Wikis

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A website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively

Samples

Mobile Technology in TAFE

This wiki is designed as an awareness raising and professional development site for TAFE Teachers in a range of e learning and web 2.0 tools.

Source Mobile Technology in TAFE - Produced by Sue Waters
URL http://aquaculturepda.wikispaces.com/powerpoint
Use This wiki is designed as an awareness raising and professional development site for TAFE Teachers in a range of e learning and web 2.0 tools.
Delivery Wikis allow for frequent updates and often use an informal style and tone. Needs a standard web browser
Customisation Wikis are very easy to set up and update without the need for specialised software
Availability Similar software is readily and freely available

Australian VET computer network and firewall access study

For the VET sector

Source Australian VET computer network and firewall access study
URL http://vet-computer-networks.wikispaces.com
Use The VET sector
Delivery Wikis allow for frequent updates and often use an informal style and tone. Needs a standard web browser
Customisation Wikis are very easy to set up and update without the need for specialised software
Availability Similar software is readily and freely available

The Test Tube

The Test Tube is a community-driven clearinghouse for smart, practical ideas on using web technologies for teaching in a university context.

Source The Test Tube
URL http://wiki.arts.usyd.edu.au/elearning/index.php/Main_Page
Use The Test Tube is a community-driven clearinghouse for smart, practical ideas on using web technologies for teaching in a university context.
Delivery Wikis allow for frequent updates and often use an informal style and tone. Needs a standard web browser
Customisation Wikis are very easy to set up and update without the need for specialised software
Availability Similar software is readily and freely available

Wikispaces – yum productions

Research information technology hardware and e learning tools.

Source Wikispaces – yum productions
URL http://elearningit.wikispaces.com/
Use Research information technology hardware and e learning tools relevant to learners’ particular RTO requirements as part of assessment task for competencies from the Diploma of E Learning.
Delivery Wikis allow for frequent updates and often use an informal style and tone. Needs a standard web browser
Customisation Wikis are very easy to set up and update without the need for specialised software. Registered learners can edit and add pages and information as needed.
Availability Wiki spaces is available through a web browser at wiki logo
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Why include Wikis?

A wiki is a collaborative online space where people can gather to build content together and is intended for general public consumption. Wikis encourage participation and a strong sense of common purpose thereby developing valuable communication and teamwork skills. Using wikis supports asynchronous communication allowing learners to contribute at a time, and from a place that suits them.

Wikis are a useful tool for facilitating online learning groups. They can be used to support the dissemination of information, to enable the exchange of ideas, and to facilitate group interaction. Further, wikis can be used to create a set of documents that reflect the shared knowledge of the learning group. Class wikis include text, pictures, links to other resources and multimedia.

With wikis, the dimensions of the training room can expand to give learners access to a global web of information and a worldwide audience.

Features

There are several different types of wikis including public wikis which everyone can view and edit; protected wikis that everyone can view but only space members can edit; and private wikis where only space members can view and edit pages. Typically a wiki will have some of the following features:

  • pages can be easily created, maintained and updated using a browser.
  • can track changes to an article, allowing it to be rolled back if hijacked by malcontents or if it degenerates into a flame war.
  • can be unmoderated (anything entered or updated is immediately displayed), screened (e.g. a person or machine checks entries for offensive language before posting), or moderated (a person reviews all changes or new entries before they are displayed).
  • Some wikis also generate an RSS Newsfeed which can be read in a newsreader. Links marked as RSS or XML are RSS feeds. (An RSS or newsfeed is an XML text file which sends information about news items to a newsreader application like the Bloglines or by some browsers including Safari 2, Opera 8 or Internet Explorer 7

Some Popular wiki creation sites for Trainers include:

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Integrating Wikis

Wikis can be used for a variety of purposes including sharing content and as an alternative approach to the submission of assessment material.

Wikis can be easily updated and new text; images, video and images can be shared with or created by learners if the selected wiki can be subscribed to using an RSS feed.

Design steps

  1. Assign specific authoring/editing responsibilities to individual learners or small groups of learners.
  2. Use the learners' interactions with the wiki participation as part of the summative assessment of the course.
  3. Set up the wiki prior to course commencement.
  4. Decide on where your wiki will be hosted.
  5. Remind learners that most wikis are designed to be publically accessible. Typically, learners do not need to login to view materials. Discretion should be used when publishing private and confidential materials. There is no control over intellectual property.
  6. Integrate the wiki closely into the rest of the course. For example:
    1. refer to or use the wiki in face-to-face teaching sessions.
    2. provide key information via the wiki (details of assignments, marking schemes, revision notes).
  7. Negotiate or define with your learners how the wiki will be used. This could include:
    1. purpose of the wiki in the learning program
    2. expected outcomes
    3. acceptable use and guidelines for posting
    4. frequency of updates required.
    5. assessment requirements (if applicable)
  8. Share the updates of the wikis with other learners, trainers or web users by adding an RSS News feed from your wiki.

Assessment

A wiki offers Trainers a look at how learners contribute to a working document. It also gives the educator the ability to see how learners can work together on a document and what their contributions are. In particular,

  • By looking at the recent changes section in a wiki Trainers can see where and how learners have collaborated in the wiki.
  • Trainers can see what learners have contributed in comparison to the original text.
Trainers can see what learners have contributed in comparison to any other changes that have been made to the text.

Generic skills

You will need skills in:

  • promoting the benefits of collaborative work
  • designing authentic and engaging collaborative tasks
  • managing and encouraging the learners in their collaborative efforts
  • intervening when collaborative work is not progressing satisfactorily.

Technical notes

One of the advantages of wikis over a number of other web-based technologies is that they require no specific software to be installed (other than a web browser). Further, they are easy to use and update.

Skills

If you use a wiki in your training, you will need to design tasks that reflect your thinking about information access and management by your learners. The basic skills required to use a wiki include:

  • Creating and editing chunks of text
  • Making those chunks accessible to others on the wiki
  • Creating and editing comments about those chunks
  • Making those comments accessible on the wiki
  • Adding pictures, sound recordings, and other kinds of media files to the wiki
  • Organising the chunks. 
  • Controlling who has access to the chunks (including learners, other trainers, other stakeholders)
  • Enabling people to receive notifications about new items or new modifications of old items through the use of RSS

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See also

From the Framework

More resources from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework

Tools and resources

Social bookmark for this strategy

http://del.icio.us/designelearn/wikis

Last modified: 15/9/08