Wikis are Great for So Many Things...
Wikis provide great opportunities for collaborative learning, knowledge construction, critical thinking and contextual application (West and West, 2009).
One team that I work with that could benefit greatly from a wiki concerning lesson planning would be my Community Vitality Program Focus Team (hereafter known as the CV-PFT) concerning our signature program, the Board Leadership Series (hereafter known as BLS) (Kansas State University, November 2018). The course is advertised "So you have joined a board...now what?" It can be a scary proposition for anyone that has never served! The series tackles the roles of boards and is research focused, content centered, and time sensitive (King and Cox, 2011). In the past year there has been a call to revise the content, and make additions and edits. I believe that a wiki would be a perfect place to construct the training in a place where everyone can collaborate to refine the program.
In the BLS there are four modules broken into 8 lesson plans, which could be scheduled over the course of eight weeks.
So, here is a breakdown of the lessons that would be outlined in this model:
You Just Joined a Board, Now What?
Week 1 - Know Your Role - Board Roles
Week 2 - Be Responsible - Board Responsibilities
Week 3 - Fiscal Responsibilities
Week 4 - Fundraising
Week 5 - Understanding Your Fellow Board Member
Week 6 - Conflict Management
Week 7 - Your Values, Vision and Mission
Week 8 - Be Strategic - Plan Your Action
For example, the team could use the wiki for the following:
Example Training: Fiscal Responsibilities with a target audience of board chairs, treasurers and fundraisers on a board. The training objectives would be to equip them with the knowledge needed to on the good side of legal.
Each CV-PFT work group could take a lesson plan and expand it into a wiki, allowing the group to share information and expand the knowledge base for new members, solve problems and create action plans, as well as outline new concepts to apply to problems that they see arising in specific areas of board leadership (West and West, 2009). The work group could use the wiki in a group summary format to break up content and summarize for further discussion for the team as a whole (West and West, 2009).
The CV-PFT then, having gained experience on the wiki, could in turn use wikis in the training setting, tasking board members, perhaps the board members that have financial responsibilities that participate in the program, with constructing a wiki in their subject area, given resources, handouts, and a brief rubric of what is expected to be seen in a good wiki project. This could allow the CV-PFT as a whole to be able to view the progress and learning of their learners through practice rather than through pre and post surveys, which is the current means of impact collection.
A wiki would be an awesome way to collaborate to restructure the current series, summarize new research and critical thinking among CV-PFT members as well as BLS participants.
While the actual BLS training and video advertisements for the Board Leadership Series are not shared with the public, here is a short video on other such projects that are concerned with K-State Research and Extension Community Vitality (seriously, I can barely get through the video without my heart about bursting with pride)! Enjoy!
References:
Kansas State University. (18, November 29). Boards and commissions. Retrieved from https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/community/civic-engagement/boards-commissions.html
Kansas State University. (2018, April 9). Kansas PRIDE, K-State Research and Extension and the Kansas Masons [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHgv5PLxAn8
King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (2011). The professor's guide to taming technology: Leveraging digital media, web 2.0, and more for learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
- West, J. A., & West, M. L. (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nice summary. Like you, I am especially interested in the application of wiki for collaborative instructional design. Lari's (2011) description in King & Cox opened my eyes to this possibility. As far as integrating wiki into the curriculum for learners, I see opportunity for learners to create a collaborative encyclopedia, a group report, or even apply it to a service learning project (West & West, cited above). It's exciting to think about the opportunities that a wiki opens for you.
ReplyDeleteBest
--Les
Lari, P. (2011). The use of wikis for collaboration in higher education. In King, K. P. & Cox, T. D. (Eds). The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology: Leveraging Digital Media, Web 2.0, and More for Learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
It occurred to me that I had run across an article about service learning activities. Kelly (2013) wrote just a two-page article, but her paragraph near the end on making service learning successful is worth reading.
DeleteBest
--Les
Kelly, M. J. (2013). Beyond classroom borders: Incorporating collaborative service learning for the adult student. Adult Learning, 24(2), 82-84. doi: 10.1177/1045159513477844
Thanks Les! I noticed that I somehow forgot to add the lesson plan breakdown (which got left in a draft over the last few days, hooray!), and I took time to plug in a few moments ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it IS exciting to come to understand the different types of applications for wikis. I am not sure everyone was in "Nerd Group" mode like I was as I read over the different types of uses, but I found it almost as if a new world was opening up to me. Every example had me curious, and then reading through the design I could see it clearly. The only one that I found a bit of a stretch was the Nominal Group Technique (West and West, 2009, p. 95-98), but that is likely because I am a facilitator myself and use the technique in a live group setting. Although I can see it working as I read through it I think that it would be hard for me to implement online as I have always done it in person. That said, I am sure that those participating might feel more anonymous in the process of voting as there would not be social pressure and eyes upon them as they voted, which is a benefit I must admit.
Thank you for the addition of the resource, somehow I am not able to log in to view the whole article, and my log in credentials are not favored by the site. I will try it again later though!
Thanks again for your comment Les!
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DeleteLet's try that again. The URL in the reference was messed up.
DeleteI sent a .pdf copy of the article to your email. As far as "Nerd Mode," I was inventing wiki games in my mind to adapt the different types of wiki uses. I'm with you on NGT, and I would like to see it done IRL, to understand the process adaptation. I've facilitated an email game known as C3PO (Jasinski & Thiagarajan, 2000), which is not dissimilar.
Best
--Les
Jasinski, M. & Thiagarajan, S. (2000). EMAIL GAMES. Proceedings of the 17TH Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org/conferences/coffs00/papers/marie_jasinski.pdf
Thanks Les!
DeleteThanks for your thoughts and example concerning the NGT, especially the C3PO game. I will have to look into it!
At this point I think if I went back to my fellow facilitators and mentioned the NGT in wiki form I might be met with stares of concern (like, "is she crazy?"). If I dig more into it I think there is definite potential.
Thanks again Les!
JaiMenon- Board membership is a great example of practical wiki application. It's an interesting role in that every organization has different expectations and committees on their board, so you can't always rely on a quick google search to provide you with the instruction. I think allowing students to share their experiences on wiki is helpful, but also appreciate the way you've used the tool to allow boards to communicate outside of formal sessions. That is a great way to apply technology to save on time and travel. Lastly, I think the order of you sessions is fantastic, and ending with a call to action - building a strategic plan - is a great way to send students out to apply what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed your post!
Thanks KLM@KSU,
ReplyDeleteI have always appreciated how the BLS wraps up with Strategic Planning. There was talk about maybe putting it near the beginning of the experience but I have always been pleased that it has stayed as the final piece.
One issue I have with strategic planning though is that many plans end up on the shelf. Sure the planning part is great, when it comes to doing, will people rise to the challenge?
One method that I have become familiar with that I have learned recently is Strategic Doing. The process focuses on immediate resources, specifically the connections that can be immediately made and action taken in a 30-60-90 day fashion. I have seen great things come of it, and I actually put my board through the process. It is actually strange to watch the project that they chose come to life, and they get things done WAY before their deadlines!
Here is a link to a video on an overview of Strategic Doing if you are interested:
https://youtu.be/Vqk1ibe9sDw
Purdue University. (2014, May 16). Ed Morrison explains strategic doing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Vqk1ibe9sDw