DeAnza College/CIS2/Winter 2010/WikiEducator Client Questions and Answers


 * Which colleges and universities do you see as being potential contributors?

WikiEducator was initial a project of the Commonwealth of Learning for colleges and universities in the British Commonwealth. However the audience/community has been extended to include any institutions and educator who are interested in participating in this open collaborative environment available under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. For example, the contributors listed for this conference is representative of the range of WikiEducators.


 * What other types of institutions and teaching associations could also be contributors? Do you consider the Wiki Educator community to be mainly for academic instructors or would you consider vocational instructors?

There has always been considerable interest in Vocational programs. Some of the earliest WikiEducator contributors are associated with the vocational programs at Otago Polytechnic. Eg. conference session PCF5:CYP - Open Schools: Expanding access to pre tertiary and vocational education and training


 * Would WikiEducator be willing to work with other professionals such as librarians? While not strictly educators, Librarians hold masters degrees in library science. It would seem that their specialized knowledge on conducting research for example, might make some interesting and valuable contributions.

Yes, certainly. Librarians are already some of the most innovative WikiEducator users. WikiEducators really appreciate the contributions Librarians make. Librarians are an important educational resource! For example, Wiki as an online presentation tool demonstrated by Meredith Gorran Farkas, a distance education librarian.


 * Would WikiEducator consider setting up customized pages for potential contributors as templates they can use ? If you know someone’s field of study or expertise, offering them a basic course outline to complete might be helpful.

Yes, there are tools already available for customization. There is a very active technical support group who are ready to help.

Customization for an Institution - Biology Educator Declan' McCabe's pioneering and innovative model to engage student teacher in OER Content Development

Quickstart guide/pedagogical templates are used when authoring teaching content in WikiEducator. A number of templates are predesigned to save you time with more complex layouts Wikieducator tutorial/Pedagogical Templates/Examples


 * Educators love to teach and share with other educators, Have you considered asking them to contribute? Would WikiEducator consider a targeted mailing of brochures with links where these potential contributors could see examples of the type of material available for them to access and contribute?

What you come up with for this project will the basis for promotions and outreach that WikiEducator has planned in the coming months. We need examples and stories about WikiEducator that will inspire more educators to access WikiEducator, contribute and become active members of our community of practice. That is our goal. We want you to help us achieve it with your creativity.