Summary

A wiki is a web application with whose help pages can be created online and can be edited by numerous authors or users.

Wiki: Short for WikiWiki or WikiWeb, an open authoring system for websites. Wikis are pages that are published in the world wide web that can be changed and edited online by the users[…]

Source: Gabler Verlag (ed.), Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, online version, [last access 18.02.2015]

A wiki (Hawaiian for "quick"), more seldom also called wikiwiki or wikiweb, is a hypertext system for websites whose contents are not only read by the users but can also be edited directly in the web browser (web 2.0 application). The aim is very often to collect experiences made and knowledge gained in a mutual collection (collective intelligence) and to document this for the target group in an understandable form. The authors work out mutual texts for this that are, if necessary, supplemented by photos and other media (collaborative writing, e-collaboration). […]

Source: Wikipedia, [last access 18.02.2015]

The Freie Universität Berlin provides, on the one hand, a central wiki system that is operated with the software Confluence. Further information to the FU wikis can be found here.

On the other hand, the possibility of setting up wikis in the LMS Blackboard is available. Further information on the Blackboard wikis can be found in this article.

The Blackboard wiki is a course area with which students can mutually create texts in that they set up a page in the wiki and enter contents there. Here they can also edit the contributions of others as well as supplementing and commenting on these. The wiki is implemented always then when content is collected and further developed on a continuous basis.

Implementation forms

Collecting key questions for the face-to-face sessions
Mutually developing ideas
Preparing presentations and documenting these as thesis papers
Creating a glossary

E-Learning at Freie Universität Berlin: Use Scenarios and Tools > Blackboard wikis > Blackboard-Wiki_Ray Bradbury.jpg

Illustration 1: Wiki homepage

Implementation tips

Usage suggestions for managing/moderating a wiki (PDF)

Practical examples at the Freie Universität

Usage

Blackboard wiki: Short tutorial (PDF)
Blackboard wikis in comparison to FU wikis

	Blackboard wikis	FU wikis
Creating wiki pages
Deleting wiki pages
Writing comments
Notifying employees about changes
Adding images, audio, video and links		more options
Change history
Disabling wiki pages	only disabling the wiki
Limitations
Overview of participation (percent, no. of words)
Moving wiki pages
Editing the wiki structure
Importing exporting wiki content

Notice:

Lecturers and course leaders can use the "FU Wikilink" function to create a FU Wiki directly from their Blackboard course and link it to their course. All persons registered in the Blackboard course can then access the linked FU Wiki via the FU Wikilink without any further administrative effort. You can find more about this in the following FAQ.

Data protection and terms of use

The posts in a forum of a Blackboard course are defaults and not anonymous; they can, however be anonymized via the forum settings.
The general terms of use for the learning management system of the Freie Universität Berlin provide you with information on the terms of use, for the registration, on improper use, on the exclusion of use, on liability, on usage rights and on changes to the terms and conditions of use.
If you have any legal questions on data protection, data safety, protection of intellectual property rights etc. that crop up during the design phase of a course supported by e-learning, the usage of existing material or the implementation of tools then please contact the Office of the General Counsel of the Freie Universität Berlin. Written information on these topics can be found here (Login with FU-Account required).

Further information

Landing page: Blackboard - Learning Management System
An overview of the services for lecturers and researchers can be found here.

Support offered by CeDiS

Consulting services for the implementation of digital solutions in teaching: The Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS) has extensive experience of many years when it comes to the implementation of digital media and systems within the fields of teaching, learning and research. We offer a wide variety of consulting services on the implementation of these tools and systems within the entire academic scope and especially at Freie Universität Berlin.
Training courses and workshops: For lecturers at Freie Universität Berlin (professors, employees, tutors) as well as lecturers of other universities CeDiS offers training courses and workshops on the topic of teaching and learning with digital media. These course enable participants to implement online elements within their own sphere of teaching.
The Executive Board of the Freie Universität supports e-learning initiatives: With the e-learning funding program financial resources are provided to lecturers that enrich and improve their courses quality-wise by implementing technological and media-related support. All of the academic staff teaching, the lecturers or even the institutions of the Freie Universität - without the Charité-Universitätsmedizin - can be supported within this program.