Creating a Classroom Wikispace
This tutorial will guide you through steps to create a classroom
Wikispace. It would be beneficial to go through the entire lesson once before creating your own Wikispace to get a feel for what Wikispaces are their benefits to educators.
ET502
Jennifer Bouska
Tiffany Kile
Julie Stout

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Wikispaces are groups of web pages that can be edited by anyone. As the creator, you can set your permissions to allow certain people to view and edit your page.
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“Wikis are simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together.
Starting your wiki at Wikispaces is fast, free, and easy.”
– www.wikispaces.com

Where can I locate Wikispaces?
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Wikispaces can be located at the internet address below.
◦ www.wikispaces.com

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A Wiki page is a page within a self created
Wikispace.
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Collaborative writing
Discussion
Brainstorming
Classroom Information/Newsletters
Networking

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Here are some educational Wikis you can explore before you begin.
◦ www.kile4.wikispaces.com
◦ www.jen283.wikispaces.com
◦ www.daviesteach.wikispaces.com
◦ www.cm4eric.wikispaces.com

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A computer with internet access
Basic knowledge of PowerPoint and using the internet
45 minutes of dedicated work time to complete this lesson

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Getting Started
Creating a Wikispace
Personalizing and Editing
Add a Page
Start a Discussion
Go On Stop and Try

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Open your internet and type the Wikispaces address in the address bar.
 www.wikispaces.com
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Select and enter your own username and password.
◦ Example:
 username -ET502
 email – ******@bears.unco.edu
 password - *******
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Then click “Get Started.”

◦ Click “Create a New Wiki.”
◦ Choose your Wiki Name and enter it into the box to the right of “Wiki Name.”
 Choose a name between 3 and 32 characters long.
 A wiki name must be at least 3 characters long.
 A wiki name can contain only letters, numbers, and hyphens, without any spaces, and it cannot start with a hyphen.
 A wiki name cannot be blank.
 Our lesson Wiki name – ET502

◦ Select a “Public”, “Protected”, or a “Private” Wiki type.
 If you want others to be able to edit and view your Wiki without being members, choose a “Public” Wiki.
 A “Protected” Wiki can be viewed by anyone, but only edited by Wiki members.
 A “Private” Wiki is not free and can only be viewed and edited by
Wiki members.
◦ Select the “Wiki Type.”
 Wiki Type For teachers there is a “K-12” option and a “Higher
Education” option. For this tutorial, we are selecting “Higher
Education.”
 K-12
 Higher education
 Business
 Personal
 Non-profit
 Government
 Other
 I prefer not to answer
 Click the “Create” button.

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Invite members to your Wiki
◦ Go to “Manage Wiki”
 People
 Invite people
 Add in the email addresses of all the people that need to be a part of this wiki page and send.
 You can find and add new members by going to Manage wiki, members.
 If you created a “Public” Wiki you do not need to invite members since the page is meant to be viewed and edited by outside members.

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Eliminating Advertisements
◦ Go to “Manage Wiki”
 Settings
 Click on “Subscriptions”
 Scroll to the bottom
 Select free educator upgrade
 Confirm you are using the Wiki for educational purposes
 Submit
◦ The advertisements will be removed within a few days!

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Personalizing your Wiki
◦ Wikispaces will provide you with a message to assist in this process.
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Editing your page
◦ If you are not at the home page, click
”Home”
◦ Click on the “Edit” button on the upper right side of your screen to begin editing your
Wiki page

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Delete preset text
◦ Clear out the text that comes with your new Wiki.
You do this with the “backspace” or “delete” key on your computer’s keyboard. This is similar to any text deletion on the computer.
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Begin adding your own text
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Start by typing your “Welcome Message” to students, parents, or peers
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When finished, press “save.”

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To change font formatting on your page, highlight the text and click on the “T-color pallet.”
◦ This function allows you to change “text
color”, “text alignment”, “vertical
position”, “background color”, and adding “strike through.”

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To change the color, click the “Text
Color” box.
Click on your new color and then
“Apply Styles.”
Click the “Save” button after making any changes.

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To insert a link to an outside webpage
◦ Click “External Link”
 Type in the words you would like to be hyperlinked into
“Link Text” box
 Type the address in the address box
 If you would like the linked website to appear in a new window, check the “New Window” box
 Click “Add Link”
 Click “Save”

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Insert images
◦ You must first be sure that you have a picture file saved on your computer.
 You can
 Use an existing picture file or photo
 Save a picture from a website or document to your computer
 To save, find a picture you would like and right click on it
 Then select “save image as” and choose the location to store your image
◦ You are now ready to upload your image to your wiki!

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Insert images or file
◦ Click upload files to find a file currently on the computer
◦ Then click file to upload
 Embed file
 Post it directly to the page
 Link to file
 Create a link to take the worker directly to a site.

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Embed Widget – insert outside movie
(example: Teacher Tube or You Tube)
◦ Click on the “widget” button
◦ Choose a Wikispaces widget or a category provided to you
◦ Click “save”

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Inserting and manipulating a table
 Click insert “table”
 Define your table
 Number of columns
 Number of rows
 Insert table
 Click “save”
 To change table size after creating, click on the table and a small table will appear.
 Click on small table and a menu will allow you to choose what you want to change.
 Click “save”
 To re-align the table within the Wikipage, click on the table and a small table will appear.
 Click on the small table and a menu will allow you to align your table at the right, left or center of the page
 Click “save”

◦ Preview
 Before saving any work, you can preview what changes you made. This will allow you to decide to keep your work or discard it.
◦ Cancel
 This button will cancel any changes you have made prior to saving. It will take you back to the last page that you saved.
◦ Save
 One of the most important buttons to push. Be sure to save any work that has been done unless you want to lose it.

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Changing the Color or Theme of your Wiki
◦ Go to “Manage Wiki”
◦ Click on “Look and Feel”
 Click on “Themes and Colors”
 Choose your theme from the samples
 Choose a color scheme
 Click “Preview” to view the layout on the screen
 You can choose:
 “Preview”
 “Preview and Customize”
 Change the colors to your exact specifications.
 “Apply”
 Remember to click “Save” to keep your choice

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Click “New Page”
◦ Give your page a name
◦ Click “Create”
◦ Edit your new page the same way you did your initial page.
◦ Your new page will be listed on a sidebar of your Wiki page.
 Click on the new page name to view the page.

◦ To insert a link to another page in your Wiki
 Click “Link”
 Insert the name of the page that you want linked to this page.
 Give it a name: Link Text
 Attach it to a current page within the Wiki
 Click “Add Link”
 Click “Save”

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Click on the discussion tab at the top of your Wiki page.
◦ Select “New Post”
 Name a subject and type in your discussion topic.
 If you would like email reminders when discussions happen, click on monitor this topic.
 Click “Post”
◦ Click on discussion subject name to reply to the post.
◦ Type in your reply and click “Post.”
◦ The moderator for the discussion will receive an email saying you replied.

Do you know how to create a Wiki?

Under “Manage Wiki,” which button do you press to change the look of your Wikispace? a) b) c) d)
Content Manager
Badges
Look and Feel
Space Usage
Answer: c) Look and Feel

Under “Edit,” which button do you press to change font formatting such as color and size?
Answer: a) T-color pallet

True or false, once I begin to edit, I cannot go back.
Answer: False, by pressing cancel, the
Wiki will go back to the previously saved choices.

Under “Edit,” which button do you press to align text?
Answer: d) T-color pallet

Which button do you press to add a page?
a) b) c) d)
Templates
New Page
Tags
Exports
Answer: b) New Page

Under “Discussion,” you can post your discussion question by… a) b) c) d)
Clicking on “Search Posts”
Entering your question into the blank box
Clicking “+ New Posts”
Double clicking the “Discussion” button again
Answer: c) Clicking “+ New Post”

Under “Edit,” which button do you press to add a picture to your page?
a) b) c) d)
Widget
Link
File
Table
Answer: c) File

True or False, the discussion button can be found along the top of the home page.
Answer: True, the discussion button is
Between “Page” and “History” tabs at the top of the Wiki.

Under “Edit,” which button do you press to add a video to your page? a) b) c) d)
Video
Preview
Widget
Movie
Answer: c) Widget

Under “Manage Wiki,” which button do you press to change protections so that only certain people can view your page? a) b) c) d)
Permissions
Content Manager
Wiki Info
User Creator
Answer: a) Permissions

True or false, I can upload large files to share with others.
Answer: True, the Wiki page is capable of very large files.

True or false, I am the only person who can edit my pages.
Answer: False, depending on the permission level that the Wiki is set at, you can determine who can edit my pages.

Under “Manage Wiki,” which button do you press to eliminate the advertisements? a) b) c) d)
Members
Notifications
Wiki Statistics
Subscription
Answer: d) Subscription

True or false, Wikis are unsafe because anyone can edit them at any time.
Answer: False, a Wiki can be set at different levels of permissions to allow for collaboration on many different levels.

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Use these videos to refresh your memory.

You are now ready to utilize your Wikispace!