Wikieducator rich text editor tutorials/Planning for restructuring/reconfiguring the L4C curriculum

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Wayne's note to L4C facilitors (8 Feb 2010)

Hi Everyone,

An important milestone for WikiEducator -- WE switched to WYSIWYG editing this weekend :-). WE are confident that this will lower the technical barriers of entry to wiki editing for educators. Just a quick note and update for our leading Learning4Content facilitators to help us think through the implications of WYSIWYG editing for the L4C training project.

New/revised tutorials for RTE

We are working on a new set of tutorials for RTE. These new RTE tutorials will replace the current tutorials for future L4C workshops and listing of general help files. I suspect that the majority of newbies would prefer to learn using the Rich Text editor.

Rob has made excellent progress converting the tutorials for WYSIWYG editing with the first 10 Tutorials nearing completion for review and improvements. See - http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_rich_text_editor_tutorials. (We scoped the project over here: http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/RTE_Tutorials ).

Over the next ten days, I'm going to be assisting Rob in finalising these tutorials. We'd appreciate your help in reading over the tutorials and helping out on editing and improving the tutorials. Please post any thoughts and ideas for substantive changes on the relevant talk pages. (Note -- we will keep the original wiki syntax tutorials for users who may prefer editing using standard wiki syntax.)
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Tentative Ideas and questions for reconfiguring and improving L4C workshops

I think that it's reasonable to assume that rich text editing will reduce the time required for newbies to master basic text formatting and editing. Therefore we need to think about restructuring / reconfiguring of the L4C workshops. This is great, because the time we save on teaching the basics of wiki technology can now be focused on more the important aspects of pedagogy, learning how to collaborate in open wiki communities etc. I guess we have a few options:

  • Reduce the teaching time allocated for the introductory newbie L4C workshop. As a basis for calculating student work-load and allotment of lessons for a session/day to be based on what the average newbie can reasonably complete in a 20 - 30 minute learning session. Can we reduce the introductory workshop to 5 sessions with RTE? What can we realistically cover in a 5 day / 5 session workshop. Ideally the introductory workshop should take learners to the level of Wikibuddy (http://wikieducator.org/WikiMaster/WikiBuddy) --- taking into account that we may need to refine the Wikimaster typology as a result of RTE.
  • Introduce an intermediate level workshop as part of the L4C initiative. What skills should we cover for an intermediate level workshop? (Eg How to collaborate on a wiki project, sourcing images and attributing properly -- a big problem in WE.) Should we combine the intermediate level with the Newbie workshop keeping the 10 working day format -- or have two separate workshop series: i.e. Newbie, Intermediate.


Appreciate your advice and inputs. Please post your thoughts, questions and suggestions on the list below.

Reponses to questions above -- thoughts ideas and suggestions

Please consider the questions and tentative ideas listed above in this section. Don't forget to sign your contribution.

  • Add your thought, question and idea to this list here ...
  • I always thought that 10 days was far too long to keep folks engaged and excited about the wiki. In fact, when Leigh Blackall and I put our heads together, we were able to come up with a 5-day version, that was later customized for the Community Media folks. In the revised version, we were able to help folks develop the basic skills, and then get an 'experience' of the wiki, which in turn spirited their motivation for becoming more involved, sticking to it, and giving rise to further ideas in their minds as to the possibilities for collaborative content development, adaptation, contextualisation, localisation / translation, remix and re-use. One of the challenges, was that much of the skill development focused on individuals per se, and not on getting individuals to buddy up, forming dyads, triads and clusters. I think in the next version of the tutorials, it's important to have 'group' activities so that participants can strengthen their skill development as well as gain a richer sense of the possibilities of collaboration, of which our beloved WikiEducator is so well-suited. I believe this will help us deepen our connection to others, and grow our numbers and content. - Randy Fisher 04:29, *(UTC)
Hi Randy -- excellent points. Creating opportunities for "authentic" wiki experiences, that is connecting with other educators (buddies) is clearly a unique feature of what we can do in the future. From what I'm reading, you are suggesting two three things: (1) Integrating and embedding group activities within the flow of individual tutorials. (2) Some support resource (with embedded group work activities) that help educators see how collaboration works in the wiki. (3) Thinking about the flow and sequencing of the L4C workshops to optimise opportunities for collaboration. Would this be right? -- --Wayne Mackintosh 21:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)


  • Tutorials:Make preliminary activities more lively to bond participants and encourage team building right from start.

1.Welcome: Empasize the need for positive on-line etiquette and appreciating the rich multicultural presence.

2. Introductions:Participants to give their names,profession,what they do, hobbies, what they like,etc and let each participant respond to at least one introduction.This has to be succinct and so no essays. Elizabeth Mbasu 8.56am East Africa time.

Emphasis should be raised on creating teams/workgroups in which participants with like minds could work/learn together.

This cooperation will give rise to new ideas and more involvement.

Hi Elizabeth -- thanks for these inputs -- I agree which must find innovative ways of "connecting people" through this learning experience. --Wayne Mackintosh 21:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Breaking the workshops into stages (Newbie, Intermediate & Pro) will be a good idea, as it will facilitate the creation of  specialized contents for participants based on their level of competence. - Ibrahim Oyekanmi

Hi Ibrahim --- we will work towards categorising our workshops into the stages you suggest. We will also try to keep the tutorials modular, so that they can be remixed and grouped in different ways to meet a wide variety of needs. Appreciate the feedback. --Wayne Mackintosh 21:11, 8 February 2010 (UTC)
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