Joseph Delaney

1
Wiki and Blog

• Joseph Delaney
• Teaching Excellence Center
• Rutgers University, New Brunswick

2
Why

• Existing Course Management Systems are
  relatively stagnant
• Trends in education are changing
• Student Portfolios
• Collaborative learning

3
Current Tools

• Example - WebCT 4.1
• Group Project feature
• Private Discussion
• Shared directory space and files
• No revision control or check-in/check-out
• Provides a place but not a method

4
Current Tools

• Example - eCollege
• Journal feature
• Private to student, optionally instructor
• Not for building community within a course

5
What is a Wiki Wiki?

• Wiki wiki
• Quick web site creation (content management)
• Anyone Can Edit
• Revision Control
• Collision handling

6
Wiki Usage

• Mnemonics //italic//, bold, and
  __underline__
• WordsSmashedTogether create new pages
• Page History is undo
• http//TeachX.rutgers.edu/wakka/

7
Wikis in Action

• The Original Wiki http//c2.com/cgi/wiki
• http//www.wikipedia.org/
• Just about any open source documentation project

8
Wiki Software

• http//c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines
• MediaWiki
• WikiTikiTavi
• Tiki

9
What is a Blog

• Blog / Web Log
• Essays, not discussion
• Automatic dating and archiving
• Comments and trackback
• Subscriptions (RSS feeds)

10
Web Log Software

• Movable Type, GreyMatter, WordPress, Radio/Manila
• Hosting Services - blogger.com, livejournal.com,
  xanga.com, etc.
• Syndication - http//blo.gs, http//www.weblogs.co
  m/

11
Immediate Needs

• Per-user, not centrally available
• Alternative at http//www.rci.rutgers.edu/webtools
  /tiki/
• User Accounts on Rutgers Central systems
• Apache and PHP
• MySQL

12
Wiki of Choice

• WakkaWiki - http//www.wakkawiki.com/
• PHP, MySQL
• ACLs
• Separate comments area
• http//TeachX.rutgers.edu/wakka/

13
Problems with Wakka

• Slow Development
• Existing Bugs, missing features
• Consider forks - WackoWiki, WikkaWiki, others

14
Blog of Choice

• b2Evolution http//b2evolution.net/
• PHP, MySQL (the deciding factor)
• Multiple bloggers, multiple blogs
• ACLs (new feature)
• Sibling of WordPress
• http//www.rci.rutgers.edu/jpd/b2evolution/blogs/

15
Problems with b2evolution

• Feature-drunk
• Unpolished, interface not fully finished
• Administrative tasks increase with each student

16
Example Uses

• Larry Scanlon/Nicole Smith Chaucer
• Mary Jo Watts Gender and Technology

17
When to use Wiki

• Collaborative work
• Write - comment - revise process
• Partial MUD/MOO replacement

18
When to use Blogs

• Student Portfolios
• Reflective writing
• Creative Writing

19
Training and Use

• Blogs are familiar to some students
• Wikis are easy to learn
• Psychological barriers to anyone can edit
• Complex environment resistance

20
Additional Considerations

• Public access versus password protected
• Spam
• Ownership and long-term use

21
Assessment of Gender and Tech Course

• Students resisted collaborative work
• Contrary to normal practices
• Divided tasks, one person given the wiki
• Wanted to use more familiar tools (MS Word,
  IM/text-messaging, e-mail)
• Initially felt wiki was too difficult

22
Assessment of Gender and Tech Course

• Wiki became most popular tool, used for
• Discussions
• Address book
• Project management
• eGroupwares file manager still used for sharing
  files

23
Assessment of Gender and Tech Course

• Things to do Differently
• Structure group project to ensure everyone
  contributes (the wiki is not a task to be
  assigned)
• Rules for name-space collisions
• Incorporate instant messaging

24
Chaucer

• Wiki software was used to emulate blog function
• Few if any student problems
• TA pre-built the structure

25
Wikis and Blogs

• Joseph Delaney
• http//TeachX.rutgers.edu/
• jpd_at_TeachX.rutgers.edu
• [phone]