Separate Group Wikis

Separate Group Wikis

by Susan Jeffers -
Number of replies: 5

We wanted to have 2 separate groups of students each starting with identical (but separate) documents in a wiki, modifying and improving it, and then reporting to the whole group at the end of the week.

My co-teacher said he wasn't able to get this to work, so we ended up posting 2 separate wikis each visible and accessible by the whole class, with instructions for each of the 2 bunches of students to only work on their own.

Any tips on how to implement our initial goal?  I'm not entirely clear on what about it didn't work, but thought there might be some known tricks of the trade we need to get 'er to go.

Thanks in advance for any help y'all can offer!

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In reply to Susan Jeffers

Re: Separate Group Wikis

by Erich Nielsen -

Hello,

I would love to have a function with group separated wikis as well. Are there any professional moodlers out there who are able to take the challenge and create it? Please mail me at nielsen@nielsenandcompany.com and we'll create a commercial project.

All the best from a Stockholm in snow.

Erich N

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In reply to Susan Jeffers

Re: Separate Group Wikis

by Richard Arnett -
It is my understanding that you can assign group wikis so that each group can only edit their own. Then depending on wether you have visible or separate groups selected, the other groups may / may not be able to see the other wikis. I am designing just such a project at the moment. It hasn't gone live yet but it seems to work if I log in as different students. Perhaps I misunderstand what you are trying to do. Based on what you have said I am going back to retest what I have done, just to make sure...
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In reply to Richard Arnett

Re: Separate Group Wikis

by Lesli Smith -
The short answer is that yes, you can, but it's rather like setting up a separate groups forum. Everyone in the course will be able to see the wiki activity link, and you have to set up each group's initial wiki page. (see attached) I would direct you to a moodledoc that I posted, but it seems to have dropped out of docs, presumably because it is now fairly out of date with the incoming complications of new roles and new wiki developments in 1.7?? In any case, hope this picture helps a little bit.

The short explanation: I used Moodle's overall groups setting to separate my course sections, but I then also wanted to set up group wikis within my sections. This picture shows how I did it. I teach five sections and used the basic format of this page to create the main page template for each section. Then I had each small group edit their specific pages. Again, it's a little complicated, so let me know if it doesn't make sense from the picture.

P.S. Re: my "friendly warning"--I teach fifteen-year-olds; I know it sounds a bit harsh, but you really have to have different structures/expectations in place at that age, so feel free to ignore that part of the picture. blush
Attachment DiscGrpWiki.png
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In reply to Richard Arnett

Re: Separate Group Wikis

by Glenys Hanson -
Hello,
Here is how Tom Clauset - Friday, August 5 2005, 04:27 PM explained it.

It worked for me this spring but it might be out of date now.

"Solved the problem. The solution is NOT what you would think. It turns out that you only need to create 1 Wiki from the front page of your course. The other wiki(s) are "clones" of the first one assigned to each of the groups you have set up. Here is a graphic that I captured from setting up the first wiki. Over on the right hand side is a drop down window called "Other Wikis:" When you click on the down arrow, you will see all of the "groups" that you have made and can go in individually and setup the "clone" wikis.

When a student logs in to the "Wiki" they are taken directly to the group wiki they have been assigned to. Their wiki has the edit tabs available. When they use the same drop down menu, they can "look" at the other wikis, but there are no edit tabs that let them 'tinker' with another group's script. Now that is very cool!

Here are the basic steps that I followed:

1. Set up your "course."
2. Create several groups for the course (I named mine, Group #1, Group #2, etc.)
3. Now create a "wiki" -- make it for "groups" and "group visible" (although if you don't want students to be able to see other groups, make the second variable "separate")
4. The "name" for the wiki will be shared by all of the subgroup versions.
5. The "description" for the wiki needs to be generic .. it will show up on all of the subgroup versions.
6. In the "edit" mode when you click on the wiki you have made, it takes you to a page showing all the wikis -- but, at first there is only one showing. That's all that ever shows -- it's the "master template." Now click on that link and it takes you to the wiki page with tabs where you can edit the wiki.
7. Now in the top right hand corner you will see the graphic that I included. Click on the drop down menu and you will see your groups. Choose "Group #2" and another wiki opens up for you to edit the intro statement. You can do this for each of the drop down listings and so set up your cloned "wikis" the same way. I used the same statement on each one, but a different title.

Hope this helps,
Tom Clauset"

I'd like to know if anything is different now.


Cheers,
Glenys
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In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Separate Group Wikis

by Russ Maurer -
Still works the same way in 2006. It is amazing how frequently this question comes up. This is a link to a discussion in the "groups" forum where I posted a step by step (in this case for visible groups, but the steps would be the same for separate groups).

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