Getting Started with Wikis within Blackboard
Wikis allow for collaborative creation of content in the form of a user editable space within your Blackboard course. A famous example of a wiki is the wikipedia. Through their collaborative nature, wikis are a useful technology for use within education.
Wikis within Blackboard
There are two types of wiki available in Blackboard courses, either or both may be used by instructors in their Blackboard courses.
Course Wide Wikis
One of these is available per course, and these are accessed from the Blackboard course menu. The course wide wiki can be used by the all instructors and students. This type of wiki is best suited for work relevant to the entire cohort.
For example
- Course knowledge base
- Vocabulary / jargon list
- Course Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list
Group Wikis
Any number of group wikis can be added to a Blackboard course’s content area, such as Course Documents. While they are known as group wikis, any number of students may be allowed to use the wiki, this is configurable by the instructor. Group wikis may be used by individual students, small groups of students, large groups of students, or by the whole course. This type of wiki is best used for collaborative group work.
For example
- A space where a group can collaborate on a project
- Create a web site within Blackboard
- Students can use the comments feature to comment on each others work
More ideas about using Wikis
There’s a great deal of information and ideas about using wikis in an educational context available on line and through academic journals. Using a search engine such as Google is a good way to start.
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