peter dangerfield: wikis – a tool to assist learning?
DESCRIPTION
Peter Dangerfield: Wikis – a tool to assist learning? Slides from the University of Liverpool Learning and Teaching Conference 2009. This presentation describes how wikis, collaborative websites, were introduced to students in a problem-based learning context as part of a CETL-funded pilot. What we wanted to find out was whether the use of wikis could enhance students’ learning and their development of professionalism. The presentation will summarise this experience with some insights into students’ patterns of working and some of the questions that this pilot study has raised in terms of the use of this tool.TRANSCRIPT
Peter DangerfieldMedical Education
Tünde Varga-Atkins (CLL)Nick Bunyan (CLL)
Steve McKinnell
David Brigden
David Williams
Martin Ralph
Funded by the CETL for Developing Professionalism
WIKIS – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING?
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
LEARNING CONTEXT
Liverpool uses problem-based learning - course themes includes Personal and Professional Development
“You come to University to learn how to learn”
Can this be enhanced?
Can Web2 technologies do this?
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Liverpool Medical Undergraduate course 5 years ( 4 years for graduates) Problem Based, spiral and case led
Four themes Structure and Function in Health and Disease Population Perspective Individuals, Groups and Society Personal and Professional Development
Professionalism is a component
LEARNING CONTEXT
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /354
GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
GMC Good Medical Practice 2006 Duties of a DoctorEg:Make the care of your patient your first concern
Protect and promote the health of patients and the publicProvide a good standard of practice and careKeep your professional knowledge and skills up to dateRecognise and work within the limits of your competenceWork with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients' interestsTreat patients as individuals and respect their dignityTreat patients politely and consideratelyRespect patients' right to confidentiality
etc
DUTIES OF A DOCTOR
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What is web2?
What is a wiki?
Are wikis used in education?
Can wikis enhance learning?
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
THE PROJECT
Wiki pilot at the Medical School- aims, - methods, - findings, - conclusions,- recommendations.
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL)
Learning context in the Medical UG curriculum Idea: Extend collaboration beyond face-to-face sessions
using web tools?
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formal
online
informal
face to face
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
EXAMPLES OF PBL LEARNING OUTCOMES
Privacy/confidentiality 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 4
Role nurse specialist 4 3 5 4 4 3 4
Breaking bad news 4 4 4
Human Rights Act 3 3 3 5
Truth/ trust /veracity 2 3 4
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Depth of discussionLearning objectives
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
PBL RESOURCES AND SHARING
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What is patient confidentiality? Resources
What is the role of the nurse specialist?
What is the difference between privacy and
confidentiality?
How to break bad news?
PBL GROUP
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
WHAT IS WEB2.0?
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Rich user experienceFree and evolving
User-generated tagsParticipation
The Long Tail
Play
Trust your usersUser-generated content
UsabilityRemixability Sharing
Social networking
Collaborative
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
WHAT IS A WIKI?
Embedded images, text, hyperlinks, audio, video etc.
Many purposes
Read/write access
World-wide (public) vs task-oriented (closed)
History / rollback functions
Easy-to-edit website
Collaborative
Web2.0 tool
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
WIKI TYPES: GANFYD (GET A NOTE FROM YOUR DOCTOR)
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
WIKI TYPES: ASKDRWIKE
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http://askdrwiki.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Physician_Medical_Wiki
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
WIKI TYPES: CLOSED: E.G. COURSE WIKI
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
METHODS
Four PBL groups (n=32)
Facilitator interviews
Focus groups Small-scale survey
Observation of online wiki use
Using Teams LX wiki tool in Blackboard
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
What did the students do?
How did the students did it?
ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WIKI
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ENGAGEMENT
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
LEARNING PATTERNS
Range of working patterns in-between PBL sessions (MSN/Facebook etc.)
Mobile phone contact Email Informal chat over coffee etc Use of group Facebook Use of MSN/Live Limited use of Blackboard
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ENGAGEMENT WITH WIKI
What did students do in wiki: Varied uptake: posting / viewing / not everyone
engaged
What did they post? Mostly useful weblinks but some useful content found.
Different groups engaged differently with wikis (good to
limited!)
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Developing your identity
Learning about yourself
Learning about Professionalism
Sharing information
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PERCEIVED BENEFITS
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
BENEFITS
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1. WIKIS AS A SHARED RESOURCE
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Students were able to share resources on professionalism in their PBL groups
Wiki contributions helped clarify PBL discussions.
By being able to check one another’s contributions online, some students felt more confident in their learning
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SHARING RESOURCES ONLINE
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Wikis made some students reflect on the way they contributed to group wikis (as opposed to how they interacted in their private social networking space eg Facebook)
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2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – I.
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – II.
Wikis made some students reflect on the way they contributed to group wikis (as opposed to how they interacted in their private social networking space eg Facebook)
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Please note: bubbles are not quotes just illustrations of findings!
Students’ descriptions suggested that they reflected on and evaluated the resources they posted in the wiki
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2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – III.
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Students were aware / wanted to be seen as ‘professionals’ when posting to the wiki
They were, in contrast, happy to post links and resources into private areas such as ‘Facebook’. This was taken as an indication that students were developing a professional approach to learning
2. IDENTITY AS PROFESSIONALS – IV.
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 1
Not wanting to be the first one to post
Confidence: - lacking confidence in posting to online space - Natural reticence to share when not sure about quality
of online resource Professionalism:- issue afraid of ‘being seen to be wrong’;
Separation of informal/social space vs formal ‘work’ space.
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 2
Learning preferences and engagement
Preferences for individual vs group work;
Students level of ICT competence
Motivation to use ICT as an enhancement to learning
Cultural issues related to sharing.
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Purpose of the Wiki
Uncertain views by students
Group negotiations outside PBL?
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LEARNING AND TEACHING ISSUES 3
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
FINDINGS: ISSUES
Technological Managerial
Usability vs Facebook (interface, no alerts)
Wiki linked to bi-weekly module (does not lend to cumulative gathering)Who has access to Wiki?
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
CONCLUSIONS 1
1. Familiarity Students less familiar with wikis than expected. The purpose and structure of wiki need to be explained.
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
CONCLUSION 2
2. Confidence Students may not be confident to post in a large group
wiki. A wiki environment which encourages students’ to post
needs to be created with appropriate levels of sharing & privacy.
Other student attitudes such as (positive) competitiveness may also be harnessed. “Did other group get more than us?”
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
3. Role of Institution The functions of the institutionally available wiki tool
may be restrictive (e.g. lack of alerts). If these functions are deemed important, other external
tools may need to be considered.
CONCLUSION 3
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Explain purpose of process On-line tool must use Web 2 type of alerts etc
Preloading and seeding some resource Environment must bring with it the concept of Trust
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RECOMMENDATIONS
WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
What is the purpose of a WIKI?
Does it really enhance learning?
QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE?
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WIKIS? – A TOOL TO ASSIST LEARNING LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 2009 /35
Available at:
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FULL AND SUMMARY REPORT
http://www.liv.ac.uk/eddev/Research_and_Evaluation/Pedagogic_research/Projects_Completed.htm
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Peter Dangerfield [email protected]
Tünde Varga-Atkins [email protected]
Contact:
QUESTIONS?
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