Collaborative Work: Wikis and Google Docs for Teaching

Collaborative document development, taking place on a shared read-write website called a "wiki," or an online application such as Google Docs, would seem to offer great potential for student group projects and other forms of joint assignments, and perhaps other teaching goals.  Come and explore how this might work out in practice.

Wikis:

Videos and Examples:

• Wikis in Plain English (3:52) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
• Wetpaint Wikis in Plain English (2:34) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7BAU2XX5Ws

• Wyoming Nonprofit Management & Leadership Wiki - http://wyomingnpmgtnleadership.pbwiki.com/

• ITEC 5070 Class - http://itec.pbwiki.com/

Strengths:

• Free!

• Anyone can edit with a web browser, completely platform independent!

• Easy to use and learn

• Wikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update information

• People located in different parts of the world can work on the same document

• The wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it's a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an article

• Widens access to the power of web publishing to non-technical users

• The wiki has no predetermined structure - consequently it is a flexible tool which can be used for a wide range of applications

• Wikis can be public or private

• Wikis are easy to create, collaborative webpages

• Wikis can be used as a Mashup

Weaknesses:

• Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate

• Doesn't download into an easily usable/editable format

• The Flexibility of the wiki makes it easy for things to become extremely disorganized.

• It's not a Content Management System

• Best used as a collaborative webpage, not a collaborative document.

Google Docs:

 Videos and Examples:

• Google Docs in Plain English (2:50)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRqUE6IHTEA

• Teachers and Principals Talk about Google Docs (4:07) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPjJK6LZdM=

• HIV (Work in progress) - https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dn6dtmv_105d5b36ff6&hl=en

• ALDH2 (Completed Document) - https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dn6dtmv_74dpz73fdx&hl=en

• SSSJ Proposals - https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pPHoIY1x3BriOAWinx9IRPg&hl=en

• Race Registration Example - https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pPHoIY1x3BrjNNyQvG-tkSg&hl=en

Strengths:

• Free!

• Anyone can edit with a web browser, completely platform independent!

• Easy to use and learn

• Wikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update information

• People located in different parts of the world can work on the same document

• The wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it's a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an article

• Documents can be public or private

• Creates documents that can be downloaded, opened and printed in word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software (Microsoft Office or similar)

• Has documents, spreadsheets, presentations and ability to create online polls and forms

• Easy to create a collaborative document.

  Weaknesses:

• Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate

• Although you can publish the documents as a "webpage" the formatting and multimedia options are a bit limited.

• Not a webpage authoring tool.