WikiSkills Handbook/Wikinomics Training practices
The Wikinomics project followed the WikiSkills project and implemented the concepts explored and the training scenarios defined in the earlier project. Several user cases are presented in this page.
Practical implementation of training practices based upon a generic learning scenario : Training Wiki Gardener
editAccess full scenario: Training Wiki Gardener
The Wikinomics project aimed to use free-culture and wiki methodologies as the basis for an innovative pedagogical methodology, specifically focused on vocational education that prepares people for specific careers. The main objectives of WikiNomics were:
- Developing a framework of key-competences, transversal to all VET sectors, required for employability and for the environment of the rapidly changing labour market and work life. Key-competences include collaboration, ICT literacy, communication in mother tongue and foreign languages, learning to learn, social and civic awareness, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship.
- Setting free culture and wiki methodologies as the basis for an innovative pedagogical approach. It implemented learning scenarios in which students use free culture and wiki methodologies, in the context of collaborative common projects, to achieve learning outcomes.
One of the operational objectives of the Wikinomics project was to develop, implement and evaluate a training module for the pedagogical use of free-culture and wiki methodologies in VET contexts and to conduct a series of collaborative wiki-based learning scenarios in which VET trainers will conduct meaningful activities in order to achieve shared results and learning outcome.
This was done through the adaptation of the pedagogical approach developed through the Wikiskills project. This adaptation was mainly developed to be coherent with ECVET System. A training module was developed, with the selection and implementation of learning units that promote personal and group skills. Under the title Training Wiki Gardener a generic learning scenario has been developed which could be implemented in different contexts, in order to initiate participants in aspects of wiki culture.
Summary of the Training Wiki Gardener Scenario
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This deliverable is the first version of the Wikinomics training module consisting of a generic training scenario and pedagogical material on developing collaborative skills in online environments. It consists of choosing and implementing learning units that promote personal and group skills : editing and collaborating online, engaging in public conversation, social tagging, sustainable community governance, and propose a methodology to evaluate their deployment and organise their (peer) assessment in a ECVET or VET context.
This document is part of the transfer strategy of the project that includes: building generic content, then allow for multiple localised sub-products matching partners needs and languages. In this sense, innovative and open results were deployed in partners custom training activities (Wikinomics training module and toolbox).
This content is part of the open heritage for the WikiAngels network, as well as, the Wikinomics Badges that will be further pursued with more experts (WikiAngels) and organisations (Wikinomics Badge Academy), and any other interested entity.
Keywords: Wikinomics; Collaboration; Learning how to learn; Skills; ECVET
An overview to five training practices implemented
edit| Categories of analysis | Switzerland | Belgium | Poland | Portugal |
| Application Center | Haute Ecole de Gestion De Geneve (HEG) | Toulouse University of BioSciences Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Zaragoza | NOT Ostroleka / Ynternet.org | CIDEB Incubator - UCP Porto |
| Subject of course | “The road to Wikinomcs”. On-line collaboration systems.
The training was an adaptation of the generic Wikinomics scenario. |
Entrepreneurship and Companies Innovation | Collaborative skills in online environments
“Learning how to track changes and limit damage on collaborative websites” & “ Tagging and reusing images in a wikinomics way”. |
Entrepreneurship initiatives from an idea to a business model
“Planning a Business – Creating a Small Business: from business model generation to client development” Training based in wikinomics concepts, including collaboration across the entrepreneurship path, different business models to inspire participation ant the involvement of the community of potential customers to validate decisions |
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| Field of application | Transversal field | Biotech | VET - Construction industry | Business development |
| Connection with VET | HEG is, indirectly part of the Swiss vocational education and training system as a number of its students come from a vocational school. Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences (HES - HEG) offer vocational education at tertiary | This workshops aims to develop the Entrepreneurship mindset for PhD and/or PostDoc who may be involved in start-ups on spin-off within few years.
This training may be implemented in any professional and sectorial context |
Vocational Education and training | The training offered a learning path to structure entrepreneurship initiatives from an idea to a business model, envisaging validation through customer development.
Training design enriches existing VET reference modules. In Portugal follows the Unidades de Formaçao de Curta Doraçao . Ciencias Empresariais i Empreendedorismo |
| Users | Variety of societal target groups: trainers and trainees, job and second career seekers, low skilled or looking for specialization workers | PhD and/or PostDoc who may be involved in start-ups on spin-off within few years Toulouse: 10 users (24-37 years old) | Main target groups involved in the construction industry,: preparing for the exam on building licensees and those already having such powers, including candidates and members of the Chamber building | Course 1 – 2 project teams (6 participants) ages range from 21 to 26
Course 2 – 26 participants, ages range from 21 to 26 (Bioengineering Master Students) |
| 18 participants, age 22 - 28 | Zaragoza: 18 users (23-35 years old) | Teachers of foreign languages, social economy workers, and IT students | Course 3 – 4 project teams (6 participants), ages range from 21 to 30
Youth and adults regardless of their skill level | |
| Goals | To understand collaboration phenomena in the Wikinomics area, as well as practicing online collaboration in social bookmarking applications: Understanding the fundamental elements constituting the digital environment of the private and public sectors in the wikinomics context Associate this approach with a general contribution to eCulture movement
Propose practical outcome within online collaboration systems |
To know B iotech Innovation in practices
Identify skills, abilities, and perception on success criteria of the entrepreneurship. |
To Initiate participants in wiki culture aspects and to propose guidelines of working and collaboration | To know business model generation and client development methodologies to structure a business project
To develop critical and creative thinking on key concepts of generation and validation of business model To know how to develop an iterative process exploiting the potential of collaboration To know how to generate business models and how to validate them |
| Didactic approach | Collaborative work | Collaborative work
Classic presentations |
Theoretical exhibition by expert S upport teacher | Presentation of methodologies and tools |
| Presentation and discussion on theoretical issues Practical activities
Working in pairs Teacher acting as an agenda setter and content provider with participants acting autonomously on their activities Lessons were mostly face-to-face with concrete online results |
Analyses real cases from biotech field to review existing innovation strategy | Practical work by users
Group work Individual work Online training except the evaluation process, done through a face-to-face test. |
Group work with multiple outcomes Autonomous workgroup Improvement based on workgroup collaboration
Presentation of intermediate and final outcomes | |
| Timing | 30 days in 15 weeks during one semester | 10 days social bookmarking started with 1 online session. 4 half days working session | Planning: 7 days by face to face sessions, of 2 hours each session (14 hours)
But was tested only online. |
Course 1: 25 hours ECVET (12 hours face-to-face and 12 hours of autonomous work)
Course 2: 25 hours ECVET (12 hours face-to-face and 12 hours of autonomous work) Course 3: 25 hours ECVET (12 hours face-to face and 12 hours of autonomous work) |
| Training in relation with other | This course is a part of their bachelor's degree.
The training was an adaptation of the Training |
Independent workshop. No connection with existing program. | Subject is part of huge training | Course 1: complete program of workshops designed to support initial pre-incubation teams |
| “Wiki” Gardeners: a generic Wikinomics | Course 2: Optional module proposed to Biotechnology Master Students
Course 3 – Complete program or workshops designed to support initial pre-incubation teams | |||
| Activities and resources | Create a personal Diigo account and post urls on the HEG Digital group
Search, analyze and compare existing systems of "social bookmarking" (i.e. Diigo, Zotero). Study C oWaBoo as a part of the original r esearch proposal, answer 5 questions, 5 minutes Testing the prototype CoWaBoo, as well as the A PI version The course on Wikipedia : add Diigo article in the French Wikipedia. |
Real case resolution Problem Based Learning collected from web (communication, marketing, financial figures) | Formal presentation Demonstration
Group work Expert explain, teacher translate and users work |
Project: development of business models
P rocess: structuration of the idea using the web tool canvanizer.com (or a business model canvas) Presentation and discussion |
| LMS | Diigo and Zotero, social bookmarking platform CoWaBoo | Diigo for social bookmarking Google Drive for collaborative works on cases | Skype | Course 1: Dropbox and Google Drive
Course 2: Blackboard |
| On one account, the expert. On the other account, a local teacher and all students
Diigo |
Course 3: dropbox and Google Drive | |||
| Assessment | Creation of 2 blogposts on behalf of the students on social boomarking systems (Diigo and CoWaBoo) presented in their ePortofolios
P resenting a profile of activities in the H EG Digital group, as well as, a set of personalised functions in class Completing the e valuation form of the course and the trainer |
Group assessment: Participation in class and group works
Sharing design of the innovation strategy for the cases and by the 20 min presentation Individual assessment: Self-assessment by individual reflective journal (synthesize the ideas he has learned) |
Face-to-face test, questionnaire | Formative by participation and summative by the project design |
| Competences | Documenting background information
Tools and systems analysis Demonstrating existing functions Commenting the work of others |
Own skills and abilities in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation topics | Wikis and collaboration
Wiki editing tools Roles and collaboration in wiki environment Copyright issues and licensing tools License in sharing environments |
Collaboration: level of cross-contributions Communication: level of project presentation
Creativity: level of project innovation |
| Proposing improvements Presenting personalised versions of tools
Keeping an online profile Selecting and adding tags |
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| Certification | This course is a part of their bachelor's degree. | Official certification of training. Qualification certificate related with ECVET . | A certificate is issued at the end of the course and badges are assigned | |
| Satisfaction participants | An online questionnaire was applied after the course. Punctuation is from 0 to 5: Information about the course objectives: 3 Motivation: 3
Coherence of the course: 3 Utility for my employability: 3 Activities: 4 Autonomy in the analysis of Wikinomics technologies: 3 Critical thinking capability: 4 Collaborative work: 4 A utoevaluation of the skills: 3-4 |
An online questionnaire was applied after the courses. Punctuation is from 0 to 5. Before the course actions: objectives, motivation, positive impact: Toulouse 5/ Zaragoza 4
Organisation of the course: Toulouse 5, Zaragoza 4 The course (Coherence of the section, relation with the employability): Toulouse 5, Zaragoza 5 Pedagogical approach (learning outcomes, critical thinking, autoevaluation, collaborative work) : Toulouse: 5, Zaragoza 4 |
Construction industry: a scale of 1-6 assessment were within 4-6 The other groups found the training as “good" with the notice to more carefully match the content and the form of the training to the competences of the target group. | An online questionnaire was applied after the course.
The feedback was generally positive: The need of additional workshops or courses to deepen the theme. The need to create networking opportunities during the course. The need of a first customer program. |
| Coherence of the activities related with competences: 3 Trainer’s explanations: 4 Course objectives: 4 | Evaluation process: Toulouse: 5, Zaragoza 4. | |||
| Course rate teacher | There is a clear challenge of mixing practical systems and technology analysis with critical thinking that could lead to new applications. | 1 - The bookmarking activities were very useful to put on track students before face2face sessions 2- Collaborative works on material from real life has very good impact | The trainer with knowledge and skills for its transfer.
Ensure good communication student – trainer. Use blended learning, not to give up the face-to –face trainings. |
The course was a good tool for project mentoring. Follow-up should be assured |
| Main difficulties | To move participants out of a passive role in the learning process and share with the engagement of co-learning, co-development. | Use of a Reflective Journal was difficult for so short sessions even if the interest was well accepted by students. | Only two sessions were held, thinking that the issues had autonomy, but really lacked the comprehensiveness of the course Another difficulty was the mode of application: “I applied only online and is recommended face to face”
Insufficient knowledge of communication technologies Lower level of education Participants do not see the need of ICT for their work |
The entrepreneurial profile of participants
Need for additional training paths Unfavourable aspect: financial support for practical oriented programmes on entrepreneurship Strengths: personalization of the training, Focus on collaboration, Selection and evaluation of free information |
>> A 5th user case training practice may be found here : File:Wikinomics yorg-training-report.pdf
>> A guide of evaluation to the Wikinomics project training practices