How Do I Do That?

1. How Do I Do That? Creating Wikis and Blogs Presented By: Stefanie Rosenberg-Cortes Go to www.roosevelthighschool.wikispaces.com

2. What is a Wiki? What can it do for me? • Wiki means “fast” or “quickly” in Hawaiian. • A wiki is a page or collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content. In other words, it can be edited by others. • How can wikis benefit me? • Create a wiki to post websites or other documents for each class you teach. This is a great way to communicate with parents and students. • Create a wiki within your school or department to post resources each teacher might want to share. • Have students create and maintain a wiki throughout the year as a way to post class resources or other information. • The possibilities are endless!

3. Examples of Wikis…. • www.roosevelthighschool.wikispaces.com • www.dmpshistory.wikispaces.com • http://dmea.wikispaces.com

4. Creating a wiki…. • Go to http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers • Under the box that says Join Now, create a username and password. • Then, enter your email address. (An email will be sent to this address in order to confirm that it is a valid email.) • Make a wiki? Click yes.

5. Creating a wiki…. (Continued) • Wiki name: • This is the name that will appear as your “website,” so choose wisely. Example: www.roosevelthighschool.wikispaces.com • Some common names may already be taken so you may have to come up with something a little more unique. • Wiki permissions: • Decide who you want to view and edit your wiki. Most people choose protected which allows only registered users that you accept to edit your wiki. • Educational Use: • Click “I certify this wiki will be used for K-12 education.

6. Creating a wiki…. (Continued) • Once you get an approved wiki name, a screen will come up that says Getting Started With Your Wiki. • Click on Introduction to Your Wiki. Take a few minutes to scroll through the basic aspects of Wikispaces. • Once you feel comfortable, click out of box. You should see the “shell” of your wiki. • If you need help in the future you can always click on the Help button in the upper right hand corner.

7. Creating a wiki…. (Continued) • Click on Manage Wiki (upper left-hand corner). Here you can: • Change the look of your wiki • See uploaded files or delete them • See members • Etc. • Click on New Page (upper left-hand corner). This creates a distinct page from your “home” page. You can create as many new pages as you need. For example, you might want to make a new page for each unit you teach. • New pages will not show up on the left side of your wiki until you enter content within the page.

8. Creating a wiki…. (Continued) • How can I add something to a page? • Click edit page • Always remember to click SAVE when you are done. • What can I do within each page? (go to edit to do these things) • Post documents, PowerPoints, etc. • Add text • Add weblinks • Post comments • Questions?????

9. What is a blog? What can it do for me? • A website, maintained by an individual or group, with regular entries of commentary, events, or information. A blog usually allows visitors to comment on the creators posts. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Example: www.rooseveltworldhistory.blogspot.com • How can blogs benefit me? • You can post comments • You can upload video or pictures easily • You can upload documents through Google Docs • There are many add-ons to blogs that make it more “pleasing to the eye”

10. Creating a blog… • Go to www.blogger.com • Click on Create a Blog • A screen will appear that says Create a Google Account • Enter a current email address • Create a password (at least 8 characters long) • Create a display name (this will be used to “sign” your blog posts) If you are using this for a class you may want to choose your “teacher” name.

11. Creating a blog… • A screen will appear that says Name Your Blog • Create a blog title (this will appear at the top of your blog) • Create a blog address… Example: www.rooseveltworldhistory.blogspot.com • Click continue • A screen will appear that says Choose a Template • Choose a template (you can change this later) • Click continue • A screen will appear that says Your Blog Has Been Created • Click Start Blogging

12. Creating a blog… • The next screen that appears will be the “shell” of your blog. You should see three tabs in the upper left hand corner that say Posting, Settings, and Layout. • You do everything with your blog using these three tabs. • If you want to post a blog go to Posting. • To post a video go to Posting, then Edit HTML. Find the “embed” code in the video you want and paste it into the Edit HTML section. • To add a gadget or change the layout, color, look, etc. of the blog go to Layout.

13. Creating a blog… • What is a gadget? Gadgets are items that you can add to your blog that automatically update or operate by themselves. • There are many gadgets that blogger offers such as: • Today in history • Google search bar • Polls/surveys • Daily quotes • CNN News reel • Searchable encyclopedia • Calendars • Searchable You Tube • Etc. • Questions????

14. Wrap up… • Questions? • Please go to www.roosevelthighschool.wikispaces.com and take the survey entitled Wikis and Blogs Session. • Next time: • Review • Come with ideas of what to add to your wiki and/or blog because these have to be reported to the ILT. • Time to work on your wiki and/or blog.