SCIT Wiki
a year in the Wiki wilderness
“A presentation of findings
from the SCIT Wiki project”
Matthew Green
School of Computing and IT
University of Wolverhampton
m.a.green@wlv.ac.uk
definitions
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What is a wiki?
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a collaborative online document
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any users can add content
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any users can edit content
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any users can delete content
inspirations
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Prensky, M (2007) – “How to teach with technology: keeping both teachers and
students comfortable in an era of exponential change”
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“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”
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“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 2
http://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
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initial motivation
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A practical solution to an administrative problem
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“the trouble with a workbook is...”
evolved motivation
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“does this engage the unmotivated?”
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“will students help one another to learn?”
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2 semesters – 2 modules
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Web Development – familiarity with concepts
the framework
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MediaWiki?
the framework
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MediaWiki
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the tool of the “native”
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instant recognition
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little/no training required
standards & open source
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maintained through community
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frequent updates and fixes
functionality
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RSS/watchlist/auditing/formatting/history/versioning/user
management/and so on..
thoughts on getting started
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“seeding” vs “nurturing”
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to seed

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to create a very simple start and allow students
to create the first “branches”
to nurture
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more mature content to be “pruned”, “weeded”,
extended...
my initial hopes
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interaction
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contribution
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engaging
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enlightenment?
my fears
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unused
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lack of interest
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preference for the tangible
vandalism
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undesirable adds/edits/deletes
criticism
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a wiki can be used as a “soapbox”
safeguards
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registration
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validated university accounts
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must be registered to view
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must be registered to edit
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challenges in forced registration
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lack of anonymity
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accountability vs. big brother
findings (October 2006 -> March 2007)
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interaction
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above expectations
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helped by directed sessions
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corrections to content
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fast and numerous
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11,500 hits
15 error corrections in 2 weeks
contributions
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higher quality than expected, numerous
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400 separate contributions
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currently 83 pages
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10 new pages (12%) created by students in one academic year
problems
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minor
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location/relocation of contributions
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format/presentation of contributions
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off-topic – basic/advanced
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copyright – copy & paste
other staff users
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used more “seeds” than “seedlings”
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not as positive an experience
from module evaluation
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“the best thing about the module is the wiki”
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“I've enjoyed learning from the wiki”
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“I've enjoyed contributing to the wiki”
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these are not isolated responses!
where next
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WOLF 2.0 – October 2008
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(pilots in 2007/8)
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wiki functionality built-in
advantages
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no setup, no framework selection, integration,
user account management, similar functionality
to MediaWiki framework, familiarity of WOLF
environment
my humble recommendations
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content
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maturity
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balance
students will contribute, if…
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contribution has value
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value is to individual and group
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the experience is self-rewarding
students will not contribute, if the wiki is…
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an undefined gathering of facts/research
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intellectual puzzles or challenges
more recommendations
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administration
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"the gardener"
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not to be underestimated
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not a passive role
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facilitator/contributor not observer
my conclusions
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students want to help each other learn
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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…
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pebblewiki

Linsey Duncan-Pitt
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a support facility for pebblepad users
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currently 46 pages in about 5 weeks
follow-on projects…
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pebblewiki


Linsey Duncan-Pitt

a support facility for pebblepad users

currently 46 pages in about 5 weeks
more Web 2.0 projects
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and you?