Name: Wayne Hayes

Wiki Address: http://worldsustainability.pbwiki.com/

What grade do you teach? 200-level college course

Please upload a screenshot of your PBwiki: See home page of course wiki

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What was your first experience setting up a wiki for your classroom, what did you learn?

My 200-level Gen Ed course, World Sustainability, was selected for a pilot on-line summer course for Ramapo College. I needed to encourage interaction and knew that the program my college used, WebCT, would not do. So I researched wikidom and selected PBWiki -- and I am glad that I did. I had not used a wiki, but had a vague notion of how wikis worked. Course syllabus and schedules were posted to my web site, along with legacy content. World Sustainability is not a standardized course, such as Astronomy, so I need to add a whole lot of my own content and yet faclitate interaction. PBWiki was the ideal tool.

 

I learned both how to use PBWiki and how to integrate the whole course. Although I have just finished the 5-week course, I know that I am still learning the rich set of tools available. Of the 15 on-line pilot courses, mine alone used a wiki. Feedback suggests that I made the right decision.

 

 

What lessons worked well with the wiki, which didn't?

I wrote much of my own content and integrated PBWiki with my legacy web site very effectively. This proved to be a critical move in course delivery: PBWiki provided the Web 2.0 interactivity which my static web site could not. The students became involved; they visited, commented, and edited. Many set up their own pages or collaborated on a course topic. Of my 23 students, 20 participated while 3 shied away due to technophobia -- not a good thing in this context. I wanted more students to build and edit pages. Tracking page visits and comments was very useful to me.

 

Did you have a difficult time introducing PBwiki in your school?  If so, how did you convince your principal?

No. As a professor, I enjoy autonomy and did not need permission. Our tech managers and academic managers were very intrigued. The use of a Wiki may not always be welcomed by tech staff who maintain other systems.

 

How did your students adapt to using a wiki in the classroom?

PBWiki is much more interactive, flexible, fast, and accessible than the alternative, WebCT. Students picked up comments immediately, about half wrote or edited pages. About half of these became skilled users and builders.

 

What should first time wiki users be aware of?

The inherent intricacy of web design might be a challenge. Wikis, like all web sites, can get complex and need an overall plan. I have written hundreds of web pages and have the capability of integrating the site. Attention to navigation and basics of web design help. PBWiki provides tools that make design, orientation, and navigation much more simple than writing html pages.

 

I have been using PBWiki for about six weeks as of 6/28/2008 and still have much to learn. Any robust software takes time to master. I have done computer programming and appreciate how well designed and solidly built is PBWiki. I have recommended PBWiki to many colleagues. I am very pleased with my decision to use PBWiki.