What's a PBwiki?
A wiki is an easy-to-use web page which multiple people can edit. PBwiki (http://www.pbwiki.com) is the easiest way to get a wiki for your classroom or for yourself. For example, if you need a classroom web page, you could add your syllabus and handouts right to your PBwiki in 30 seconds.
What else can I do with a PBwiki?
- Let your students collaborate: They can use a PBwiki to do group work or create their own personal web page.
- Demo your work: Use your PBwiki as an easy-to-create portfolio of the projects completed by your students. You can create an online slideshow to demo your work with one click.
- Keep others informed: Set up a page in your PBwiki to update parents on what your students are doing, or to update students on changes to your syllabus. It's live and editable any time.
- Referencing back coursework, discussions, and resolutions
- Develop asynchronous open-ended discussions
- Posting frequently asked questions (FAQs) and reactions to them
- Enabling small group collaboration for teams of students, instructors, and administrators
- Create living textbooks
What if one of my students posts something that's inappropriate?
If this happens, you can always go back to an earlier version of the wiki. Because we keep all versions of a page, you can go back in time very easily, and you can see who made each change.
How much does it cost?
Setting up a PBwiki is free. The basic PBwiki comes with 10MB of storage space, unlimited pages, and the ability to welcome an unlimited number of visitors. If you'd like more features and storage space, we offer Premium wikis starting at $10/month.
Is it easy to use?
Yes! It's as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich. It takes 30 seconds to create and you can have a classroom up and running in about 5 minutes. We have lots of templates to get you started, and we’re always adding more.
Who controls the content?
Whoever has access to your wiki can edit it. In other words, you control who gets access to the wiki, but once they’re logged in, they can edit the wiki.
Our Premium plans offer advanced features like access controls, which allow you to designate certain people as Readers and others as Writers or . You may also lock certain pages (like your syllabus) and hide others. You may upgrade to Premium any time, right from your wiki, by clicking the "upgrade" button at the lower left.
Can I make my wiki public or private?
Yes, you can make your wiki public or private, and no matter which you choose, a password is always required to edit your wiki--meaning only your trusted circle of users can make changes to your wiki.
Can you show me some sample wikis?
- http://mrlindsay.pbwiki.com/ is Mr. Lindsay's beautiful classroom wiki, where he demos his students' work with book reviews, poems, stories, and tons of other resources. It's a wiki run "by the students, for the students."
- http://cas100b.pbwiki.com/ is another excellent educational wiki. Notice how it has class notes, project proposals, and different sections for different classes.
- http://epochewiki.pbwiki.com/ is Penn State’s English 15 wiki, which is required for every freshman student.
Also, be sure to check out educators.pbwiki.com for some great templates, example wikis, and discussions.
Can I attach pictures or video clips?
Yes. In fact, you can add any type of file to any page in your wiki by clicking the "Files" button and uploading your files.
Can I monitor what happens on my wiki?
Yes, you can be notified by email of every change that's made to your wiki.
Is my data safe? Can I back up my pages?
Your data is safe. We back up our data hourly, and you can get 1-click backups right from your wiki from the "Settings" menu. Our job is to keep our users' data secure, so we're fanatical about safety and security.
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