How+Do+I+Start?

= Getting Started is Easy =  
 * [|**Set up your educational wiki! Wikispaces is giving away FREE ad free, private, PLUS accounts**] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">. **   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Wikispaces is giving away 100,000 free educationa websites with upgrades. ( This means no ads are on the page) to start your free educational wikispace go to **  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif">[|**http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers**]  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif">[|**Click Here**] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">**<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> for some tutorials on using wikispaces step-by-step! **     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif">**<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">If you are new to wikis, you might want to check out the <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">teacher help page <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> for answers to some commonly asked questions. If you want to get started, <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">[|the video tutorial] <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> with one of the wikispace creators makes it extremely easy to do!     **
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black', Gadget, sans-serif">Wikis WYSIWYG editor is easy to use. Just click on the "Edit this Page" tab and start typing! Below is a list of the available tools on the text editor.

= = =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**<span style="COLOR: #050505; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">__The Editing Tools__ **    = ==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">This is an advanced text edit tool that will allow you to change the font, size, color and alignment of your text. ==

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==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">These are your Hyperlink buttons. After highlighting a piece of text that you wish to turn into a link, select the left button to add a link. The link can take you to another page on the wiki or any web address you like. == ==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">This tool will insert a horizontal line to help break up your page into sections. A Word of Warning---this tool can be quite quirky! == ==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Use this tool to browse your computer and upload files from your computer. Almost ANY type of file (pictures, video, other software, etc.) can be uploaded. Just remember if the program used to create the file is not on the users computer, they will not be able to open it. == <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> ==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">This tool will allow you to embed widgets and insert HTML codes. If you wish to put a teacher tube or you tube video, just copy and paste the "embed" code from the site into the HTML box under this button. Follow the directions to embed other widgets such as audio, maps, spreadsheets calendars, polls, documents, etc. == <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> ==<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">This is the table creator. Tables can be useful for organizing information on your site. == ==<span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">This is the special character tool to insert Greek symbols, language accents, fractions, etc.      == ==<span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">This tool will allow you to insert HTML or other computer editing code. == ==<span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">       == ==<span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 80%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">       ==

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=__ Some Final Thoughts __=
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**Setting Up Your Space--**<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Think about what you want to do with the space when you set it up. Maybe you just want to start with a simple discussion prompt and use the discussion tab? Maybe just a basic class website with links to your different classes? Maybe you want to set up an individual page for each student in your class? Whatever you want to accomplish, knowing this ahead of time will help you to structure your page. Of course, with wikis you can start very basic and build it as your needs change! <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Browse the waystowiki examples for some ideas!


 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">**Protected vs. Private--**Many teachers opt to make their spaces "protected" and not "private." Doing so allows non-members to view but not edit the pages (the wiki you are viewing now is Protected, for example).


 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">**Student User Names--**Given that wikis are often set to be viewable by non-members, you may want to encourage or even require your students not to use LAST NAMES in the wiki. Creating wiki accounts provides a good opportunity for you to discuss the concept of online identity with your students.


 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**I Forgot My Password!--**Most of us could be better managers of our user names and passwords. Make a record of student user names in case they forget. Encourage them to be wise in password design. Encourage them to write down their user names as well as a reminder for their password (but never the actual password).


 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**No Email? No Problem!--**For students with no email, you can use your gmail account with a little trick: Suppose your gmail address is "teacher@gmail.com" and you have a student named Joe Schmoe. Enter his email address as "teacher+joes@gmail.com. Any email sent to that address will come into your gmail account. This can be a very handy workaround!

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 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**Choosing a Group Leader or Organizer--**Although wikis are meant to be collaborative in nature, it is often helpful, especially with high school students, to assign the role of overall organizer to one student. It is also a good idea to meet with these organizers privately to talk about how to use their leadership position to keep things running smoothly and 'looking good'. During that meeting, it is important to brainstorm and suggest ways for the leader to seek input from the group members to avoid becoming a 'dictator' - one of the easiest ways, of course, being to use the 'Discussion' tab inherent in each wiki page, to discuss changes in format, additional content, etc.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">**Customizing Your Page--**you can change the settings, permissions and the look of your space under Manage Space link in the upper left. If you want to customize your space even more, check out https://gettingtrickywithwikis.wikispaces.com/. This will give you a few HTML codes to customize your wiki beyond the norm. For example: The frame background on this page was created with HTML from this page. You also might try using [|Glogster] to customize your pages. Click here for an example of this.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif">Check out[[image:http://www.wikipatterns.com/download/attachments/3014674/wikipatterns-80x15.jpg caption="Wikipatterns.com" link="http://www.wikipatterns.com/?s_kwcid=wp_badges"]] for some in-depth information about how to take a wiki beyond just an information source and toward a truly collaborative resource.