WHAT is a "Wiki"? 


The name, wiki, comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick".  Wikis are easy and quick to create, with no knowledge hypertext markup language needed.  They allow for instant contribution and/or revision by anyone.  They are one of several features of Web 2.0 (as opposed to Web 1.0) ~ which sounds like a version of the WWW ~ and it could be viewed that way.  the best known wiki is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that is authored by many contributors.

Web 2.0 isn't actually a "version", but rather a new approach (first seen in 2005) to utilizing the WWW with Internet-based tools such as:
        bulletin boards
        discussion boards and forums
        blogs or web logs (on-line journals)
        RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds
        Wikis (web pages that may be edited by many people, easily)

Wikis are an on-going, collaborative, interactive tools and their use is breaking into education as another way of constructing knowledge.  Wikis emphasis is in the areas of reading, writing, and higher level thinking.

Our wiki pages are hosted by Wikispaces and will be focused around specific topics and/or areas of interest as we move through the school year.  They will also be "protected", which means anyone may read them, but only specific members may edit them.