LIS 9763

Good day classmates – as we learn and read about the history and potential uses of wikis in a library environment this week, we would like you to consider the extension of a wiki as a teaching tool. Specifically, how it can be used as a presentation and collaborative learning medium for students.
 
The goal of our project was to create an instructional wiki to be used when presenting introductory information literacy/bibliographic instruction sessions to first year students in an academic library setting (replacing a PowerPoint presentation). The sessions would take place in a computer lab with participants viewing the wiki and following our presentation on their individual stations. Using the wiki, we would teach students how to differentiate between scholarly and non-scholarly sources. Following the instructional content of the wiki, we included an assignment in which students must find an example of a scholarly and non-scholarly information source and post them to the wiki with a brief defense (why it falls into each category). Although the wiki’s primary use in our project is as a presentation medium, post-instructional session, the wiki becomes a great subject resource for students (e.g. those unable to attend the session). By using the wiki as the presentation medium, we are able to present our material in a dynamic environment and point to relevant sources around the globe, rather than present a static and sometimes stale PowerPoint presentation.
 
The assignment component encourages participatory learning, acts as an evaluation of our session objectives, and encourages students to use a collaborative technology. Current information literacy/bibliographic instruction sessions usually consist of a lecture type presentation with low participation and retention. We feel the wiki format promotes student interaction with the material thereby improving the realization of instructional objectives and outcomes.
 
Please visit our wiki at http://mlis.wikia.com/wiki/Scholarly_work_vs._Non-scholarly_work.
 
The wiki team:
Chantel Doerksen
Michelle Edwards
Erin Mcdonald
Helen Mok