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Learning Objects Wiki Tool

What it is.

A wiki within Blackboard is a page, or set of pages, that can be collaboratively created and edited by both the instructor and students. Instructors have the option of creating either a course wiki or wikis for select groups. The wiki tool enables individuals working together to upload multiple forms of content (including text, images, and links), to edit one another's input, and to view the history of these edits. The tool is designed to record what is created and edited by whom and when. Both students and instructors may review this history and see at a glance a participant's activity within the wiki.

Implications for Teaching and Learning.

Creating learning activities and environments for students to work collaboratively affords them opportunities develop a more intimate understanding of content, build problem solving skills by working in a group setting, and produce work based upon the application of newly acquired skills and information.

Wikis in Blackboard.

The wikis in Blackboard are actually building blocks created by a company named Learning Objects and the control panels work in similar ways to the other tools you will find in Blackboard. Setting up these tools is a two-fold process. First the tool must be made available, and then a wiki or wikis may be created and customized in accordance with how an instructor wishes to use the tool. The instructions for these steps maybe found below. For additional information and ideas for using wikis in a course please see Wikis in the Online Class.

Making Wiki Tool available for use.

1. Go to the Control Panel.

2. From Course Options, select Manage Tools.

3. Select the Building Block Tool Availablility.

4. Select Wiki Tool and Click on Submit button.

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Using A Wiki in a Blackboard Course - Configure Wiki.

1. From the Control Panel, click on Configure Wiki Tool.

2. The next screen, Course Wiki Tool Options, provides a list of options to choose from. [Note: these options apply only to the course wiki only. You will be able to customize options for wikis created in the Content or Group Areas.]

Note that in there is a button in the right hand corner of this page which links to a help manual for the wiki.

3. Choose if you wish to allow students to edit, purge or comment on wiki pages.

4. Next select the times and dates you wish the wiki to be open for editing, and then the dates the wiki will be available to students. Note that you can leave the wiki open but discontinue interaction on it by students.

5. Next select how public references to students should be displayed: user or personal name or both.

6. Click OK

Creating a Wiki for Select Group or Course Area.

To create a wiki for students to use in a particular part of your course or for a particular group of students to use for a specific project, you will first have to decide what part of your course to place the in, such as, a module or course documents.

1.From the Control Panel on the Content Areas section, chose the area you wish to add the wiki to (Course Documents, Course Information, etc.).

2.On that page, locate the pull-down menu on the right of the gray editing bar on top of the page. Click here and select Wiki. Then click Go.

3. The Create Wiki page will open, proceed down through the page, selecting the presented options as they relate to your course and desired learning outcome.

Note: For detailed, step-by-step information for creating a wiki, please note on the upper right of the Create Wiki page, you will see Wiki Tool with a question mark icon next to it. Click on the icon to open the help PDF for this area.

Notes and Recommendations for Creating a Wiki.

If you are creating a wiki for the first time in Blackboard, you may wish to read the following sections. Here we have provided some general information about creation to be aware of and a few recommendations for setting up, using, and grading a wiki.

For additional instructional ideas and applications for a wiki, please visit this page Wikis in the Online Course. (linked below)

Notes on Selecting Wiki Options.

The "Options" section allows you to customize how students will access and use the wiki. Here are what these options do:

1. Do you want to make the content visible? - unless you set this to "Yes", the wiki will be hidden to everyone

2. Do you want to allow students to purge wiki pages? - We recommend setting this to "No". Purging is a permanent deletion with no possibility of retrieval.

3. Who do you want to allow to comment on wiki pages? - Choosing a commenting option allows others to comment on each wiki page without altering the actual page. We recommend enabling this for the entire class/group.

4. Choose the dates and times for which group members will be allowed to edit the wiki - use this option if you want to enforce due dates on work done in the wiki. Setting these dates is optional.

5. Choose the dates and times for which non-group members will be allowed to view the wiki - Use this option if you want to restrict the dates by which non-members can views their classmates' wikis. This allows you, for example, to create wiki sites for small group projects, and make the sites viewable to the entire class only after the student projects are completed.

Viewing a wiki.

Viewing a wiki site works very much like viewing any web site - use links on any of the pages to go to another page (these links will need to be created by the page editors). The gray taskbar on the right side also allows access to all pages in the wiki - they are listed alphabetically under "site navigation".

Tips for wiki creation.

Empty wikis start out with a blank home page, but every wiki can have multiple pages - a wiki isn't just like a web page, it is also like a web site, where pages and information can be linked within it.

After students access a wiki in Blackboard, the will see the blank home page. Since this may be a new territory or technology for them as well, we recommend directing them to the <?img> at the top right hand corner of the wiki home page in order to become familiar with using the wiki tool. Having a discussion board forum for them to exchange questions and information as class about using the wiki may be additionally beneficially, and reduce confusion or the number of emailed questions to an instructor or TA.

Depending on your learning objective, it may be helpful to provide your students with some loose parameters for their wiki creation, such as, a style sheet for text size and type; image sizes and type; content type etc., or ask the students to create one themselves.

Notes on adding images.

To add an image to a wiki page, open the page in edit mode by clicking on edit in the page section of the gray taskbar on the right. Then, click the Insert Image button in the tool bar above the text box.

A small window with the "Insert image wizard" pops up. Simply follow the instructions in the wizard to add an image, either by uploading a file from your hard drive, or by linking to an image located elsewhere on the web. It is good practice to include a brief alternate description of the image, for users who cannot access images.

It is important not to upload images which are too large, especially in width. Large images mean that users looking at the wiki on a small monitor will need to scroll in order to see the entire image. Page width is also dictated by the widest image on a page - this means that a wide image will force some users to scroll sideways to read any text on the page.

Editing a wiki page.

Users who have editing privileges to a wiki will see an edit link in the page section of the taskbar on the right. Clicking this link will open the current wiki page in editing mode. Be sure that your students know to click Save at the bottom of the screen in order to save their edits. It is also helpful to inform students that only one user can edit a given wiki page at a time. Other users trying to edit the same page will see a message that the page is currently being edited by someone else.

Notes on recovering content.

Wikis are inherently built on trust, since all participants can edit all content. That means that it is possible for anyone in the group to edit or even delete other group member's contributions. Theoretically, it is possible for a user to delete all pages within a wiki, inadvertently or not. Fortunately, recovering content is simple:

To restore a page to a previous version, go to that page, and click on history in the page section of the gray taskbar on the right. This will bring up a list of all the saved versions of the page, identifiable by date and time, and by user name.

Click on the View Diff button next to any of the versions to view that version. To restore the page to the version you are currently viewing, click on the Revert button along the top of the page.

To recover a deleted page, click on page list in the toolbox section of the gray taskbar on the right. This will bring up a listing of all pages in the current wiki, including deleted pages.

Click on the name of the deleted page you wish to revive, which will give you a view of the deleted page. To restore the page, go into editing mode by clicking on edit, and the click Save.

For more information on using wikis in Blackboard please see:

Grading Learning Objects Wikis - How to set up a gradebook entry for a wiki.

Wikis in the Online Class - General information on wikis such as what they are, what kinds of learning theories they support, and ideas for using them in an online course.

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