It seems that some people - OK, some of my students - are confused about the difference between a blog and a wiki, so I thought I'd write a few words of clarification.
As you know, a blog is an online web log or online diary, edited by one or more people, with postings usually listed in chronological order. This is a blog!
If you created a web site but allowed anyone who had access to it to contribute postings it, you will have created a collaborative web site called a Wiki. An example of that is Wikipedia, the web encyclopedia created by its own public. A Wiki does not usually have postings in chronological order, for fairly obvious reasons.
My students are interested because about 60 of them will be creating a Wiki about their trip to Wales using a facility in Moodle, a VLE.
If a web log is a blog (weB LOG), why is a wiki not called a blab (a weB colLABoration)? Well, in 1995, Cunningham created the first collaborative web site and called it wikiwikiweb, meaning in Hawaiian, quick quick web, abbreviated to wikiwiki. And you thought they were new! It turns out that Wikis are quick because they allow facilities for submission by web form which is basic text with easy mark up. The speed with which peers can edit postings is crucial to successful collaboration, so Wiki is a very appropriate name and is not likely to change soon.
But I promised you some news.
You may have concluded that a blog may have a single editor but a Wiki can't. Like many obvious things in life, it 'aint necessarily so.
The new Citizendium has an editor - the same man who created Wikipedia. The idea is to give the wiki greater reliability with contributors signing with their own name. Have a look... (http://www.citizendium.org/), it is a fascinating experiment - a Wiki with an editor.
Sheet music on a Wiki? Have a look at Wikifonia (http://www.wikifonia.org/), a new repository. And copyright worries? Seems that a personal use statement salves one's conscience. To quote the site:
- "Wikifonia is the place for musicians to publish and collaborate on sheet music. Therefore all sheet music is made by the community for the community. By cooperation with a music copyright association, Wikifonia is a legal framework where also protected sheet music can be published."
Now, if you post a comment on my blog, which I keep, is that making my blog a Wiki? Discuss.
2 comments:
I think the creative commons is an interesting part of this discussion - its another collaborative resource that enables creativity to flourish through sharing freely. That's really what blogs and wikis are about.
Thanks for this. I agree.
The OU are using such a licence for their Open Learn initiative (http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php.
What with Open Source initiatives, responsible for the likes of Moodle and Wiki and Blog applications, are we entering a sharing revolution?
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