PLC: Blogs and Wikis
Otterbein College
OLN Meeting
Marsha Huber and Shirine Mafi
Jan. 26, 2009
Classes that used blogs/wikis
• Accounting (Huber) – used for constructing
chapter outlines, recording group meeting
minutes, & checklist.
• Accounting (Huber) – used to construct agency
web pages for philanthropy project and to write
collaborative documents.
• Communication (Kelley) – used for public review
of public relations media and peer editing.
Classes that used blogs/wikis
• Life Science (Gahbauer) – used to build case
studies, the publication of rubrics, and peer
learning.
• Health Education (Wilson) – used for
collaboration and the development of lesson
plans.
• Nursing (Vogt) – used to discuss possible
diagnoses of diseases.
Student respondents
• 73 of 100 students responded to the survey
• 12% used blogs; 70% used wikis; 18% used both
• Mostly juniors and seniors (54% juniors; 36% seniors)
• 15% worked full-time; 66% worked part-time
• 83% were between 20-24 years old
• 68% were female
Examples
http://acct200.pbwiki.com/MidOhio-Food-
Bank
http://acct200.pbwiki.com/WARM
Amount of interaction
Overall, the use of blogs/wikis increased the
amount of interaction between the
students and other students and faculty.
• 61% felt that interaction between students with
other students increased; 6% felt it decreased
• 42% felt that interaction with the instructor
increased; 9% felt it decreased
Quality of interaction
A third of the students thought the quality of
interaction increased with other students
and faculty.
• 33% felt that quality between students with other
students increased; 6% felt it decreased
• 38% felt that interaction with the instructor
increased; 14% felt it decreased
Observations on interaction
• The amount of interaction increased at a
greater level than perceived improvement
in quality of interaction.
Impact on learning
• The majority of students (65%) agreed that
blogs/wikis were easy to learn.
• 42% felt it enhanced their learning; 32%
felt it did not.
• 41% were satisfied with their use in their
courses; 34% were not.
Students comments regarding
learning
Although most students felt wikis were easy to
learn, student satisfaction was split and was
dependent on how blogs/wikis were used.
– Negative comments centered around issues of clutter, time
spent, busy work, did not tie to course objectives.
– Student ease of use depended on which wiki system was used.
PBWiki was easiest to use; Moodle broke down during the
quarter
Qualitative: Continued Use
• 53% supported the continued use of wikis
• 22% supported the continued use, but with
changes (i.e. add more structure; use
sparingly; strictly for communication and
discussion)
• 18% thought the wikis were a waste of
time
Qualitative: Benefits of blogs/wikis
• 37% cited increased interaction.
• 7% mentioned students teaching students.
• Individual students mentioned that wikis
helped with research, critical thinking,
group work, and certain applications (i.e.
outlines).
Qualitative: Effectiveness of
blogs/wikis
• 25% said they increased communications with
other students; asking and answering questions.
• 17% said feedback and editing helped them
improve their work (i.e. improving lesson plans,
diagnosis, think outside the box).
• 14% stated provided easier access to
information.
Qualitative: Problems with
blogs/wikis
• 12% stated they were not effective.
• 12% struggled with the technology
• 10% thought they were time consuming
• 10% cited they didn’t like specific tasks that the wikis
were used for (i.e. checklist project)
• 5% didn’t like the repetitive work
• 5% said the technology stopped working during the term
Faculty Observations on Learning
• Provided a public, shared platform for students
to work on a sustained assignment that could be
revisited and improved over time.
• Enthusiasm was high once the student learned
the technology.
• Faculty (and students) could review and
comment on student work on a timely basis
(lesson plans, agency pages, projects).
Faculty Observations on Learning
• Benefits of peer-to-peer learning from looking at
each others’ work as well as commenting/editing
each others’ work.
• Students learned how to use technology to
improve communication (i.e. adding tags,
hyperlinks, plug-ins, etc.).
• Exposure to an easy-to-use communication tool
with diverse uses.
Benefits of PLC
• Courage and encouragement
• Spurs on scholarly research
• Bounce ideas off of each other
• Learning from each other (and from our
mistakes)
Summary comments
Initial use of wikis:
• Overall positive response from students.
• Improved communication between and among
students and instructors.
Other benefits:
• Can use class time more efficiently.
• Takes class to a higher level with students being
able to learn from each other.
• Giving students more of a voice in the class.
Summary comments
Biggest lessons learned:
• Important to link the use of technology to
the class objectives.
PLC
• The community is working well together,
supportive, and having fun while doing it.