WikiSkills Handbook/The WikiSkills training curriculum

The learning approach is based on blended learning models. These scenarios include project-based activities through wikis focus on the collaborative aspect of those projects.
The aims of this training are:

• To develop awareness of educational advantages of wikis
• Capability to use and apply wiki tools in education.

Introduction

We defined a generic training curriculum aiming at structuring a common base of learning for all partners, target groups and environments. In a first section we will detail the generic curriculum. Even if we would like to define some steps and units for the implementation, the curriculum, and so the trainings, will be oriented to active practice more rather than theories: learning by doing. the second section aims at describing how each trainer may adapt the generic curriculum to its target group and training settings.

Generic training curriculum

The structure of the training curriculum is :

Prerequisites

• Learning objectives
  • Main goal is to insure that motivation of teachers/trainers receiving the training is strong enough to have them reproducing/adapting/enlarging widely the scenarios to their public.
• Wiki-key competencies
  • The 10 wiki-key competencies defined in the pedagogical framework, group the specific skills to acquire from wiki tools. They must be present for the development of the scenario.
• Description of training activities
  • Practical exercises. "Learning by doing"
• Learning resources involved
  • Slides: presentation of wiki competencies
• ICT applications involved:
  • Computer with web browser and Internet connection
• Modality:
  • Depending on each trainer (f2f/online/blended)
• Time involved:
  • Depending on each trainer
• Contents:
  • Gain of time based on their everyday actions they could do differently
  • Learning by doing practically (cognitive transition) instead of learning by receiving theories
  • Quite a few prerequisites, aiming that no one starts the face-to-face training without theories and practices; anyone should see that wikiculture is an entire emerging "sustainable" socio-economical environment, not only a software or an encyclopedia. These prerequisites should take a maximum 45 minutes (ideally 20-30 minutes), so that the participants are already involved when they start the training, but not overcharged of preliminary work either.
  • Answers to a questionnaire to know more about their web2 practical experiences
  • Create 2 accounts (wikipedia + diigo group eCulture) + post it in a PAD (they can use a pseudo when creating account). Notice : If people refuse to share content publicly (not intimate information but information for common good such as manual) they should be able to have a direct contact with the trainer (preliminary talk) to see if they can overpass these fears and start editing in public spaces, for example using a pseudonym
  • Choose a video in the list here: WikiSkills Handbook/Video resources.
  • Give them access before the start to a publication that they can read (books) and vision (video) online.

Basic Wiki knowledge

• Learning objectives
  • To know what a wiki is, and to get acquainted with the different wiki functionalities
  • To be introduced to different examples of wiki environments
  • To be able to edit a wiki page
  • To be introduced to the wiki culture
• Wiki-key competencies
  • Introduction to the 10 wiki-key competences explaining how they should be developed using wiki tools.
• Description of training activities
  • Brainstorming: evaluation what participants know about wikis
  • Lecture: presentation of wiki functionalities and examples
  • Hands-on session: create an account on Wikipedia and/or on the course wiki and edit some pages
  • Guided debriefing session: the wiki culture
• Learning resources involved
  • Slides: presentation of wiki functionalities and examples
  • Examples of wiki environments
• ICT applications involved:
  • One computer per participant
  • Projector
  • Internet connection
• Modality:
  • Depending on each partner (f2f/online/blended)
• Time involved
  • Depending on each partner
• Contents:
  • See some presentations on SlideShare. Wikis are for: (1) Co-authoring (technical, Q&A, grant request...); (2) Meetings (Defining agenda, Recording participant names, Writing reports,); (3) Brainstorming and community of practice (Gathering and publishing of good practices, Discussions); (4) Project management (Listing tasks, Completion status)

Teaching with wikis

• Learning objectives:
  • To be able to introduce students to the wiki functionalities
  • To be able to introduce students to the wiki culture;
  • To be able to introduce students to legal issues;
  • To get familiar to the teacher's role within a wiki based learning scenario;
  • To get familiar with wiki-based evaluation methodologies;
  • To get to know how and in which cases to disseminate wiki projects through social networks;
  • To become aware of the opportunities for collaboration among students from different institutions.
• Wiki-key competencies
  • How wiki-key competencies affect within the teaching through wikis
• Description of training activities:
  • Lecture: teaching with wikis
  • Good practices: in-depth presentation of examples of use of wikis in the classroom
  • Good practices: example of inter-schools scenarios
  • Good practices: examples of promotion and dissemination of wikis
  • Discussion session
• Learning resources involved
  • Slides: teaching with wikis
  • Examples of wiki-based learning scenarios
  • Example of inter-schools scenarios
• ICT applications involved:
  • Projector
  • One computer per participant
  • Internet connection
• Modality:
  • Depending on each partner (f2f/online/blended)
• Time involved
  • Depending on each partner
• Contents
  • Using a list of good practices

Going beyond

• Learning objectives:
  • To be introduced to the project next steps, i.e. co-design of wiki-based scenarios and collaboration through the WikiSkills open-space
• Wiki-key competencies
  • Realise if wiki competences took place during the project and beyond it.
• Description of training activities:
  • Presentation of teachers' wiki projects
  • Lecture: the project's next steps
  • Discussion
• Learning resources involved
  • Slides: the project's next steps
• ICT applications involved:
  • Projector
  • Computer
  • Internet connection
• Modality:
  • Depending on each partner (f2f/online/blended)
• Time involved
  • Depending on each partner
• Contents
  • Different possibilities and examples on how to continue developing wiki projects or communities.
  • Propositions to improve the sustainability of wiki based tools for educational means

Next schema tries to show graphically the layout proposed by the generic training curriculum

Figure 3 : Generic training curriculum

Adaptation of the generic training curriculum for each target group

Due to the specificities of each target group, environments, settings, cultures and partners, the generic curriculum described above must be adapted. The curriculum described above aims at define general guidelines for trainers in order to have a global structure to take in account for the development of training scenarios. WikiSkills is focusing on the 4 different target groups (Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig) and even if they have their particularities in order of age and educational background, inside wiki-culture those differences are relative merged because we considered all of them as contributors or users in a same level.
We just make differences between Comenius and the rest (adults), so scenarios addressed to Comenius public, concerning training with children, will be adapted taking in account the approach to new technologies and the game orientated contents.

Evaluation of the training

The evaluation framework aims first at identifying tools for validating the adequacy of learning scenarios. It will lead to the refinement of the scenarios for trainings in the different targets groups of the Lifelong Learning Programme.

The evaluation framework define the tools needed to assess the trainings, those tools are :

• Pre questionnaire : A quantitative analysis based on the indicators for each dimension to be evaluated. This questionnaire will be develop at the WikiSkills e-learning platform based on Chamilo software. It consist in questions and competences to be evaluated (from 1 to 5) from the users expectations.
• Post questionnaire : A quantitative analysis based on the indicators for each dimension to be evaluated. This questionnaire will be develop at the WikiSkills e-learning platform based on Chamilo software. It consist in questions to be evaluated (from 5 possibilities) concerning the training.
• Expert evaluation: Specially designed for the learning scenario dimension. The tool consist in a likert scale with tick list completed with collected comments on the different aspects to be evaluated.This questionnaire will be develop at the WikiSkills e-learning platform based on Chamilo software.
• In-depth interview : the interviews will be performed with selected teachers, based on their interest / involvement in the project. The interview is composed of questions for all dimensions to be evaluated as guidelines, so each partner must adapt, complete and conduct it for each person and case.
• Statistics from the on-line platforms (optional) : WikiSkills project bring the opportunity to teachers to use an open space based on MediaWiki software, and an e-learning platform based on Chamilo. These tools bring some statistic data available to admin users. This module could bring valuable information concerning activity and timing of the work in progress, that will complement the results of the others instruments.