We need to know about …
Wikis
Dr Andrew Oliver
LTDU & BLU
University of Hertfordshire
What is it?
A collection of web pages – a website BUT…
…Pages can be EDITED and new pages ADDED
….by ANYONE (well more or less)
WIKI, Wiki or wiki?
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WIKI: Web-based, Interactive, Kollaborative, and
Iterative (Steve Jones, UIC)
Not the true definition (wiki: Hawaiian - “quick”)
But it is web based, interactive, collaborative and
iterative – changes over time
But what is the point?
Collaborate on creating on-line documents / websites /
resources / knowledge pool
 How?
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Through a community (some leave, new ones arrive)
ANYONE can add / change / remove: content, pages &
structure
End result:
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Knowledge evolves towards stability through cooperation &
competition (Darwikinism)
Examples
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Romantic Audience Project
British Romanticism (high school)
Critical Analysis of Media Wiki (college)
Discovery –Isms (middle school)
Discovery Utopias (middle school)
Flat Classroom project
Flat Planet Project (high school)
How does it work?
Each page has a built in editor allowing to:
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Add text, images, links (websites/pages)
And add more pages! (and create structure)
Each change is archived
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new version can be replaced by earlier
What are the benefits?
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Over to you!
What are the benefits?
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progressive knowledge building
are collaborative & social
no hierarchy – all contributors are equal
accessed any time from any place
follow the evolution of thoughts and ideas
What are the challenges?
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Over to you
Challenges
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"Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you
realize it's just an illusion, that people are going to
bring their own stuff into it.“David Sedaris
Too ‘Open’
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Text can be changed, documents ruined = chaos rules
Solve: changes are logged & earlier pages restored
Plus create separate pages
‘lost’ pages, duplicates, edit collisions
Challenges II
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Complex site
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Some participants may:
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Time needed to create structure & navigation
Solve: draft ‘site maps’
Be reluctant to edit work of others
Be unhappy if their work is edited!
Play only with what is given:
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Subject can remain constant
re-edit the same page and append knowledge rather than
integrate
Solve: ‘wiki gardening’
Challenges III
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Collective perspective = Collective bias
Authored by a group, so who’s work is it?
Subject:
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Essays / arguing a point (possible…)
Encyclopaedia / neutral point of view (better)
Monitoring can be time consuming (RSS can
help)
Training required
How can you use this?
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Over to you
How can I use this?
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Collaborative project work (staff & student)
Create:
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Common Knowledge pool
Website (online resources & prototype)
Edit textbook
Prepare journal article / report
Assemble reading list, syllabus, guidelines
Track evolution of thought processes
Solicit input for research / projects
Repository for meeting notes
With students (& staff) use guides
e.g. Collaborative project work (staff & student)
Use F2F to establish rules*:
• for editing, deletion & censoring
• Deciding areas of control, duties
• Emphasising non linearity, i.e. don’t like what’s being
said? Edit it, add to it or create new page
* And put them on the wiki!
StudyNet Wiki – Social E-Learning
Group
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Set up to:
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Collect, create & disseminate info
Develop guidelines
Part of StudyNet groups feature
Where can I get one?
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StudyNet Groups
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Your Groups > Go to StudyNet Groups
Create a Group
‘Link text’ option = wiki
Module website
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Module level wiki
Group Work facility
‘How to’ series
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How to Blog in 5 minutes (Word)
How to Wiki in 5 minutes (Word)
How to create a Podcast in 5 minutes (Word)
How to convert audio files to MP3 in 5
minutes (Word)
How to use RSS in 5 minutes (Word)
‘You need to know…’ series
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You need to know about Podcasting (Slides)
You need to know about Podcasting: a teaching and learning guide
(Word)
You need to know about Online Discussions: a teaching and
learning guide (Word)
You need to know about Blogs (Slides)
You need to know about Wikis (Slides)
You need to know about RSS (Slides)
You need to know about Web 2.0 (Slides)
You need to know about Computer Assessment (Slides)
You need to know about Effective Question Design (Slides)
You need to know about Electronic Voting Systems (Slides)
Also available:
Podcasting: audio talk on the benefits of
podcasting (hi quality)
 Computer Assessment: using statistic
analysis to design effective questions
For copies please contact: Dr Andrew Oliver.
LTDU, College Lane LRC
([email protected], ext. 4754).
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