Digital skills for collaborative OER development/Wiki skills/FAQs

Invitation to help develop the FAQ page

As an open education initiative, the OERu works with learners and the community to develop and improve our course materials collaboratively. We use the pilot offering of OERu courses as an authentic opportunity to develop the frequently asked questions page (FAQs) for future iterations of the course.

Please help us in developing the FAQ page by posting any questions (and prospective answers) you recommend for inclusion based on your experience of the wiki skills learning pathway. Login to WikiEducator and post your questions on the source page in the wiki. Yes, this site was developed using a wiki and you can help to improve the course site for future iterations.

Should I learn how to use wiki text?

The visual editor offers a low barrier for new account holders to start editing and build confidence with wiki technology. However, Mediawiki is a powerful software engine which provides a wide range of functionality to improve productivity for collaborative authoring of OER. Many of these features are not available through the visual editor. It is worth your effort to start learning how to use wiki markup. Remember you can open any wiki page using the "Edit source" view and copy the markup for remixing on your own pages.

Where can I see the stuff?

Some of my colleagues who are new to wikis and online learning have found it hard to navigate and asked me how they could find the stuff. Meaning, how can i find the OERs that people are sharing. I told her that Twitter would be used to share the URLS to the stuff that folks are creating. I asked her had she seen the Twitter feed and the answer - no. I had a poke around and found that it is called "Course Feed". I think the instructions for Twitter are embedded quite deep in the instructional text which is great for those following every step but perhaps not so easy for those wanting to lurk and dip in and evaluate what's going on before jumping in.

Could we develop a signpost video or PDF for new participants?

Some of my colleagues who are new to wikis and online learning have found it hard to navigate and have needed some F2F time to engage in the course. I think they are looking for something they could skim and get a feel for the sequence. Something to bridge the language terminology gaps. Could we develop a PDF guide to email them upon registration, with a visual or link to video or in some way get them skimming and picking and choosing more easily? Should we bring back the video signpost option?

Could my question appear here?

Yes, your question and our community developed response could appear here. Don't be missed by your absence.