Salmon asserts that in order for online learning to be a happy and successful experience, learners need to be supported through a structured developmental process. Salmon goes on to suggest a five stage framework to facilitate this process:
- Access and motivation - The system is setup and students access it. They are welcomed and encouraged by the moderator.
- Online socialisation - Students begin to send and recieve messages to and from each other. The moderator assists by helping students to familarise themselves, and build bridges in the cultural, social and learning environments.
- Information exchange - Students engage in searching activities, and personalise their environment. The moderator faciltates class tasks and support the use of learning materials with the wiki.
- Knowledge construction - Students interact using newly acquired knowledge and skills. The moderator facilitates the collaboration process.
- Development - Students become responsible for their own learning, and build on what they have learned. The moderator continues to be supportive and responsive.
Mitchell suggests that the first two of these stages, Access and motivation, and online socialisation, are critical to the success of classroom wikis.
Feedback questions
- Do Salmon's 5 stages seem reasonable to you?
- If not, what problems do you see with them?
- Are all, or indeed any of them, really necessary?
- If so, how might these 5 stages be incorporated into the design of our Digital Cre8tor wiki?
- Are there shortcuts we can take with the 5 stages, without undermining the effectiveness of the course?
Please let's have your feedback. This is a very important topic which is fundamental to the success of collaboration with the wiki.
References
I am not convinced that Digital Cre8or students would use the wiki for online socialisation, nor do I agree that it would be critical for them to do so. If they were meeting one another in a conventional classroom setup as well as communicating via the wiki, then perhaps socialisation would develop. But I don't believe it would develop in the wiki environment alone.
ReplyDeleteThe other stages seem, if not essential, then sensible to include in a framework.
I think Salmon's framework is an important factor in differentiating a Wiki from a regular website. I particularly agree with his view on the moderator. He views the moderator more as a facilitator and a supportive resource to the user, rather than someone who polices the site (as is the case with the traditional web forum moderator). Hence, I feel its important for us to adopt this role as moderators on the DC Wiki so that the user views us a resource they can call upon for help/advice/assistance.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of incorporating these stages into our DC wiki, I think that we should see these as 5 questions that we should strive to answer in our design. Some ideas might include:
1. Access and Motivation - our Wiki must be easy to find on WebCT and should be very straightforward to use. We should welcome the user when they first use it (perhaps we could even welcome them each time they use it?). We should aim to motivate them to use the Wiki regularly. One idea here might be to add a page on the Wiki containing a diary of events relating the Wiki. These might include such things as updates to the content on specific pages, new features, and perhaps the chance to have webchat with a moderator (not sure if this is possible with a Wiki though)
2. Online socialisation - I think initially, our role as moderators will be to take the lead here and initiate communication between the community. By perhaps posting some initial questions/tasks, we can encourage our users to start collaborating. Once we have this dialogue in place, collaboration will hopefully start to flow freely between the community. To maintain this, we could try posting regular questions/tasks with the aim of getting our users in the habit of collaborating regularly.
I think you are right in the sense that collaboration will not simply happen just because we put a wiki there and expect people to get on with collaborating. However, I think there are ways of encouraging students to discuss each other's work, for example, or contribute a little biographical information about themselves, and it is socialisation at those kind of levels, rather than the going to the pub for a game of darts level, that I was referring to. However, I think this would require some effort from staff to initiate, and this I would see this as part of a moderator's role.
ReplyDeleteI think if you cannot somehow get members of the wiki community to have a dialogue about themselves, their digital media work, and what they have learned, then what you end up with will just be a website, and you will have lost a significant part of the educational potential of the wiki.