PLC: Blogs and Wikis

1. PLC: Blogs and Wikis Otterbein College OLN Meeting Marsha Huber and Shirine Mafi Jan. 26, 2009

2. Classes that used blogs/wikis • Accounting (Huber) – used for constructing chapter outlines, recording group meeting minutes, & checklist. • Accounting (Huber) – used to construct agency web pages for philanthropy project and to write collaborative documents. • Communication (Kelley) – used for public review of public relations media and peer editing.

3. Classes that used blogs/wikis • Life Science (Gahbauer) – used to build case studies, the publication of rubrics, and peer learning. • Health Education (Wilson) – used for collaboration and the development of lesson plans. • Nursing (Vogt) – used to discuss possible diagnoses of diseases.

4. Student respondents • 73 of 100 students responded to the survey • 12% used blogs; 70% used wikis; 18% used both • Mostly juniors and seniors (54% juniors; 36% seniors) • 15% worked full-time; 66% worked part-time • 83% were between 20-24 years old • 68% were female

5. Examples http://acct200.pbwiki.com/MidOhio-Food-Bank http://acct200.pbwiki.com/WARM

6. Amount of interaction Overall, the use of blogs/wikis increased the amount of interaction between the students and other students and faculty. • 61% felt that interaction between students with other students increased; 6% felt it decreased • 42% felt that interaction with the instructor increased; 9% felt it decreased

7. Quality of interaction A third of the students thought the quality of interaction increased with other students and faculty. • 33% felt that quality between students with other students increased; 6% felt it decreased • 38% felt that interaction with the instructor increased; 14% felt it decreased

8. Observations on interaction • The amount of interaction increased at a greater level than perceived improvement in quality of interaction.

9. Impact on learning • The majority of students (65%) agreed that blogs/wikis were easy to learn. • 42% felt it enhanced their learning; 32% felt it did not. • 41% were satisfied with their use in their courses; 34% were not.

10. Students comments regarding learning Although most students felt wikis were easy to learn, student satisfaction was split and was dependent on how blogs/wikis were used. • Negative comments centered around issues of clutter, time spent, busy work, did not tie to course objectives. • Student ease of use depended on which wiki system was used. PBWiki was easiest to use; Moodle broke down during the quarter

11. Qualitative: Continued Use • 53% supported the continued use of wikis • 22% supported the continued use, but with changes (i.e. add more structure; use sparingly; strictly for communication and discussion) • 18% thought the wikis were a waste of time

12. Qualitative: Benefits of blogs/wikis • 37% cited increasedinteraction. • 7% mentioned students teaching students. • Individual students mentioned that wikis helped with research, critical thinking, group work, and certain applications (i.e. outlines).

13. Qualitative: Effectiveness of blogs/wikis • 25% said they increased communications with other students; asking and answering questions. • 17% said feedback and editing helped them improve their work (i.e. improving lesson plans, diagnosis, think outside the box). • 14% stated provided easier access to information.

14. Qualitative: Problems with blogs/wikis • 12% stated they were not effective. • 12% struggled with the technology • 10% thought they were time consuming • 10% cited they didn’t like specific tasks that the wikis were used for (i.e. checklist project) • 5% didn’t like the repetitive work • 5% said the technology stopped working during the term

15. Faculty Observations on Learning • Provided a public, shared platform for students to work on a sustained assignment that could be revisited and improved over time. • Enthusiasm was high once the student learned the technology. • Faculty (and students) could review and comment on student work on a timely basis (lesson plans, agency pages, projects).

16. Faculty Observations on Learning • Benefits of peer-to-peer learning from looking at each others’ work as well as commenting/editing each others’ work. • Students learned how to use technology to improve communication (i.e. adding tags, hyperlinks, plug-ins, etc.). • Exposure to an easy-to-use communication tool with diverse uses.

17. Benefits of PLC • Courage and encouragement • Spurs on scholarly research • Bounce ideas off of each other • Learning from each other (and from our mistakes)

18. Summary comments Initial use of wikis: • Overall positive response from students. • Improved communication between and among students and instructors. Other benefits: • Can use class time more efficiently. • Takes class to a higher level with students being able to learn from each other. • Giving students more of a voice in the class.

19. Summary comments Biggest lessons learned: • Important to link the use of technology to the class objectives. PLC • The community is working well together, supportive, and having fun while doing it.