NOSTT/Projects/Workshop Report

Introduction
This wikieducator workshop (21-22 July, 2008) was the first in a series of seven wiki workshops held for teachers during the July-August vacation period, 2008. It was facilitated by Mrs. Elia Grant-Fraser (Mauritius VUSSC bootcamper, 2006) and Courseware Manager at the Distance Education Unit / NOSTT. It was held at St. Francois Girls' College in Belmont and it followed the WikiEducator Newbie tutorials course outline. Participants came from secondary schools throughout the country and were as follows:


 * 1) Shreematie Mahabir
 * 2) Lynda Ramsook
 * 3) Simone Johnson
 * 4) Michelle Blackwell
 * 5) Sucheta Beharry
 * 6) Melisha Morgan
 * 7) Asha Watson
 * 8) Rosanna Poon-Kumar
 * 9) Nicki-Riis Lezama
 * 10) Lisa Lezama
 * 11) Jeneil Jem Lawrence-Tardieu
 * 12) Gerard Cropper
 * 13) Carla McKenzie
 * 14) Tricia Jollie-Celestine
 * 15) Nicolette Plowden
 * 16) Lauren Marcano
 * 17) Yngrid Rivas-Martineaux
 * 18) Yola Lewis
 * 19) Cecelia Mass Viur
 * 20) Michelle Stoute-Lopez
 * 21) Wendy Wilson
 * 22) Carol Cook
 * 23) Shiraz Mohammed
 * 24) Carl Noel

The workshop, entitled Collaborative Open Content Development introduced teachers to the process of collaborative content development and a collaborative content development tool called WikiEducator. Teachers worked in teams to plan, develop, review and publish open content (lesson plans) in chosen subject areas and grade levels.

Training Objectives

 * to explain the concept of Open Content
 * to explain the purspose and benefits of wikis
 * to engage participants in the process of collaborative courseware development using the Derek Keats model
 * to introduce participants to the key features of WikiEducator
 * to establish learning communities that can work on content development even upon completion of the workshop
 * to enable participants to be certified at the WikiBuddy level
 * to widen the circle of WikiEducator ambassadors

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the workshop, participants were able to:


 * explain the benefits of wikis
 * explain how wikis can be used in the classroom
 * create an account and log in to WikiEducator
 * edit and format text
 * create new pages and links
 * upload images and media
 * use elements of collaborative editing
 * communicate in wikieducator
 * create structured content using pedagogical templates

Areas of Focus

 * Orientation to NOSTT
 * About Web 2.0 technologies
 * The concept of free and open content
 * Open content licenses
 * What is a wiki?
 * Types and examples of wikis
 * Wikis in education
 * Introduction to WikiEducator
 * Creating an account in WikiEducator
 * Editing Basics
 * Basic Text Formatting
 * Creating new Pages and Links
 * Inserting images and other media
 * Collaborative editing
 * Talk pages and other useful features
 * Pedagogical wiki templates
 * Thinking about structure
 * About becoming WikiEducator ambassadors