'hard copy' version of page;
• Reviewers give feedback and editors revise online: you won't get a revision in your Inbox; feedback via email leaves a gap between content and commentary
• Wiki users generally need training - multi-level training with ongoing support

Benefits include

• A website wherein multiple people can manage content; administrator can track changes and reverse as needed
• No need to now special codes or scripting languages
• It's free! The most significant investment is your time and effort.
• Open and close the wiki (publish/unpublish) as needed.
• Great solution for short-term projects or niche programs such as retreats, conferences, seminar series, student activity groups, research teams.

Wiki administrators can

• Access from any computer with internet connection
  • home, office, off-campus office, on the road
• Full revision history available
  • want to go back to another version? no problem
  • don't like someone's changes? no problem
• Download and print when needed, as needed
  • many wikis offer .doc and .pdf options
• Embed multimedia for study
  • capture a video of a lab experiment, upload to web, embed in research lab wiki
  • capture elderly patient walking from chair to door; embed video in geriatric clinical case study wiki
• Manage supplementary documents
  • create a page for all your lit review materials and citations
  • or store .pdf versions in a content folder

Visit examples of medical education wikis

• Jackson Memorial Hospital / Health System and the University of Miami Department of internal medicine residency training program https://sites.google.com/site/jmhmedicine1611/
• Samaritan Health Services Medical Education
• Student Health Professions Association
  • Medpedia Project http://www.medpedia.com/about
  • Radiopedia.org http://radiopaedia.org/
  • Medical Matters Wiki (Univ of South Alabama) http://usabiomedmatters.wikidot.com
  • The Science in a Changing World (SICW) initiative at UMass Boston facilitates learning and teaching innovation, research and public engagement, discussion and collaboration among faculty and students concerning interactions between scientific developments and social change. http://sicw.wikispaces.umb.edu/
  • Anatomy, on Wikibooks http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Human_Anatomy

Read about using wikis in education

• Wikis (part 1): getting started, Jason B. Jones (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2009)
• Wikis (part 2): in the classroom, Jason B. Jones (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2009)

Learn more about wikis:

1. visit two wiki services, such as Google.com/sites or pbwiki.com or wetpaint.com or wikispaces.com or mediawiki.org
2. review features of the wiki
   1. what features are attractive for use in education, med ed, libraries or business?
   2. what differences do you notice between the two wiki platforms you chose?
3. What is your impression of wikis?
   1. are they attractive as a visitor?
   2. is it tempting to create your own wii?
   3. what barriers exist for you in regards to creating or contributing to a wiki?

TRY IT!! You are in a wiki right now! Poke around, look around, sign up if you want to try editing!

Summary

• A wiki is a type of collaborative software program that typically allows web pages to be created and collaboratively edited using a common web ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_(software)
• A web-publishing tool that can be utilized by groups of people simultaneously. (See "Blogs and Wikis") www.unescobkk.org/education/ict/online-resources/dictionary-of-ict-terms/
• A wiki is a collaborative Web site oriented to providing knowledge in some domain. Anyone can enter information, or change or comment on anyone ... www.information-management.com/glossary/w.html
• This is a website that includes the collaboration of work from many different authors. A wiki site allows anyone to edit, delete, or modify the content on the web. (The first wiki creator named the site after a chain of buses in Hawaii; Wiki means "quick" in Hawaiian.)