TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What is a Wiki?
• Creating a Wiki
• Linking to Your Wiki
  • Add a Tool Link to your Course Menu
  • Add a Tool Link Within a Content Area
• Creating and Editing Wiki Pages
• Editing and Managing Wikis
• Grading Wikis

What is a Wiki?

A wiki is a collaborative authoring tool that allows you to contribute and modify one or more pages of course related materials. A wiki provides an area where users can collaborate on content. Users within a course can create and edit wiki pages that pertain to the course or a course group. For more information, view the Create and Manage Wikis tutorial video.

Unfamiliar with wikis? View the Wikis in Plain English video to learn more about wikis.

Creating a Wiki

Wikis allow course members to collaborate by contributing to and modifying one or more pages of course materials. Instructors can grade contributions and all course members can create wiki pages and add comments. 

To create a wiki for your course, select Course Tools from the Course Menu.

This will bring you into the Tools Area of your course. Select Wikis from the list. This will bring you into the Wikis area of your course. Click Create Wiki to create a new wiki.

Enter a name for your wiki and enter a description or instructions using the Text/Content Editor.

In the Wiki Date and Time Restrictions section, select Yes to make your wiki available. If you would like your wiki viewable after a certain date or within a date range, set the Date and Time Restrictions.

Select your wiki participation and whether you want to allow students to edit and comment.

If you will be grading your wiki, you can add the points possible.

Once you have finished, click Submit to save your changes.

Linking to Your Wiki

Once you have created a wiki you will need to create a link for students to access the wiki. You may create a link directly from the Course Menu or from within a Content Area.

Add a Tool Link to your Course Menu

To add a new Tool Link, click the Add Menu Item button at the top left corner of the course menu.

This will open a menu. Select Tool Link.

Give your link a Name and select the appropriate tool from the Type drop-down list (ex Wiki). Check the box next to Available to Users. Click Submit to save your changes.

Your link will be added to the Course Menu. Click the link to navigate to the Wikis area of your course. All of your Wikis should be visible. You may also create a new wiki from this page by clicking the Create Wiki button.

Add a Tool Link Within a Content Area

To add a tool link within your weekly content, navigate to your content area and click on the Tools link a the top of the page. Then select Wikis.

You will then be prompted to link to the Wikis page (which will list all of the wikis in your course), to a specific wiki, or create a new wiki.

Creating and Editing Wiki Pages

When you access a new wiki for the first time, a message appears at the top of the page prompting you to create a home page. The home page always appears first in the wiki page list, making it an ideal page for instructions.

You or any course or group member can create the home page. The home page cannot be deleted, however any course member may edit it.

Once the first wiki page has been created, you or your students may add pages to the wiki by clicking the Create Wiki Page button. 

Any course member can edit a course wiki page unless you have disabled this function. When someone edits a wiki page, the page is locked for two minutes to prevent others from editing the same page. You're informed that someone is currently editing the page. The lock expires regardless of activity/inactivity. After two minutes, another course member can start editing the page and a new lock is placed on the page.

View the Create and Edit Wiki Pages tutorial video for more information on creating and editing wiki pages:

Editing and Managing Wikis

As an instructor you can edit the wiki properties, delete the wiki and view a wiki page's history to assess contributions. See Edit and Manage Wikis for more information.

Grading Wikis

If you enable grading on a wiki, a grade column is created automatically in the Grade Center. View all the pages a student authored and edited as you determine the grade on the Participant’s Contribution page. The grade applies to the whole wiki, not an individual wiki page. See Grading Wiki Pages for more information.