Wikis and eLearning

© The State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training, TAFE NSW 2007.

Overview

In this tutorial you will:

learn what a wiki is

see examples of how wikis may be used in e-learning

identify the steps for setting up your own wiki.

What is a wiki?

A wiki can contain

text,

images,

sound and

video.

You can also upload files that you have developed in applications like PowerPoint, or Word.

You can include links to other sites and RSS feeds.

http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/wikis - links to articles about wikis and free wiki hosting services

A wiki for the Hairdressing industry

A wiki is a website. What makes it different is that it’s an online space that lots of people can edit and contribute to.

A teacher or class wiki

A teacher may set up a wiki for:

course notes and other content

activities and assessments

weekly schedules and to-do lists

or just about anything else a teacher and class can think of!

A teacher’s wiki for an Information Technology course

A student’s wiki

So a student’s wiki could contain:

own or group’s reflection on what has been learned

photos of work done videos of them performing

a task sound files of them

interviewing someone in their industry

or just about anything else you can think of!

A student’s wiki for a Building and Construction course

Students could use wikis for group projects, individual projects, e-portfolios, assessments.

Can anyone edit my wiki?

Public – Anyone can view your wiki and edit the contents. They simply click an 'Edit' button and make changes. This is happening successfully on a very large worldwide scale with Wikipedia.

Semi-private/Protected – Anyone can view your wiki, but only you can edit the contents. You can also give editing rights to other people you nominate.

Private – Only the people who you nominate can view your wiki and edit it - a small fee applies for this, currently $5 US per month.

A public wiki – anyone can click the Edit button to edit this wiki

A semi-private wiki – only authorised people can edit this wiki

It’s up to you. You can set up your wiki in different ways:

Leave a comment

You don’t need to edit a wiki to leave feedback.

You can leave a comment on a wiki by clicking the Discussion link.

Click the Discussion tab to leave a comment on a wiki

Getting started

Wikis are easy to create.

First you choose a wiki hosting service - there are many free ones.

http://del.icio.us/prep4elearning/wikis - links to free wiki hosting services

Then create an account – you can usually create your wiki at the same time as you create your account.

Create your page

To create your first page simply click the 'Edit' button and begin typing.

As you get more practice you can try uploading images, sounds and other files to your wiki.

You can also try creating multiple pages in your wiki, with a menu to take viewers to the different pages.

Most wikis provide easy-to-use text editors

Summary and quiz

Summary

In this tutorial you have:

learned what a wiki is seen examples of how wikis

may be used in e-learning identified the steps for setting

up your own wiki.

QuizHow did you go with this tutorial?

Try the quiz on the following screens – there are 5 questions.Use the and to navigate the quiz.

For most wikis, who is allowed to edit the wiki?

Question 1

a) only teachers

b) only students

c) anybody

d) only the person who sets it up

Correct

Most wikis are public

i.e. set up so that anybody can read and edit them.

Continue

Incorrect

Most wikis are public

i.e. set up so that anybody can read and edit them.

Continue

A student or teacher could set up a wiki for either an individual project or a group project.

Question 2

a) True

b) False

Correct

A wiki can be set up to be used • by anybody, • by one individual or • by a selected group.

Continue

Incorrect

A wiki can be set up to be used • by anybody, • by one individual or • by a selected group.

Continue

Which of these can a wiki contain?

Question 3

a) text

b) images

c) sounds

d) video

e) Power Point presentations

f) Links

g) All of the above

h) None of the above

A wiki can contain all sorts of media, files and links.

Continue

a) there is no other way to leave feedback

What is the best way to leave feedback on a wiki, without actually editing the wiki itself?

Question 4

b) click the Discussion link

c) send an email to your teacher

d) none of the above

Correct

Use the Discussion to comment

Continue

No – use the Discussion to comment on a wiki

Continue

There are different ways to set up wikis for who can view and who can edit.Which description matches each type of wiki?

Question 5

Type of wiki Description

a. Anyone can view your wiki and edit the contents.

b. Only the people who you nominate can view your wiki and edit it.

c. Anyone can view your wiki, but only you can edit the contents.

Public

Semi-private

Private

The answers are:

Public a. Anyone can view your wiki and edit the contents.Semi-private c. Anyone can view your wiki, but only you can edit the

contents.Private b. Only the people who you nominate can view your wiki

and edit it.

Follow up

Use the Prepare for e-learning CD ROM to:

listen to the interviews with teachers on using wikis

try the activities in the ‘Try it’ section.

Or you can try the quiz again.