Uganda/L4C/Lesson Notes/Day One

DAY ONE (1)

Welcome to the very first day in our bid to become WikiBuddys!!

Preknowledge

Requirments for effective participation in today's lessons goes here ...

Introduction to Web 2.0 Technologies

Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies. The term became notable after the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.

Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developes and End-users use the Web. According to Tim O'Reilly:

eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Skype, dodgeball, Adsence, Flickr,Docs & Spreadsheets and iTunes (because of its music-store portion, MapQuest, and Maps Google Maps may all be considered as examples of Web 2.0 technologies/applications though they may have different levels.

Objectives

The objectives of this session are to: Share knowledge on what new/innovative applications can be derived from existing technologies Explore the concept of open source softwares/technologies Understand the meaning and use of Wikis, and Introduce participants to specif education applications such as WE and Moodle

Now relax, and lets explore the details of these objectives bellow.

What are open source technologies

Open Source does not only mean the availability and freeness of the source codes of softwares, it also means that the sofware should meet the ten critera stipulated and ardently promoted by the Open source community. Open source culture is the creative practice of appropriation and free sharing of found and created content. Examples include collage, found footage film, music, and appropriation art. Open source culture is one in which fixations, works entitled to copyright protection, are made generally available. Participants in the culture can modify those products and redistribute them back into the community or other organizations.

Champions in this community include Open Source Initiative, SourceForge, Mozilla Foundation.

The Open Source Definition is a bill of rights for the computer user. It defines certain rights that a software license must grant you to be certified as Open Source. Those who don't make their programs Open Source are finding it difficult to compete with those who do, as users gain a new appreciation of rights they always should have had. Programs like the Linux operating system and Netscape's web browser have become extremely popular, displacing other software with more restrictive licenses. Companies that use Open Source software have the advantage of its very rapid development, often by several collaborating companies, and much of it contributed by individuals who simply need an improvement to serve their own needs.

What is a Wiki

Objectives

In this lesson we will: provide an overview of what wikis are, and show some examples of their different uses. discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using wikis to develop content and describe the main features of WikiEducator

the following questions may be helpful:

1. What do you understand as the general definition of a Wiki?
2. What a some examples of Wikis?
3. what are some uses of Wiki technology?
4. what are the advantages and disadvantages of using wikis?
5. Are there quality considrations is using wikis?

Introduction to WikiEducator, Moodle, etc.

Before we go further to explore all the benefits of OER, Open Softwares and collaborative content development, lets take a quick tour of the "whats" and "whys" of WikiEducator (WE).

Objectives

In this session we will: Introduce the Wikieducator community and explore its history Underscore the values of WikiEducator's community Introduce ourselves to WikiEducator's learning content, and Explore the various types of content on WikiEducator

The values of WikiEducator's community
It is important to recognize and respect the core values of the different wiki communities. The Wikieducator community believes in the following values:

1. The social inclusion and participation of all people in our networked society (Access to ICTs is a fundamental right of knowledge citizens - not an excuse for using old technologies).
2. The freedoms of all educators to teach with the technologies and contents of their choice, hence our committment to Free/Libre and Open Source technology tools and free content.
3. That educational content is unique - and by working together we can improve the technologies we use as well as the reusability of digital learning resources.
4. In a forward-looking disposition working together to find appropriate and sustainable solutions for e-learning futures.

Creating a WikiEducator Account

Objectives

In this lesson we will: Point out the benefits and added features you get with a user account. Provide step by step instructions Guide you through a do-it-yourself activity, and Conclude with a list of FAQs

Join the community!! Go ahead and create your personal WikiEducator account NOW!!

Tip: Remember that you must have an account with WikiEducator before entering details into the Username and Password text fields. In training workshops we have noticed that some participants enter a Username and Password at this time before creating an account on WikiEducator. This won't work because WikiEducator will not have access to your login details that you use on other systems. Once you have created an account on WikiEducator you can fill in your Username and Password on this screen to log in.

If you make a mistake, don't worry - just follow the steps again and click on the blue "Create an account" link.

Setting up your personal WE webpage

After you have registered for an account with WE, sign in. Remember that your username and password are all case sensitive.

1. On which ever page you are in on WikiEducator, once you are logged in, the following "links" will show on the top-right-hand corner of the WE page your are opened to.
2. Some of the "links" will be in "red" while others will be in "blue". Take a few seconds to familiarize yourself with these
3. Two "links" - your <username> and "my talk" will be "red links" in the first instance. This is because though they are pages that have names now, there is not contents. In other words, no "editing" has been done on them.
4. Click on your username. A message appears that says "There is currently no text in this page, you can search for this page title in other pages or edit this page."
5. Click on edit this page."; start typing any text you desire and click on the ave page bellow the text area.--Kelvin kayombo 06:08, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Introduction to WikiMedia Editing

Gone are the times when editing could only be done by the "professional" or IT "wizard". "Anybody" can edit on WikiMedia packages (including WE) - and that is what a real wiki should be about. While some PHP and HTML codes can be used and recognised by this wiki, it is not essential to letting you have the ability (and pleasure) to edit. The knowledge in editing you gain in this tutorial should enable you to edit in WikiEducator and all other WikiMedia based platforms such as WikiNews, WikiVersity, WikiQuote, Wiktionary, WikiTravel and several others.

You can download the Cheatsheet for basic formatting syntaxes here. Check a fuller Wikipedia Quick guide; or How to Edit a Page or go through the steps bellow.

WikiMedia and “Sisters”

There are many sites hosted by the WikiMedia Foundation using the WikiMedia softwares.

Activity

For each of the Wikimedia project sites, you should: Identify the main purpose of the site and how this differs from Wikipedia Skim through at least three representative articles on the site to get a feel for contributions from the community Determine which content license is used for the site. Choose three sites from the list of Wikimedia projects below: WikiNews Wikimedia Commons WikiVersity WikiQuote Wiktionary WikiBooks

Editing Basics

Note that the wiki has been designed to make editing as simple as possible. With the exception of a few protected pages, every page on WikiEducator can be edited.

Tip: Remember that on WikiEducator you cannot edit a page without a valid user account. On some wiki's like Wikipedia, you can edit a page without a valid user account. However, in Wikipedia you can't create new pages without a user account.

Objectives

In this lesson we will: Understand the difference between published mode and editing mode; Making your first edit on WikiEducator to your User page.

Every page that is editable will have a link along the top of the main content area that says "edit". Pages that are locked for editing will be substituted with a "View source" tab. Don't worry about this detail now - finding your way around a wiki page will become second nature.

Where are the edit links?
You will find the main edit link as a page tab, above the content area of a page. On pages that have subheadings, you will also find an "[edit]" link next to the heading to edit that particular subsection of the page. The edit links let you do exactly that: edit an entire page or single section within a page.

Self Assessment

If you needed to edit more than one section on a page what would be the more efficient way to edit?

Tip: It's really up to your individual writing/reading style but the more familiar you become with editing and editing tools, you are bound to find efficiencies that work for you.

Editing is a unique feature of wikis. Wiki's enable people to edit web pages right from within the web page itself. In this tutorial we will look at the most basic steps required to begin editing pages on the wiki and make our first edit to a special page called the User page.

Basic Text Formatting

Objectives

In this lesson we will: Introduce ourselves to Wiki Syntax Learn how to Bold and Italicise text, and add Headings, and Learn how to add bullets and lists

WikiEducator uses a kind of simple text markup to format particular elements of the page (e.g. bold, italics, headings, etc). This "language" is known as Wikitext (or Wiki-markup) and is designed for ease of editing. Much of this simple formatting can be added to your content by using the Editing toolbar that appears while you are in editing mode, but you can also type the syntax in by hand. Not all of the formatting options that are available to you on the wiki are accessible through the Editing toolbar so you will need to learn how to enter some of this syntax by hand. This will be useful if you wish to delve into the more sophisticated formatting devices that may be dealt with in later tutorials.

Creating your own practice area
When learning new editing skills, or testing more complicated layout features it is useful to have your own practice area on the wiki. The following activity will show you how to create your own sandbox or practice area.

Activity

Creating a personal sandbox Write down the following text on a piece of paper exactly as it is displayed below, or copy the text by high lighting the text with your mouse using the "cut and paste" method: [[/My sandbox/]] Go to your User page. (Remember that you must be logged in to do this. Click on your User name after the image at the very top-right of any page.) Click the "edit" link on your user page to activate the edit mode and insert the text you have copied exactly as it appears above. Click on the Save page button underneath the editing area. If you have done this correctly you will see a link in red text: "My sandbox" Click on this link and enter some text, >> for example: "Content coming soon ...." Click on the Save page button.

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Feedback:

This is one of the most important step. Provide feedback to facilitator as to whether you succeeded in performing the above activity or not

Tip: Don't worry if you find the Wiki text for creating the sandbox is a little confusing at this stage. This wiki markup has resulted in a dedicated personal sandbox off your user page, rather than one single sandbox for all the users of WikiEducator

WE WILL NOW CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

• Bold and Italics
• Headings and Sub-Headings
• Indenting
• Bullets and Numbered Lists
• Mixing list types

Assignment

Refining your user page The purpose of this activity is the skills you learned in this tutorial to improve the structure, layout and content of your User page. Go to your User page (which you can access by clicking on your User name after the image at the very top of the page) and: see how you can improve the structure and content of your user page by adding headings and subheadings review your text to see whether you can improve the layout by adding emphasis (bold and italics) Are there parts that may communicate more effectively by adding a bullet or numbered list?

Recap and Self Assessment Exercises

Summary

Summary of the day's lessons go here ...

Lab Work: Participants will work on their own contents

Assignment

Assignments go here...

Thanks you for your participation during the morning session. During this afternoon's session and early morning tomorrow, go through the following:

1. Fill up you main user page (not your sandbox) with an essay about yourself

Use at least four different headings like

• about myself
• my work,
• my passions (What i like)
• why i joined this workshop (expectations)
• my family, etc.

(: Note: do not only create the headings, put content (paragraphs under them) All the best. And see you tomorrow.
--Victor P. K. Mensah