Matthew GreenSchool of Computing and IT

University of Wolverhamptonm.a.green@wlv.ac.uk

SCIT Wikia year in the Wiki wilderness

“A presentation of findingsfrom the SCIT Wiki project”

definitions

What is a wiki? a collaborative online document any users can add content any users can edit content any users can delete content

inspirations Prensky, M (2007) – “How to teach with technology: keeping both teachers and

students comfortable in an era of exponential change”

“Some… (teachers) …have mastered on their own the technologies they use, but the smartest among them have partnered with their students, who are eager to teach them.”

Bryant, L (2007) – “Emerging trends in social software for education”

“In an educational context, wikis have an extremely practical role to play in allowing students and teachers to quickly and easily explore an area of knowledge…”

SOURCES: Emerging Technologies for Learning, Volumes 1 and 2http://publications.becta.org.uk/

William Glasser

“We Learn 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience,

and 95% of what we teach others.”

the project

initial motivation A practical solution to an administrative problem “the trouble with a workbook is...”

evolved motivation “does this engage the unmotivated?” “will students help one another to learn?”

2 semesters – 2 modules

Web Development – familiarity with concepts

the framework

MediaWiki?

the framework

MediaWiki the tool of the “native” instant recognition little/no training required

standards & open source maintained through community frequent updates and fixes

functionality RSS/watchlist/auditing/formatting/history/versioning/user

management/and so on..

thoughts on getting started

“seeding” vs “nurturing” to seed

to create a very simple start and allow students to create the first “branches”

to nurture more mature content to be “pruned”, “weeded”,

extended...

my initial hopes

interaction contribution engaging enlightenment?

my fears

unused lack of interest preference for the tangible

vandalism undesirable adds/edits/deletes

criticism a wiki can be used as a “soapbox”

safeguards

registration validated university accounts

must be registered to view must be registered to edit

challenges in forced registration lack of anonymity accountability vs. big brother

findings (October 2006 -> March 2007)

interaction

above expectations

helped by directed sessions

11,500 hits

corrections to content

fast and numerous

15 error corrections in 2 weeks

contributions

higher quality than expected, numerous

400 separate contributions currently 83 pages

10 new pages (12%) created by students in one academic year

problems

minor location/relocation of contributions format/presentation of contributions off-topic – basic/advanced copyright – copy & paste

other staff users used more “seeds” than “seedlings” not as positive an experience

from module evaluation

“the best thing about the module is the wiki” “I've enjoyed learning from the wiki” “I've enjoyed contributing to the wiki”

these are not isolated responses!

where next

WOLF 2.0 – October 2008 (pilots in 2007/8) wiki functionality built-in

advantages no setup, no framework selection, integration,

user account management, similar functionality to MediaWiki framework, familiarity of WOLF environment

my humble recommendations

content maturity

balance students will contribute, if…

contribution has value value is to individual and group the experience is self-rewarding

students will not contribute, if the wiki is… an undefined gathering of facts/research intellectual puzzles or challenges

more recommendations

administration "the gardener" not to be underestimated not a passive role

facilitator/contributor not observer

my conclusions

students want to help each other learn their motivations for doing so are diverse

the quantity and quality of student contribution should not be underestimated

students prefer to learn through their preferred communication channels, not ours

follow-on projects…

pebblewiki Linsey Duncan-Pitt

a support facility for pebblepad users currently 46 pages in about 5 weeks

follow-on projects…

pebblewiki Linsey Duncan-Pitt

a support facility for pebblepad users currently 46 pages in about 5 weeks

more Web 2.0 projects

and you?