Get Your Head in the Cloud How Wikis in the Classroom Facilitate Group Work and Prepare Students for an Increasingly Online, Increasingly Collaborative World

Introductions Amanda Mills Elissah Becknell David Peterson Minneapolis Community & Technical College Library Instructors and Librarians Amanda Mills Elissah Becknell David Peterson INFS 1000: Information Literacy & Research Skills Face to Face, Online, and Blended Course Introduces students to academic research Utilizes a Wiki to facilitate Group Work through 5 Assignments

Cloud Computing Defined “The storing and accessing of applications and computer data often through a Web browser rather than running installed software on your personal computer or office server” http://www.cloudcomputingdefined.com/ Great for Collaboration Work with anyone, anywhere, anytime Only need 2 things Internet Connection Computer skills

Wikis Defined Wikis in Plain English: “a website whose users can add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a rich-text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often created collaboratively by multiple users” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wikis in Plain English: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis Fun tutorial from Common Craft

Why We Use Wikis in the Classroom INFS 1000: Information Literacy & Research Skills Requires 5 Group Assignments Challenges: Multiple students must work together They must hand in one Word document with all their work Most groups can’t finish the assignment in one class period All the work is online 2 Solutions: Ye olde Word document PBWorks wiki

Why We Use Wikis in the Classroom Ye Olde Word Document PBWorks Wiki Requires everyone to have: Internet access Computer/laptop/tablet Microsoft Word or equivalent Requires one Word document to circulate (email, courseware, google doc, ????) Requires someone to compile all the work before handing the document in Requires everyone to have Allows everyone to work on one “document” or webpage Requires no compiling, simply hand in a PDF of the final product before the due date

Why We Use Wikis in the Classroom Instructors can support group work better in a wiki because we can: Monitor progress procrastinating students (who often don’t get it) online sections Trouble shoot technical problems with students Over the phone, email, chat, and in person See “who did what when….” instead of assuming or relying on students to report problems See the process and not just the product at the end Process= social responsibility Assess process and product in one place

Digital Literacy “The ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share and create content using information technologies and the Internet” 1 As more and more jobs and educational offerings are available online, the ability to navigate the Internet is critical to participate more fully in the economy2 Internet related jobs contribute $300 billion to U.S. GDP Educational/Academic Increasingly online… Jobs/Economy 62% of Americans use the internet as a core part of their job3 1http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu/ 2http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/about 3http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Networked-Workers.aspx

Wiki Demonstration General Overview of the INFS1000 Wiki PBWorks Feature Demonstration: Campus Edition Feature Demonstration Collaboration Communication Digital Literacy & Skills Building

How Could You Use a Wiki? How Would You Like to Use Wikis? What ideas do you have? How Are You Using Wikis Already? Could/would you modify this in any way?

How Could You Use a Wiki? Some ideas: With Liaison Departments Advise instructors in liaison departments to use wikis for coursework with teams One collaborative online workspace (that is designed/controlled by instructor) rather than compiling multiple documents Instructors can Monitor student progress before assignments are completed Especially helpful in online courses Assessment of Process & Product Again- especially helpful in online courses Drafts of papers/projects over time Can see Change and Development over time and in one place Can give Feedback over time in one place

But How Could YOU Use a Wiki? Some ideas: For Library Instruction Librarians embedded in courses Librarians can be embedded in course wikis for courses with research projects Can help instructors monitor student progress and class research needs Can provide point-of-need research help AND intervention Can reach online students Reach them easily/efficiently within their courses Better assessment of information literacy/research skills Assessment of Process & Product Instruction and feedback over time Can work with students with various skill-levels, one-on-on , as needed, over time. Stand-alone instruction Online Workspace Provide instruction and workspace online or use with face-to-face instruction Direct assessment of information literacy/research skills Based on student work rather than student feedback

Other Ways you Could Use a Wiki Some ideas: Outside the Classroom Agendas, Minutes, and other important Meeting Information Shared documents Shared editing Collaborative projects Great for Organizing, Coordinating and Completing work done primarily online Keeps everything in one place Work across Multiple Institutions Facilitates Long Distance collaboration Other Examples: Recommended Reading wiki Grant Proposal/Development wiki

Some Additional Considerations Privacy Make sure you know who can see and edit the wiki! Permissions / Wiki Settings Having the right Edition for your needs Cost Additional functionality and capabilities often cost money Time for Development The INFS1000 wiki was developed over the course of a semester with the incentive & support of a Spring 2011 Teaching Circle Continued development and cloning over Summer 2011 Ready for Primetime Fall 2011 Needed revisions for Winter 2012 Your wiki may require a lot of time spent in development Is it worth the effort for you? Is it worth the effort for your department/group/collaborators? Can you share the work?

Additional Resources “Wikis in Plain English” Common Craft Show 29 May 2007. Common Craft. 3 June 2008. <http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis- plain-english>. MCTC Library. "PBworks Overview " Vimeo, Video Sharing For You. 5 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://vimeo.com/34621934>.

Questions? THANK YOU  Amanda Mills Elissah Becknell David Peterson amanda.mills@minneapolis.edu Elissah Becknell elissah.becknell@minneapolis.edu David Peterson david.peterson@minneapolis.edu