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Blogs and Wikis in the Bb LSBarbara Knauff, Senior Instructional
Technologist, Dartmouth College
July 10, 2007
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Session Overview
• Bb at Dartmouth
• Why blogs and wikis?
• Learning Objects implementation
• Use cases
• Tips
• Q & A, discussion
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Dartmouth
• 4,100 undergrads
• 1,600 graduate/professional students
• 475 faculty
• 400-500 courses/term
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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
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Bb at Dartmouth
• 1999: adopted CourseInfo
• 2002: integration with Banner
• 2007: more than 2/3 of courses have active Bb site
• Cross-platform support crucial (40% Mac users)
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Bb growthBlackboard Courses, 2002-present
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75 85
115
45
170
200 200
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210 218 219
64
240
275 283
82
324340 337
0
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100
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400
Summer 02
Fall 02Winter 03Spring 03
Summer 03
Fall 03Winter 04Spring 04
Summer 04
Fall 04Winter 05Spring 05
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Fall 05Winter 06Spring 06
Summer 06
Fall 06Winter 07Spring 07
Number of Courses
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Early uses of Bb
• Tool adoption weighted towards administrative functions
• Instructor disseminates content
• Students consume content
• One-way street: faculty to student
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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.”
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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.”
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So what’s the problem?
“Another problem that new technologies may address is the range of student competence […]”
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So what’s the problem?
“… students […] often seem unwilling to apply what they know to their classmates’ presentations.”
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So what’s the problem?
“… students […] want to be fed the ‘answers’ to the test questions.”
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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.
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Tools for deeper learning
• Discussion Boards
• Wikis
• Blogs or online journals
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Shared attributes
• Asynchronous
• Collaborative
• Multi-media possible
• Text-centered
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Discussion Boards
• Implemented in Bb
• Limitations:– Linear structure– Can be cumbersome to read– Focus on text– Cannot easily embed media in page– No commenting– Access: all or nothing
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Blogs
• Simple web publishing
• Chronological presentation
• Shared or individual
• Support comments
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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
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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
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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
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Teams LX
• “Teams Site” = wiki
• Nomenclature and icon switch
=
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Teams LX
Create a wiki in any content area
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Teams LX
Assign name and description
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Teams LX
Grant editing privileges based on groups
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Teams LX
Grant editing privileges to individuals
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Teams LX
Set availability
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Teams LX
Set dates for editing
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Teams LX
Set dates for viewing/commenting
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Teams LX
Ability to create gradebook entry
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Teams LX
Ability to set text direction
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Teams LX
• Cross-platform WYSIGYG toolbar– IE– Firefox– Unsupported browsers - can edit HTML
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Teams LX
Toolbar supports:– Word-like changes in display– Links– Images– File uploads– Special characters– HTML editing mode– pseudo-CSS
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Teams LX
Editing history for each page
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Teams LX
Version changes highlighted
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Teams LX
• Ability to revert to prior versions
• Other tools:– Page list– Search tool– Export tool
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Teams LX
• Assess Wikis (Control Panel)
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Wiki examples
• Scientific Basis of Medicine Program (SBM.Program-AY0607):– Student presentation of medical case studies– Use of pathology images crucial– “Seeded” demo wiki
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Wiki examples
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Wiki examples
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Wiki examples
• Whitman and Dickinson (ENGL.066.01-SU06):
– Class-built literary glossary– Class-built annotated bibliography– Tendency to append, not overwrite
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Wiki examples
• Composition and Research (WRIT.002.04-FA06)– Collection of sources– Class-built historical synopsis– Orphaned pages
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Wiki examples
• Expository Writing (WRIT.005.13.14-FA06)– Group web project instead of paper– Multi-media included– Course administration: signup sheets
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Wiki examples
• Expository Writing (WRIT.005.01-FA06)– Student-generated questions– Wiki functions like an erasable whiteboard
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Wiki examples
• Biology & Politics of Starvation (BIOL.009.01-SSOC.009.01-WI06)– Final projects– Charts and images– Some poor design choices (colors, width)
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Wiki examples
• Collaborative article (ORG.computing.curricular.CMS-article)– Used wiki as shared writing space
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Other wiki assignments
• Reading club
• Signup and self-scheduling pages
• Textbook errata
• Lecture errata
• “Expert” wikis (research and documentation)
• Student-authored study guides
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Wiki positives
• Student engagement and ownership
• Multi-media
• Sharing work in class / outside of class
• Wikis enhance other work
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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
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Wiki problems, 1
• 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
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Wiki problems, 2
• Long URLs• Access configuration difficult for faculty• Hesitancy to embrace new notion of authorship• Flashy instead of substantive
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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
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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
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Journals LX
• Analogous to Teams LX
• “Journal Site” = blogs
• Nomenclature and icon switch
=
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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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Sample blog assignments
• Individual reading or progress journals
• Group project progress reports
• Personal showcase in language classes
• Student blogs
• Peer review
• Link collection
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Blog example
• Contemporary Issues Feminism (WGST.016.01-SP07) – Theoretical glossaries/responses
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Blog example
• The Cinematic City (FILM.047.01-SP07)
– Response papers
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Blog example
• Latinos in Media/Arts (LATS.041.01-FA05)– Student link collections
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Blog positives
• Easy for students to use
• Good replacement for some single-page wikis
• Alternative to discussion board
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Blog problems
• Less used at Dartmouth than wikis
• Student engagement seems lower
• Few technical/conceptual problems– Browser problems
• Problems similar to discussion board:– Student motivation– Integration with course
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Expo LX
• Formerly called “Backpack”
• Not deployed at Dartmouth
• Blogs, wikis associated with user
• Module-based (not course)
• Rudimentary permissioning
• E-portfolios
• Personal student spaces
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Conclusion
• Contact: [email protected]
• Slides: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~bknauff/BbWorld2007/
Questions!
