Documentation:CTLT Instructional Technologies/Blogs and Wikis

From UBC Wiki

Blogs

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Blogs are increasingly touted for their potential to foster online interaction and resource sharing in the field of education. They support a wide range of applications as a simple online publishing system, as personal and collaborative knowledge management tools, and to support instruction. Quite simply, blogs offer a means to easily narrate your work online. Hundreds of bloggers at UBC are exploiting the simplicity and flexibility of their tools for a wide range of uses:

  • instructors use them to communicate with their students;
  • researchers track their progress and communicate with peers around the world; and
  • project managers post updates and documents.

UBC Blogs

The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology hosts the CWL-enabled UBC Blogs at blogs.ubc.ca. It is available to all members of the UBC community including students, faculty and staff. UBC Blogs run on WordPress Multi-Site and are typically being used as complementary course space, ePortfolio/blog and small group or community space. We can also network multiple blogs for easier management and enhanced interaction amongst groups (such as a course full of students).

For more information, visit the UBC Blogs.

Web Development with WordPress

CTLT also uses WordPress Multi-Site as its primary web development platform and Content Management System.

For more information, please visit the Web Services section.

Wikis

Wikis are open online environments that allow any user viewing the website to instantly add, delete or change the text or structure of the page. By allowing readers to instantly become contributors, wikis are simply the fastest way to get text online. With the most basic wikis, anyone can post content from any Internet-enabled computer – no authoring tool is required.

Wikis are used at UBC to maintain an ongoing list of resources, to post meeting agendas and notes, or create spaces for brainstorming and composition. They can also make exceptionally useful collaborative writing spaces, and it’s easy to get started with your own wiki in a matter of minutes. The simplicity and flexibility of a wiki ensures they may serve just about any purpose that requires speed, ease of use, and collaboration.

UBC Wiki

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UBC Wiki is CWL-enabled MediaWiki installation. It is available for UBC community to use for whatever purpose, whether it be teaching and learning, research, or community engagement. It is loosely divided in four main spaces (Namespaces as MediaWiki people like to call it):

  • Main name space: anything in the root of the wiki – use it as you like!

Want to learn more? Visit the http://wiki.ubc.ca or watch the UBC Wiki Tour video below:

Also, check out this three minute video by Common Craft that explains what a wiki is as well as the Educause 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis.

Social Software

Whether it's online photo services such as Flickr, social bookmarking tools like delicious, or other emerging practices such as podcasting or videoblogging, the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology continues to use and promote a wide range of social software applications. Many of these applications are supported by tagging and RSS feeds.

These tools can stand alone or integrate with other technologies such as WebCT Vista, Connect, or blogs to provide more dynamic and responsive learning experiences for students. We have consulted with users and delivered workshops on all of the aforementioned technologies, and stand ready, willing and able to adapt to the many new tools that are certain to emerge in the immediate future.

Want to learn more? Visit the Social Web Tools section of UBC's e-Learning Toolkit where you can find information on the benefits, tips on how to get started and sample uses of these tools.

Reusable Digital Content

Authoring, storing, finding and reusing digital media each present unique and constantly changing challenges. The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology partners with and consults cross-campus with a variety of partners to work toward the best possible strategies for individual needs and to ensure adherence to emerging standards. Among CTLT’s activities are content management projects, ongoing applied research, and liaison with an array of worldwide digital content initiatives. CTLT can work with you to scope out a content project, to understand the complexities of intellectual property, and to explore opportunities for partnership. It also delivers targeted workshops and services to its partners.

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