Wikis in Blackboard
Wikis in Blackboard College of DuPage has recently purchased a Wiki application, Teams LX, from Learning Objects that is used within a Blackboard course. Using Teams LX course members share a common online workspace to create, organize and present their work.
COD recently purchased the building block Teams LX from Learning Objects, Inc. which allow instructors and students to create, organize and present their work in a safe, secure Blackboard content area.
With Teams LX,
Wiki tutorial for students (from the Western Kentucky University) about 3 minutes - Informational for instructors also!
Wiki written instructions for students (from UIW)
How can the wikis be used from term to term?
When a Blackboard course is copied or exported, the wiki is also
copied. In order to delete the content in the wiki, use the 'Recycle Wiki" feature available in the Control Panel. Recycling the wiki will remove the wiki content but the wiki item will remain.
Can multiple wikis be created in one course?
Yes, you can create an unlimited number of wikis in your course.
Can I delete material that I find inappropriate?
Just removing the inappropriate material will remove it from the active version, but the history will still maintain the original content. You will need to delete the entire page in order for the content to be completely removed. When deleting a page, you are given two options: a) Remove - delete the page from the wiki, but allow it to be restored later from the editing history and
b) Delete permanently - destroy all of the data associated with the wiki page. It will be impossible to restore the content.
Can I assign grades to wikis?
When setting up a wiki, you can specify that a Grade Center column be created for the wiki. This will create the column in the grade center, but you will have to manually enter the grade in the grade center.
Does creating a group wiki provide any advantages over Blackboard's group tools?
Creating new information with a group can be challenging. While Blackboard's built-in group tools have some outstanding features, instructors have had problems with assessing individual contribution and group behavior. For example, any student in a group can delete files posted by other students in the File Exchange area. To avoid this, students may decided to email attachments and drafts to each other. This process may exclude the instructor and students may find it difficult to track multiple document versions. Because one student from the group must usually edit all of the group's documents for a final paper, unless the instructor has tracked who wrote early drafts, it can be difficult to assess each team member's contribution to the final paper.
With the Teams LX wiki, each member of the group can see the wiki at the same time, and add, edit and delete information. A full history of of the revisions to the wiki are recorded and can be reviewed by group members as well as the instructor. If necessary, information can be reverted to a previous version. Using the Assess Wikis tool, an instructor can review contributions each group member made.
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