So long Wikispaces - you've been a great tool
Monday, February 26, 2018 at 05:36AM 
Wikispaces recently announced that it is closing shop in mid-2018 - at least for those of us who use the free service. I have used this tool for my workshop support materials and promoted its use to countless classroom teachers and librarians in those workshops for a dozen years or more. So it is sad to see an old and comfortable friend retire.
As I started moving my materials from Wikispaces to GoogleSites this weekend, I asked myself "Does staying with any one tech tool make one complacent and maybe a little stale?"
What I had not realized was that I had support materials for 51 different presentations and workshops that I have done over the past 20 years or so. 51! Some have been old standbys that I'd given countless times; some only once or twice on an on-demand basis. The popularity rises and falls as areas of concern and interest by educators rise and fall.
The workshops have been fairly wide ranging, but the impact of technology on school libraries (of course), technology ethics, teacher competency in the use of technology, and creativity have been major themes. And over the years, I have killed a few "cash cows" now and again. But as I observed before:
...but boy o boy it's hard to kill your cow if you've named her Bossie. Or The Indispensable Librarian or The Technology? Skills Everyone Needs. No one would believe just how much fun it's been giving these talks and how lovely it is to bask in the glow of the head-swelling comments that follow.
So, not only is it time to change the tools I use for support materials, it's past time to weed the old list of workshops as well. (But I will keep the old materials - just in case - like my dad used to keep old screws and nails and other junk - just in case.) Perhaps it will be easier to find the "good stuff."
Thanks Wikispaces for the great run - and for closing shop so I have a reason to clean the presentation closet out!
Reader Comments (4)
I used Wikispaces as the platform for delivering online class materials and am looking for a new home. How did you decide on Sites as opposed to Weebly, for example? Because you are a Google school?
Hi Floyd,
We are a Google district, but this is my personal stuff not work stuff. I like GoogleSite since it is very easy to use, integrates nicely with my GoogleDocs, etc, and it's free. I am sure other products are as good, if not better, but I went with what I know.
Doug
CiviHosting is now offering a migration service:
https://civihosting.com/wikispaces-migration/
which may help. :)
Thank you, David. I spent an afternoon copying and pasting and reformatting into GSites, but if folks don't mind the annual cost, your site sounds like a viable option.
Doug