Blikis Beyond the Borders Polly Hoover, Ph.D. Michelle Navarre Cleary, Ph.D.

What is a bliki?  A web page that combines the attributes of a blog for individual use and a wiki for collaborative use  A wiki is a web page (or pages) that multiple users can edit  24/7 availability  Collaborative, less hierarchical  Allows historical overview and hypertexts/images

Why should I use a bliki? Doesn’t Blackboard do everything?

Advantages over Blackboard and Conventional Web Pages

Blikis  Writing as a communication tool in a community– not for the teacher alone and for a grade  Students have access to editing material – so engaged in the construction of the course  Can include outside speakers in the bliki discourse – so a wider community engaged in the course  Allows the integration of hypertexts and images in all postings  Easy to use, what you see is what you get editing

One example of the success of the bliki in the classroom…

SNL-CCC Bridge Program  Adult students from School for New Learning  Adult students from City Colleges of Chicago (Truman and Wright)  Instructor from SNL  Instructor from CCC  “Blended” course

Challenges for Student Retention and Engagement  Different levels of college readiness, particularly in terms of writing  Geographical distance  Time constraints (school, family, jobs)  Technological differences (from computer access to individual’s ease)  Different Blackboard sites

From multiplicity to one How to blend these diversities into one coherent and strong learning community?

How it works… com/

How we did:  Retained all of the SNL students and two thirds of the CCC students  One student is transferring to SNL upon graduating from Wright this semester. Every student discussed their BA and some their MA plans with us.  Students overwhelmingly commented on the diversity of the class as one of its greatest strengths  Students gained a more nuanced understanding of Dr. Gregory’s conduct manual

To set up your own bliki:

Further questions or comments  Contact