According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiː] or [ˈwiː.kiː] 1) is a type of website that allows visitors easily to add, remove, or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. The term wiki can also refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website, or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site (an original wiki), WikiWikiWeb, and the online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia. The first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, is named after the "Wiki Wiki" line of Chance RT-52 buses in Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii.

Pretty cool, we can all learn from each other and share what we are learning. We can all edit and fix or add on to changes made by others that provides more accuracy.

A wiki is a neat way to e able to see the changes that can be made with out having to know all the code and things like that.

I've found about the same definition. http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki says:
"The simplest online database that could possibly work.

Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.

Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself.

Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users."

Also, it says that the first ever wiki site was created for the Portland Pattern Repository in 1995.

Fun huh

Well, I found the same definition as above, but have a little more to add to it. Wiki sites should be:
Open - Should a page be found to be incomplete or poorly organized, any reader can edit it as they see fit.
Incremental - Pages can cite other pages, including pages that have not been written yet.
Organic - The structure and text content of the site are open to editing and evolution.
Mundane - A small number of (irregular) text conventions will provide access to the most useful page markup.
Universal - The mechanisms of editing and organizing are the same as those of writing so that any writer is automatically an editor and organizer.
Overt - The formatted (and printed) output will suggest the input required to reproduce it.
Unified - Page names will be drawn from a flat space so that no additional context is required to interpret them.
Precise - Pages will be titled with sufficient precision to avoid most name clashes, typically by forming noun phrases.
Tolerant - Interpretable (even if undesirable) behavior is preferred to error messages.
Observable - Activity within the site can be watched and reviewed by any other visitor to the site.
Convergent - Duplication can be discouraged or removed by finding and citing similar or related content.
<http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples>
There were also some principles that suthors should be guided by today...
Trust - This is the most important thing in a wiki. Trust the people, trust the process, enable trust-building. Everyone controls and checks the content. Wiki relies on the assumption that most readers have good intentions. But see: AssumeGoodFaithLimitations
Fun - Everybody can contribute; nobody has to.
Sharing - of information, knowledge, experience, ideas...
Also at <http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples>

I think that if students learn to trust people and the process of wiki's, they will learn one of the most powerful things a student can learn. How to trust...this is a life skill that they will be using the rest of their lives. Not blind trust, but trust that can be gained through researching the process and using the process to prove to themselves that it really works. :)

Trust is an important thing when it comes to wiki's but I also think that even if you have false information there will be enough people who know the truth and can change things. Because the wiki is editable and can easily be added to by anyone it is reasonably safe to assume that you are getting correct information. Quite ingenious really.

Wiki in the classroom

it seems to me like a wiki does the same thing as a collaboration of ideas when several student are working together towards a mutual goal such as a project. on his/her own the individual would not be part of a continual learning process. simply put, we only learn by teaching others. when we teach others not only do they learn but they teach in return. together we come up with better solutions, more complete understanding, and a more continual learning for all individuals involved. the use of a wiki would help facilitate this.

using a wiki classroom would be extremely useful to all of us. but the same previous concern applies. the probability the site will die when this class is over.

According to dictionary.com:

Any collaborative website that users can
easily modify via the web, typically without restriction. A
wiki allows anyone, using a web browser, to edit, delete or
modify content that has been placed on the site, including the
work of other authors. This has been found to work
surprisingly well since contributors tend to be more numerous
and persistent than vandals and old versions of pages are
always available.

Text is entered using a simple mark-up language which is
then rendered as HTML. A feature common to many of the
different implementations is that any word in mixed case
LikeThis is automatically turned into a link to a page of that
name, which may or may not exist (similar to the linking in
this dictionary).

In contrast, a web log, typically authored by an individual,
does not allow visitors to change the original posted
material, only add comments.

Wiki wiki means "quick" in Hawaiian. The first wiki was
created by Ward Cunningham in 1995.

I think the biggest benefit to using a wiki in a classroom setting would be the more constant communication and flow of information between the teacher, the students, and the general public. It would create an easy path of communication and allow ideas to be shared faster, and to more people. The only downside I can see is what if you had some wierdo in the class who uploaded or saved a bunch of corrupt files to the site. Couldn't this be a huge disaster as far as the spread of computer viruses go?

A wiki for a classroom is like forwarding your emails to and from a teacher to everyone in the class. It helps people feel as though there are others just as lost as they are and that they can ask any question and rely on a collaborative answer.

I like the idea of using a wiki for classroom activities. I feel that a wiki can act as a realtime discussion board that students can use to help each other outside of class time. It provides a very accessable forum that students can utilize to share personal stories and knowledge, as well as a place for struggling students to ask for help. I am all about the whole wiki process.

I like the Wiki because it is so easy to use and edit one doesn't need to go to great lengths to share their ideas or knowledge. It works on all simple browsers and is edited at will alwoing freedom of speech and opinion.

Wiki Language

In writing wiki articles one should be careful not to use I language unless they insert quotes and proper documentation. Wiki's are authored by multiple writers in most cases. Therefore I language is inappropriate.

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