Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -
Number of replies: 16

A few questions on Wiki.

I created the main page and in that named five more pages and created those..  I can add information but they all seem to be separate entities.  Is there not a Main location or an index?  How does one navigate the Wiki?

Also, when I have the class work on a community wiki: Does it have any built-in scoring as the forum does?

If I set up individual Wikis, will other students be able to see without editing?  Each student will own a Wiki as a single member to a group.

I tried MoodleDocs but all I get is "This page does not exist yet".




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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Well Steve, I think that when I looked at Moodle's Wiki I ended up at approximately the same place... there is no built-in way to grade individual student's contributions.  I think that one is left having to review everything posted and make a judgment call for grading.

I concluded that for my courses, forums were a better approach.

I did once try a wiki titled "How many ways can one buy MS Excel for the lowest price?", but once I had the answer, I simply embedded this in the course syllabus.

So I don't use the Wiki resource.  I am sure that it fits well into other courses, just not mine. (Yet)

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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

Agreed, the Moodle Wiki can be an awkward fit. AFAIK, Wiki pages can be linked to Groups, but that may also mean someone not in that group may not be able to view it. And yes, I have avoided the Moodle Wiki for years in favour of a MediaWiki whenever I can get away with it. The hard part for some IT Managers seems to be  either setting a MediaWiki up, because they really don't want to spend the time, or getting the SSO to work because they really don't know how or don't want to. 

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

I get the feeling that IT here wants nothing to do with Moodle.  We have a chemistry instructor and a small team keeping Moodle running and up to date.  I really do not want to ask them to work on the Wiki too because I doubt anyone else in the University is using it.

I have the Introduction page created and five pages created within that page.  The problem is that I do not see how to move around the Wiki.  Is there not some start page that talks to the rest? Do I have to write code/hyperlinks to do the navigation?  How would I have the students do the work?

IT is as is the Run button is missing.

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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Ah yes, Steve, I now recall your situation.

If the Wiki is not working as you would like, consider using a different tool.

Does your IT department support a Wiki on some other system?   Maybe all that they have is a Wiki, and not Forums and quizzes.  I don't know.

Have you considered using Forums?

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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

It is not a matter of working the way I want, rather I wonder if it is not working at all.  I can set up pages but there doesn't seem to be a "run" button starting with a main page.  I keep hoping that it is simply the overlooking of an option.

I would be nice if I could find someone who is already using it.

I make extensive use of the forum resource. I even use one to take attendance and, with groups of 1, I have a private discussion option for each student.


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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by AL Rachels -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers

You've run into one of the downsides to using wiki's and the main reason I quit using them years ago. YOU have to create all the navigation links from one page to another and then maintain them as pages are added, deleted, or renamed. This means it is very easy to wind up with orphaned pages and broken links. Also, if you want to be able to jump to any page, from any page, you have to add the links to every page.

Truthfully, since I was trying to use wiki's for step-by-step written directions, the Book plugin with it's automatically created links (TOC) was a much better choice for me, especially since I was the only one doing any editing of the content.

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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

One advantage for me on this one is that it is for students in an HTML course in Web Design.
I can have them do the work (:

For any other course, I wonder why Moodle leaves it there as a temptation that seems doomed to fail.

Although I did learn a time saving tip from the Wiki Video.  When creating a new resource or activity, you can either select the item and then click ADD at the bottom of the page or simply double click on it.  How cool is that?



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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Hasn't the textbook that you are using on HTML and Web Design already done the work?

A wiki has its place, but as we have noted, it might not be the best way to "grade" student's contributions.

In one of my courses, Information Systems, I have students make some simple web pages in steps.  After each step, I have them post their URL (into a moodle forum) showing their work.  Then I grade their work by using forum rating.  In Moodle, you can decide if you want or don't want others to see each others work.  But the difference between what you might be trying to do and what I do is that I provide the instruction (along with some specific Lynda.com videos.)

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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

Yes it does but I figure it will be an early-in-the-course activity to get them using the Wiki right from the start.  The Moodle Editor has the hyperlink option so I really don't see any HTML in that when creating the page-to-page links. The use of the href tag will come much later.

Yes, difficult to grade still.

Here at the University, we each student creates a WWW folder in the root of their "M" drive.  They place their work in that folder. From there we have a URL/path to allow anyone with said URL/path to see the student work from any internet connected computer. 

It is a bit more elaborate than that as I also have all of their work in separate folders and the path is changed accordingly.  This way, all work throughout the year is visible to all.  I encourage them to use the Forum to ask each other about how/why they coded things and to ask why code sometimes doesn't work.

Now I am thinking I can have students use the wiki to post their URLs as it does provide comment space.    So far, the forum I am using gets a bit messy.

I think I ramble.....


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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Okay, you have a good server environment, you have a good textbook, no you can focus on what to have students do for grades.

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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Yes it does but I figure it will be an early-in-the-course activity to get them using the Wiki right from the start. The Moodle Editor has the hyperlink option so I really don't see any HTML in that when creating the page-to-page links. The use of the href tag will come much later.

Yes, difficult to grade still.
Hi

You wrote:
> we each student creates a WWW folder in the root of their "M" drive.

You are talking of PCs provided by the school, not their own computers, right?

> They place their work in that folder. From there we have a URL/path to allow anyone with said URL/path to see the student work from any internet connected computer.

Anyone (with a login)? So also classmates?

It is a bit more elaborate than that as I also have all of their work in separate folders and the path is changed accordingly. This way, all work throughout the year is visible to all.

You tend towards the SharePoint of OneNote type of environments. If it is what you are looking for, why not?

> Now I am thinking I can have students use the wiki to post their URLs as it does provide comment space.

So you want them to make the web page with all those "M:" URLs in a course? Again, why not?
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -


>> we each student creates a WWW folder in the root of their "M" drive. 

>You are talking of PCs provided by the school, not their own computers, right?

Only on the university computer system



>> They place their work in that folder. From there we have a URL/path to allow anyone with said URL/path to see the student work from any internet connected computer. 

>Anyone (with a login)? So also classmates?

Anyone who knows the URL, any computer, any where.



>>It is a bit more elaborate than that as I also have all of their work in separate folders and the path is changed accordingly. This way, all work throughout the year is visible to all.

>You tend towards the SharePoint of OneNote type of environments. If it is what you are looking for, why not?

I don't know Sharepoint or OneNote, so maybe?  I do have some custom software that structures the access by class, keeps things organized.  Also,   If something happens with external storage then it could be risky.  If something happens with the University system then not so much.



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In reply to Steve Ambro v3.8

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

I understand that with Sharepoint or OneNote it is a rent only proposition, which opens the whole question of data ownership. I suspect that Canvas and other LMS providers will use other people's data as an asset of their organization, and I doubt that the Dark Side will even consider any other option. You use their products, you can never own them, which is why I have switched to Open Source wherever I can, and still looking to replace those few I still have left and have yet to find a reasonable substitute. 

Solutions to the original problem you raised Steve are solved, not by looking at often expensive and complicated options, but rather in the more simple, straightforward options that maximizes your overall outputs and minimizes your financial inputs. Buy rather than rent, I suggest.   

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Steve Ambro v3.8 -

With the exception of student personal data, I understand the information placed into Blackboard belongs to Microsoft.

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In reply to Colin Fraser

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Colin, this is our week of discord.
wink

Sorry. I did not want to trigger another Moodle vs SharePoint vs OneNote discussion. My point was: If OP's vision of a LMS resembles say SharePoint, he should give SharePoint a try. (Notice the If statement.)

Moodle, being something completely different, could make him unhappy. Considering the other Wiki Wacki discussions, I see some initial signs:
- https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=372590

- https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=372472

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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Wiki Wacki: Dressed up, no where to go.

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

My apologies, Visvanath, I didn't mean to turn it into an anti-Dark Side rant, but that's how it looks... mixed  sorry. 

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