Title: Supporting Deep Approaches to Learning through the use of Wikis and Weblogs
1Supporting Deep Approaches to Learning through
the use of Wikis and Weblogs
-
- Norm Vaughan, PhD
- Teaching and Learning Centre, University of
Calgary - nvaughan_at_ucalgary.ca
2Overview
- Wikis what, how and why
- Weblogs what, how and why
- Case study using wikis and weblogs to support
deep approaches to learning
3Wiki - Definition
- A wiki is a collection of Web pages that can be
edited by anyone, at any time, from anywhere.
The possibilities for using wikis as a platform
for collaborative projects are limited only by
ones imagination and time. - (Cunningham, 1995)
- Examples of wiki
- software and hosting
- U of C Wiki
- Seedwiki
- WikiSpaces
- Wikiwig
- Writely
- Writeboard
4Wiki - Demo
- Lilly Conference Wiki
- http//lillyconference2006.wikispaces.com/
-
5Wiki Examples of Learning Activities
- Ideas for using wikis in your teaching practice?
- First idea
-
6Wiki learning related activities
- A wiki can be used by
- Students to create online journals, lab books,
research notebooks, ePortfolios, and even online
textbooks for their own benefit, or for peer or
instructor review. - Faculty to communicate with their students and to
collaborate on research and writing projects with
their peers (e.g. textbooks, articles) through
the collection of ideas, papers, timelines,
documents, or to study results within a
collective digital space. - Departmental personnel, instructors and teaching
assistants can use a wiki to organize and discuss
common course assets such as syllabi, office
hours and assessments without having an endless
email chain or difficult to schedule face-to-face
meetings. - Conference organizers as a means of planning,
coordinating and implementing events.
7Weblog
- Weblogs are often referred to as a Web-based
public diary with dated entries, usually by a
single author, often accompanied by links to
other blogs that the author of the site visits on
a regular basis - (Downes, 2004).
- Examples of weblog software and hosting
- U of C Weblogs
- Edublogs.org Blogger.com
- Bloglines.com
8Weblog Create your Own
- Blogger.com
- http//www.blogger.com/start
9Weblog Examples of Learning Activities
- Ideas for using weblogs in your teaching
practice? - First idea
-
10Weblog learning activities
- A weblog can be used to
- Replace the standard course Web page. Teachers
can post class times and guidelines, assignment
notifications, suggested readings, and
exercises. - Annotate and link to Internet-based resources
that relate to courses - Organize and facilitate course based discussions
- Create summaries of course activities and
readings
11Your experience
- What does the term deep approaches to learning
mean to you? - Your ideas -
12Surface versus deep approaches to learning
13What influences an approach?
- Type of question - Marton Saljo (1976)
- Exam performance - Svensson (1977)
- Context - Biggs (1987, 1998)
- Workload - Ramsden (1992)
- Approach to teaching - Trigwell, Prosser,
Waterhouse (1999) - Teaching and assessment - Entwistle(2000)
14Case study context
- Undergraduate education students enrolled in an
Introduction to Computers in Education during the
fall 2005 and winter 2006 semester at a Canadian
community college (n46 participants) - 15 week course - weekly 3 hour lecture and a 2
hour tutorial.
15Profile of study participants (n46)
- Gender Age
- Female 89 (41) 15 to 20 35 (16)
- Male 11 ( 5) 21 to 25 52 (24)
- 26 to 30 4 ( 2) 31 plus
9 ( 4) -
- Previous experience with Home internet
access - computer-based technology Yes 100
(46) - in a higher education course No 0 ( 0)
- (e.g. Web site, e-mail, online
- discussion forums)?
- Yes 50 (23)
- No 50 (23)
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-
-
-
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16Triad model
Erhmann (2002) http//www.marshall.edu/it/cit/flas
hlight/AuthorGuidelines.htmtriad
17Wiki-based learning activity
- Used by student groups to collaboratively
summarize weekly online discussion forum
sessions - A series of online discussion forums were created
within a learning management system, such as
Blackboard, which related to the key
modules/topics for the course. - Groups of students (2 to 3) choose a module based
on course readings, previous experience and/or
interest in the topic. - Each student group was responsible for moderating
and summarizing their selected online discussion
for a week long period. - The groups used a wiki to make draft notes and a
final summary of the online discussion based on
guidelines co-created by the students and the
course instructor.
18Weblog-based learning activity
- Used for self-reflection and peer review of
course assignments - Each student created their own weblog
- After the completion of each course assignment
the students posted responses to the following
reflective questions on their weblogs - What did you learn in the process of completing
this assignment? - How will you apply what you learned from this
assignment to the next class assignment, other
courses and/or your career? - In terms of peer review, students attached drafts
of specific course assignments to their blogs.
Then other students in the class were randomly
selected to review these documents and post
responses to the authors weblog. Guiding
questions for the peer review process included - What did you learn from reviewing this document?
- What were the strengths (e.g. content, writing
style, format and structure) of the document? - What constructive advice and/or recommendations
could you provide for improving the quality of
this document?
19Study methodology
- Web-based pre-study survey - administered at the
beginning of the 1st lecture to gauge students
initial perceptions about their approaches to
learning - Identical post-study survey - administered during
the 12th week of the semester in order to
determine how students perceptions about their
approaches to learning had changed as a result of
their course experience using wikis and weblogs
- Student focus group - conducted during the 13th
week of the semester to further explore how
students approaches to learning had been
influenced by the course objectives, activities
and use of wikis and weblogs
20Personal rating of computer skills
-
Pre-study Post-study - n46 n40
- Novice 13 ( 6) 0 ( 0)
- (not really
- comfortable
- using technology)
- Intermediate 69 (33)
53 (21) - (comfortable
- using technology)
- Advanced 15
( 7) 47 (19) - (have some expertise
- and enjoy using
- a computer)
-
21Student orientation to studying survey results
- Surface Approach (Reproducing Orientation)
-
22Student orientation to studying survey results
- Deep Approach - Meaning Orientation
-
23Wikis student identified advantages
- Facilitated virtual group work - increased
communication, access and flexibility (17
comments) - I liked that we were able to work on this from
home and that my partner was able to access and
correct my work and i was able to do the same. - Good organizational tool for synthesizing ideas
and group reflection (10 comments) - It helped to bring all of the information we
gathered and the responses given all together. It
was also good to get us to read through every
comment and evaluate what people thought. - Public nature of the summary - easy for everyone
to view and make responses (9 comments) - The availability of it for everyone else to see,
not just like typing up and handing in notes,
which would be kinda boring. - Motivational (4 comments)
- its interesting and i like using this
24Wikis student identified advantages
- Ease and convenience of use (4 comments)
- It is a very convenient tool. It is almost
perfect. After we post the summary, we can still
edit it. I think it is a great way for sharing
ideas. - Ensured that all group members were involved in
contributing to the summary (2 comments) - We were able to create a summary that involved
everybody's ideas and input. - Created a space to allow for a diversity of
opinions and perspectives to be heard and
appreciated (1 comment) - In creating the wiki we had to read over
everybody's discussion posting and it gave us a
broader sense of where everybody stood on the
questions we asked. - No advantages (1 comment)
- I really can not think of any advantages
25Wikis student identified disadvantages
- No disadvantages (17 comments)
- This was my first time using a wiki and I really
couldnt find any disadvantages for it - Group communication and motivation issues (7
comments) - It was a little stressful when you have completed
all your work and you keep looking and your
partner still has not put up there information. - Technical issues (5 comments)
- I had troubles at first trying to use wiki...i
posted some work and i didnt save it properly. - Learning curve involved in using a wiki (2
comments) - At times it was kind of hard and difficult to
use. Maybe because I haven't used it before.
26Wikis student identified disadvantages
- Would have been easier to use MS Word (3
comments) - Contributing to the wiki was just like writing
everything out in a normal word document. There
was nothing particularly interesting that made it
stand out. - Workload involved in using a wiki to create a
summary (2 comments) - having to read and summarize all the comments and
postings. - Restrictive (1 comment)
- It's a limited way to of doing the review, could
be done in other forms
27Weblogs student identified advantages
- Provides opportunities for reflection (15
comments) - The weblog allowed me to record my thoughts and
goals. If I hadn't done that right after each
assignment, then I would have lost what I thought
about my work, and what I could have done better.
- Ability to receive feedback from peers and the
teacher (15 comments) - it was pretty cool, you get someones opinions
and thoughts about the work you've done, could
help u improve and strengthen things - Easy and accessible to use (7 comments)
- I loved it. I think its a really easy thing to
use and I wish I knew more about it before this
class
28Weblogs student identified advantages
- Public nature of personal comments (4 comments)
- It was easy access for other students to view
reflections of our experiences. It was also very
simple to register, and get the hang of it. You
also feel like your on a more personal basis with
the other students in the class, because you get
a chance to see into their minds! - Digital record and archive of personal
reflections (2 comments) - I can refer to my weblog as often as I need to
and the information will always be there. (Don't
have to worry about losing paper copies) - Provides opportunity for writing practice and
self-improvement (1 comment) - It made me think about how to improve on myself
and allowed me to use my writing skills to
express myself in an organized, thoughtful
manner.
29Weblogs student identified disadvantages
- No disadvantages (14 comments)
- I didnt really find anything wrong or a
disadvantage of using the weblog. I really liked
it, and felt that it was a useful tool. - Public nature of comments (7 comments)
- they were public so it was hard to make
complaints and constructive criticisms - Time involved in keeping the Weblog updated (4
comments) - You have to find the time to update the weblog to
avoid it becoming outdated. - Potential to post and receive negative comments
(2 comments) - A disadvantage could be that if something
negative or personal was said everyone was able
to see....however that wasnt the case so....
30Weblogs student identified disadvantages
- Orientation issues (2 comments)
- I found it a bit confusing when I first started
using the weblog. But once I started it was way
easier. - Computer dependant activity (2 comments)
- Constantly need access to a computer to access
assignments, comments, etc. - Impersonal and boring (2 comments)
- It is fairly boring, have to use a set style.
- Technical issues (2 comments)
- doesnt let us get our own background and so have
to stick with limited choices
31Case study limitations
- Small number of participants
- Two undergraduate education classes total of
only 46 students - Nature of the education course
- Introduction to Computers in Education
-
32Four habits of mind (St. Olaf College)
- Integrative thinking The ability and habit to
recognize relationships among ideas and
experiences that are not routinely thought of as
related. - Reflective thinking The ability and habit of
looking back at previous learning and setting
those experiences in a new context created by
subsequent learning. - Thinking in community The ability and habit of
seeking connections between your learning and
learning of others who have shared interests. - Thinking in context The ability and habit of
seeking connections between what you learned in
college and relating those connections to
subjects, debate, and discussion in the wider
world
33Five Dimensions of Higher Learning
Angelo Cross (1993)
34Questions, Comments, Discussion
PowerPoint Slides and Resources Available
at http//www.ucalgary.ca/nvaughan/norm/presenta
tions.htm
35Resources
- Angelo, T.A. K. P. Cross, P.K. (1993).
Classroom Assessment Techniques. 2nd ed. San
Francisco Jossey-Bass. -
- Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. EDUCAUSE
Review, 39 (5), 1426. -
- Lamb, B. (2004). Wide Open Spaces Wikis, Ready
or Not. EDUCAUSE Review, 39 (5), 3648. - Moon, J. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and
Experiential Learning, London Routledge Falmer. - Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to Teach in Higher
Education. 2nd ed. London Routledge Falmer. -