Tikiwiki

An Explanation

Tikiwiki is an excellent, open source content management system. Tikiwiki has many functions such as blogs, wikis, articles, and image galleries. Fairly easy to install on most servers, it is incredibly easy to use. Its key features are a Word like WYSIWYG editing bar and uploading fields.

A Solution to a Need

My school district features three separate middle schools. We needed a way to share and communicate resources, particularly lesson plans. Too often we would meet and discover that four or five of us had invented the same wheel (be they powerpoints, tests, or lessons). There had to be a way to create a system that was easy to use, share, and (most importantly) search resources.

Our district set up a shared, grade level folder. This, however, was unacceptable because there was no standard naming system (not to mention file creation system).

My solution was to install Tikiwiki. Tikiwiki addressed the concerns of content creation and searchable resources.

An added benefit to the program was that it allowed me to share all my resources across a different set of computers. Essentially, my tikiwiki installation has become my "center of the cloud" for all my educational resources. As long as I have an internet connection, I can complete school work.

Demonstration

Reflections

My utilization of Tikiwiki is still very much in a trial phase. However, I've come to a few conclusions and am currently sharing them with my school district.

Tikiwiki is, indeed, a simple and straightforward way to solve the needs identified. Some of my colleagues who are shy around technology have found the program simple to use, both in adding content and in finding resources they can use. Of particular note, they found the easy way of adding files they've already created on their computers to be most useful.

Plus, because the software is open source, it costs nothing.

There are some concerns, many of which center around the technical aspects of the software. For example, would it be better to host the software on an external server or on a district server? How would the district deal with the myriad copyright issues of hosting both created content and publisher content? Would teachers invest the time (even if it's short) required to learn the program?

As it stands, the district has decided to consider Tikiwiki as a viable option.

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