LIBE 477B Future Vision Post #3: To Wiki or Not to Wiki, that is the Question

As discussed in my previous post, I had decided on a wiki as the platform to curate and share digital citizenship resources with fellow teaching colleagues. After creating the Wiki and naming it "Digital Citizenship Database" I realized how out of practice from wiki-ing I really was! It took me a bit of time to figure out how to create pages, organize the navigation pane, upload documents and make the pages look appealing... I am trying to make the pages well-organized and easy to read, although once I (and others, hopefully!) start adding more items, the pages will get longer and longer.

It was at this point that, as a notorious second-guesser, I started to wonder if a Wiki was the best choice after all. Would the pages start to look too long and crowded? I do love the layout of a blog and the embedding and ease of use when it comes to commenting; however, I still wanted a place where people can actually upload physical documents. I also looked a fellow LLED 462 colleague's Symbaloo on a similar topic and wondered if a more visual platform would be better, as opposed to the linear appearance of a wiki. However, there still arose the issue of uploading documents, in addition to being able to add more contributors... In the end, I realized that I really want this to be a living document and promote sharing and collaboration among colleagues. So, much like in a multiple choice test, I went with my initial instinct (When in doubt, pick W for Wiki?)

This has certainly been a learning experience in looking at the different benefits and drawbacks of a variety of different Web 2.0 tools. I think the key is to really think about your purpose and choose the one that will represent it best. I have been working on making the Wiki as user friendly as possible and learning more about how to give it more of a blog type of feel. I hadn't made a wiki in quite awhile and was pleased to notice some new features, like the discussion post option that you can choose to have in every page. I think this is an awesome addition, so that users can explain their contributions (and hopefully get notified when there are updates.... Another feature to look into as I continue working.) I also figured out how to create tags for different pages much like in Blogger, so hopefully that will make the wiki easier to navigate as well. 

In addition to technical aspects, I've also been having to make a lot of design and content decisions (and revisions) as I've begun going through my resources. For example, what aspects of digital citizenship do I want to include as page headings? Do I want to include grade levels as separate pages or just within them? Do I need to link to different parts of the pages, or just the one page? For example,  Media Smarts has a ton of different lesson plans- which ones to include separately?

Again, I need to look at the project through the lens of my projected users (including myself!) and what is going to make the most sense and be the most accessible when searching for a particular type of resource. To be continued!