Weblogs and Wikis: Final Write Up BethJensen

Final Write Up BethJensen

What I Planned To Do

I planned to develop the BSU eLearning Wiki. My goal was to design the wiki to encourage collaboration and resource sharing among faculty and staff at BSU who teach online or web-enhanced courses. It was intended to be a place for faculty and staff to contribute to and find helpful information regarding eLearning, Desire to Learn (D2L), and related technologies.

I planned to set up the homepage and approximately 20 linked pages to get the wiki started. Working with Julie Adams, from eLearning Support, I wanted to develop topics for discussion, assess needs and inform faculty and staff of the wiki site and encourage contributions.

I expected the wiki homepage to contain an explanation of the wiki site, its purpose, and an index of pages. The homepage would have two major sections: collaboration and resources. The collaborative section, titled, "Let's Collaborate," would include discussion topics, as well as pages for D2L Q&A, Wiki Feedback/Suggestions and an eLearning Wish List/Suggestions. The resource section would include information about the eLearning Center, D2L, Wimba, Faculty, and How to Use This Wiki. In both sections, contributors would be encouraged to click on a topic and add their comments and/or resource links.

Why I chose a Wiki instead of a Blog

I used a wiki for this project because I wanted to create an interactive, collaborative site where faculty and staff could easily work together on projects and share resources. A blog would not have worked because it is focused on news, whereas a wiki is focused on the information. The ease of use of the wiki allows even the techno-challenged an opportunity to participate. There is no programming required! In addition, it provides a central place to store resource information and work on projects for anyone who has internet access.

What Actually Happened

I started my project by drawing a diagram of what I envisioned for the homepage. I wanted to do this to keep my focus and stay organized. Shortly after starting the project, I had the opportunity to give a presentation to the D2L User?s Group. I explained what a wiki is, demonstrated how to use the wiki, and asked for feedback. I put together a handout for this purpose.

While developing the home page, much of my time was spent learning how to use PBwiki. As I learned, I created pages to assist other wiki users, such as how to use the wiki, how to create links, how to edit pages, etc. I then moved on to develop the resource pages and learned how to use a plug-in to make URLs open into a new window.

In mid-March I met with a faculty member to discuss the wiki. She really liked what I had done so far and asked to use some of my pages in her wiki. I was able to experiment with inviting participants by inviting her to the wiki.

I spent a lot of time figuring out the best way to invite others to the wiki. One option was to give out the site password; however, then everyone would have administrator rights. The second option was to require users to have a PBwiki account. Then I could invite them to the wiki without giving out passwords. I decided the second option was the way to go. This allowed the most appropriate control of users. Once my supervisor decided to upgrade the wiki, we gained the ability to assign user roles: Reader, Contributor, Moderator or Administrator.

I had originally planned to develop faculty pages in this wiki. However, after discussing it with my supervisor, we decided to focus on eLearning Support and not open the wiki to individual faculty or department pages. She suggested I offer support if faculty want to do this on their own. I was disappointed because I think it will really limit participation on the wiki.

I ran into a roadblock when it came to upgrading the wiki. My supervisor wanted to have the ability to lock and hide pages, so we wanted to upgrade to the gold plan. First, I had to email PBwiki to change the administrator role to my supervisor. Then, when she tried to upgrade, it would not accept her work credit card. So, she had to do a purchase order. The purchase order took forever and then got lost in the process. We finally got upgraded, but this delayed my ability to try to get people using the wiki.

Once we got our upgrade, I put together a list of possible pilot-testers. I called 12 people and got 9 participants. I sent them instructions on how to get started and asked them to give us some feedback on the wiki. One faculty member had some trouble logging in to her account, so I created a document for Resetting PBwiki passwords. I also noticed that all my participants were receiving emails every time the wiki was edited. So I created a document called Changing email notifications. I discovered somewhere in the wiki where I could turn off notifications. I also found out that PBwiki only supports Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Out of the initial 9 people, 5 have contributed. One person created a couple of new pages, one added some helpful tips, and the others added comments to pages and gave feedback on the wiki.

General Findings

I discovered that developing the wiki site was similar to developing a web site, but much simpler. Throughout the process, I tried to look at the wiki from an outside perspective; making navigation clear and pages easy to understand. I relied on the PBwiki help feature when I ran into roadblocks. For example, when a URL link is created, by default the web page opens in the current window. I had to find the HTML coding to open web pages in a new window. I also discovered how to change the width of my sidebar using the help feature.

I discovered some "bugs" within PBwiki. For example, when pages are created, the link is supposed to change from a dotted line to a solid line; it sometimes does and sometimes doesn't. Also, using the formatting tools in the editor doesn't always produce consistent results; my sidebar text looks inconsistent but actually is formatted the same. I've had some trouble getting the locking feature to work; however I think it is working now. One place in the PB documentation said locking and hiding pages is available in the Gold plan; another place said it was available on the Platinum plan, but could be added to any other plan for a one-time fee. The inconsistencies are frustrating but I'm sure with time they will be worked out. There is currently a beta test of an updated version going on. Though PBwiki invited me to try it, I didn't want to because I figured there would be even more bugs.

I discovered that encouraging participation is challenging. I need to continue to work on this. My potential users need to see the value in the wiki before they will use it; otherwise it is just another tool. I found success in getting participation when I personally contacted people. I don't think I would have had as many if I would have just sent an email message.

Doing a project to be used by my employer was difficult at times. I had to change some things that I wanted to do and actually restructured the entire front page of the wiki as I was writing my proposal. Overall, I am happy with the result and have found my supervisor?s vision close to my own.

What I learned from the Pilot Test

There has been some confusion as to how to log-in to the wiki. A couple of people were unable to figure out how the PBwiki accounts work. I tried to get some answers from PBwiki help. The response I got didn't really make sense and actually contradicted other help information I found on the website. So, I think I need to abandon the idea of having everyone sign up for a PBwiki account and just give out the password for the wiki. Since we have a "gold" upgrade, we are able to set a different password for each level of access from reader to administrator.

I was encouraged to received contributions from 5 people. The end of Spring semester is a difficult time to try to start something new or add to people's busy schedules.

Resources

As was suggested for graduate work, I relied on many outside sources, including other wiki sites and articles to develop my wiki. I have included these notes on a separate page, ProjectResourcesBethJensen. It was extremely beneficial to look at other educational wikis and ways that people use wikis. I was able to apply many things from my research to my wiki.

Another resource that was very helpful was the Studio Tour Assignment. I took what my classmates said to heart and made some changes based on their feedback. For example, I rearranged my home page to eliminate redundant links, and added some notes on how to navigate the wiki.

What I would have done differently

If I were to start this project again, I would ask for more input from my supervisor from the beginning. I ended up not using several pages that I spent a great deal of time on. I wanted to create department pages and give examples of how to create faculty pages. I think departments would find many uses for wikis as far as planning meetings, posting agendas and minutes, and working on projects.

It made sense to do a project that could be used for my job, but I probably would have had more fun if I could have done the whole thing my way. It was difficult to get feedback from my boss because it is a busy time of year. (We?re in the middle of planning for a D2L upgrade). The end of the semester is a tough time to get faculty participation too. I think that is why I haven?t had much luck with getting people to contribute to the wiki. Everyone is busy.

In The Future

I hope that the wiki gets used. It can be a valuable tool for faculty and staff who are using technology to teach or support online or web-enhanced classes. It could be a great place for faculty to share ideas and build a community of support for one another. Staff could use it for communication and distribution of information. I hope to have more opportunities to promote the wiki and encourage participation.

I will also change the way that I "invite" people to the wiki. Simplicity and ease of use is very important. Instead of requiring users to create a PBwiki account, I will simply give out the password. Even so, users are asked for their name and email address, so I can still track changes.

Additional Documents

ProjectProposalBethJensen
ProjectResourcesBethJensen
ProjectPresentationBethJensen