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Blogs and Wikis in Blackboard

Blogs and Wikis in Blackboard. NERCOMP - Blackboard User Group, December 6, 2006 Barbara Knauff, Senior Instructional Technologist Academic Computing. Session Overview. Bb at Dartmouth Why blogs and wikis? Learning Objects implementation Use cases Tips. Dartmouth. 4,100 undergrads

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Blogs and Wikis in Blackboard

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  1. Blogs and Wikisin Blackboard NERCOMP - Blackboard User Group, December 6, 2006 Barbara Knauff, Senior Instructional Technologist Academic Computing

  2. Session Overview • Bb at Dartmouth • Why blogs and wikis? • Learning Objects implementation • Use cases • Tips

  3. Dartmouth • 4,100 undergrads • 1,600 graduate/professional students • 475 faculty • 400-500 courses/term

  4. Dartmouth • Residential student body • No distance ed programs • Study abroad > 50% • Face-to-face instruction at core of institutional identity • Liberal arts • Bb used as a supplement

  5. Bb at Dartmouth • 1999: adopted CourseInfo • 2002: integration with Banner • 2006: more than 2/3 of courses have active Bb site • Cross-platform support crucial (40% Mac users)

  6. Bb growth

  7. Early uses of Bb • Tool adoption weighted towards administrative functions • Instructor disseminates content • Students consume content • One-way street: faculty to student

  8. So what’s the problem? “… students do not always complete the readings, so sometimes come to class with no ideas and questions about new knowledge.”

  9. So what’s the problem? “The issue with which I really struggle is that […] students seem to not want to think or take responsibility for their own learning.”

  10. So what’s the problem? “Another problem that new technologies may address is the range of student competence […]”

  11. So what’s the problem? “… students […] often seem unwilling to apply what they know to their classmates’ presentations.”

  12. So what’s the problem? “… students […] want to be fed the ‘answers’ to the test questions.”

  13. Deeper Learning Principles • Social • Active • Contextual • Engaging • Student-owned Carmean, Colleen and Jeremy Haefner. "Mind over Matter: Transforming Course Management Systems into Effective Learning Environments." Educause Review, Nov/Dec. 2002, pp. 27-34.

  14. Tools for deeper learning • Discussion Boards • Wikis • Blogs or online journals

  15. Shared attributes • Asynchronous • Collaborative • Multi-media possible • Text-centered

  16. Discussion Boards • Implemented in Bb • Limitations: • Linear structure • Can be cumbersome to read • Focus on text • No cross-platform WYSIWYG editor • Cannot embed media in page • No commenting • Access: all or nothing

  17. Blogs • Simple web publishing • Chronological presentation • Shared or individual • Support comments

  18. Wikis • “A web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content.” (Source: wikipedia) • A website (non-linear, hyperlinked) • Collectively authored • Supports comments

  19. Blogs and Wikis in Bb • Based on Building Block technology • Enterprise clients only • Learning Objects: http://www.learningobjects.com • Substantial cost • Cross-platform support • Excellent customer support • Rapid development cycle

  20. Basic clients? • Link to free services from within Bb • No seamless authentication integration • No integrated assessment • Recommended services: • PB Wiki: http://pbwiki.com/ • Blogger: http://www.blogger.com

  21. Teams LX • “Teams Site” = wiki • Nomenclature and icon switch =

  22. Teams LX Create a wiki in any content area

  23. Teams LX Assign name and description

  24. Teams LX Grant editing privileges based on groups

  25. Teams LX Grant editing privileges to individuals

  26. Teams LX Set availability

  27. Teams LX Set dates for editing

  28. Teams LX Set dates for viewing/commenting

  29. Teams LX Ability to create gradebook entry

  30. Teams LX Ability to set text direction

  31. Teams LX • Cross-platform WYSIGYG toolbar • IE • Firefox • Unsupported browsers - can edit HTML

  32. Teams LX Toolbar supports: • Word-like changes in display • Links • Images • File uploads • Special characters • HTML editing mode • pseudo-CSS

  33. Teams LX Editing history for each page

  34. Teams LX Version changes highlighted

  35. Teams LX • Ability to revert to prior versions • Other tools: • Page list • Search tool • Export tool

  36. Teams LX Assess Wikis (Control Panel)

  37. Wiki examples • Scientific Basis of Medicine Program (SBM.Program-AY0607): • Student presentation of medical case studies • Use of pathology images crucial

  38. Wiki examples • Whitman and Dickinson (ENGL.066.01-SU06): • Class-built literary glossary • Class-built annotated bibliography • Tendency to append, not overwrite

  39. Wiki examples • Composition and Research (WRIT.002.04-FA06) • Collection of sources • Class-built historical synopsis • Orphaned pages

  40. Wiki examples • Expository Writing (WRIT.005.13.14-FA06) • Group web project instead of paper • Multi-media included • Course administration: signup sheets

  41. Wiki examples • Expository Writing (WRIT.005.01-FA06) • Student-generated questions • Wiki functions like an erasable whiteboard

  42. Wiki examples • Biology & Politics of Starvation (BIOL.009.01-SSOC.009.01-WI06) • Final projects • Charts and images • Some poor design choices (colors, width)

  43. Wiki examples • Collaborative article (ORG.computing.curricular.CMS-article) • Used wiki as shared writing space

  44. Wiki positives • Student engagement and ownership • Multi-media • Sharing work in class / outside of class • Wikis enhance other work

  45. Wiki positives • “Group writing doesn’t produce good papers - but the next individual paper will be improved” • Engages deeper learning principles: • Social, active, contextual, engaging, student-owned

  46. Wiki problems • Confusion between general course wiki and wikis deployed in content areas • Confusion between “edit page” and “new page” • Concept of linked web of pages difficult • Browser problems (Safari) • Locked-up documents • Assessment difficult • Poorly designed sites, image sizing problems • Orphaned pages • Flashy instead of substantive

  47. Wiki suggestions, 1 • Brief & clear technical instructions • Disable course wiki • Clearly define expectations of wiki assignments • Create demo wiki for students • Consider “seeding” wikis/pre-establishing structure • Don’t expect beauty • Be aware of time commitment required

  48. Wiki suggestions, 2 • Be aware of file size quota • Iterative process: • Create • Review and comment, feedback • Refine • Final Assessment • Consider separating process/product in assessment • Require commenting

  49. Journals LX • Analogous to Teams LX • “Journal Site” = blogs • Nomenclature and icon switch =

  50. Journals LX • Single-page • Multi-author • Users can only edit their own posts • Versioning • Commenting • No assessment tool • Option: students can view only own posts • Option: RSS feed

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