Tiddly Wiki - a small self contained Wiki ideal for education.
peter allen
Tiddly Wiki - a small self contained Wiki ideal for education.
For those of you in Australia you've probably heard of the ANTA toolboxes – they are web based learning resources written around training packages and are authored so that they can be used in many different ways and can be delivered online, on CD-Rom or a network share – they can even be printed out and delivered on paper ( heaven forbid!)
For those who haven't
heard of them you can preview all
the flexible elearning toolboxes at http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/toolboxes
As I was
exploring what now has been labeled " Web 2.0" I began thinking that perhaps future toolboxes (and even existing toolboxes)
might benefit from some of the
advantages that the Web 2.0 paradigm brings. : -
One of the problems with
the toolbox material is that it can
go out of date – training packages
get updated or the industry it services shifts focused or the local industry
is different than what the National toolbox is authored for.
Or, as is the case with any pre-made teaching resource, the lecturer/facilitator/teacher is happy with a good part of the toolbox but
would like to add, or change or modify
in some way the toolbox resources.
I could see that if toolbox resources were authored into a Wiki type format, then modification of the toolbox for updating or customization would be easy.
A shining example of the potential for a Wiki type resource is Wikipedia ( www.wikipedia.org ). - and its sister project Wikibooks. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
I could see the potential for Toolboxes in this format with a community of interested practitioners actively involved in the creation and maintenance of such a resource.
One immediate problem I saw was that toolboxes inside a wiki would not have the portability of the HTML formatted toolboxes as most Wikis are designed using a webserver and a database.
So how could a toolbox (or any teaching resource for that matter) be authored in a Wiki format but still retain the portability and flexibility of a HTML based resource like a Toolbox?
Some web-surfing research provided some promising results. - In Wikipedia there is a page on the Wiki-on-a-stick project. ( http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_on_a_stick)
The page is quite comprehensive and provides how to install a true Wiki on a USB flash drive using only about 7Mb of space.
This was OK, but it was a little too technical for most people, I was looking for a simpler solution.
I found a solution in Tiddly Wiki
Tiddly wiki ( www.tiddlywiki.com) is an amazing piece of software – it takes the concept of a Wiki and encloses it into a single HTML file that can be carried around on a USB flash drive.
Instead of the usual Wiki practice of each topic on a new page - Tiddly Wiki breaks information down into smaller chunks (dare I say Learning Objects???) called Tiddlers.
I immediately saw an educational
application for TiddlyWiki –
For the face-to-face computer class I teach I could place all of the learning guides, lecture notes links to websites in fact any useful information in a Tiddly Wiki for that subject and the students could then annotate and add their own notes to the existing Wiki notes.
Instead of paper based learning guides I knew that you can get low cost USB flash drives - with software ( ie Tiddly Wiki ) pre installed.
And the great thing is that Tiddly Wiki will keep all of this information together in a single file – making file management and backup relatively easy.
Tiddly Wiki seems to inspire anyone that I show it to. Applications seem to spring to mind as soon as people see it.
It also seems that Tiddly Wiki has huge potential -
according to this programmer (http://davidmercer.nfshost.com/article/7/TheHolyGrailofProgrammers) - he sees Tiddly Wiki as an ideal
web applications development platform – with
open standards such as Javascript and
CSS it is
open to anyone to develop their own applications using the Tiddly Wiki
framework. This means you aren't boxing
yourself into a corner if you spend time
and effort using Tiddly Wiki – in fact
the macro plug-ins that have already
been developed already add to the scope
of what this little program – err...
webpage can do.
To try out Tiddly Wiki , you can see what a basic Tiddly Wiki looks like at www.tiddlywiki.com
To see a Tiddly Wiki where the author has modified the style
sheet, have a look at www.tiddlywikitips.com
To see a very nice Tiddly Wiki complete with background images,
have a look at http://www.elsdesign.com/tiddlywiki/
Once the page has loaded click on the options link on the right hand side of the page and work your way through the 6 or so stylesheets that this developer has developed .. and these style sheets are dynamically loaded .
Lastly have a look at
http://www.tiddlyforge.net/ -
this site lists all of the plug ins and macros
that have been developed for Tiddly Wiki.
Tiddly wiki is Free and Open Source Software [FOSS]. – that means that the software is free to
use and the developments for it are also free. You can use it and develop your own
implementation of Tiddly Wiki – you don't have to pay anybody to use the
software - but you must attribute the authorship of the software to
the original author.
I intend to use Tiddly Wiki next year in class so I'm in the
process of transferring a lot of my
lecture notes in to Tiddly Wiki. - Of
course when I have a more complete copy, I can then publish this Wiki on a
website and then it can be downloaded. I
also notice quite a few people are using Tiddly Wiki as a way to create a
website quickly – after all it provides a complete framework for a website –
all you have to do is flow in the content.
Tiddly Wiki does require some web authoring expertise at times, but I think in time many people will skill up to use it – its worth the effort in my opinion.
Leigh Blackall
I think getting an existing toolbox into a wiki format could be quite a headache, especially those Flashy ones. But if you were to break apart a toolbox and upload each individual media element to ourmedia (licensed Creative Commons of course) then the media could be recompiled in any way, including a wiki!
As for future toolbox developments, it would mean that media would have to be designed to work independently and in context. In effect, lots of small pieces up on an open network server like ourmedia offer, and available to be remixed into any number of finished products!
Do you wanna go in with my for a juicey big fat Toolbox app, with a very high chance of it being rejected?
Regards
Leigh
Tiddly Wiki - a small self contained Wiki ideal for education.
For those of you in Australia you've probably heard of the ANTA toolboxes – they are web based learning resources written around training packages and are authored so that they can be used in many different ways and can be delivered online, on CD-Rom or a network share – they can even be printed out and delivered on paper ( heaven forbid!)
For those who haven't heard of them you can preview all the flexible elearning toolboxes at http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/toolboxes
As I was exploring what now has been labeled " Web 2.0" I began thinking that perhaps future toolboxes (and even existing toolboxes) might benefit from some of the advantages that the Web 2.0 paradigm brings. : -
One of the problems with the toolbox material is that it can go out of date – training packages get updated or the industry it services shifts focused or the local industry is different than what the National toolbox is authored for.
Or, as is the case with any pre-made teaching resource, the lecturer/facilitator/teacher is happy with a good part of the toolbox but would like to add, or change or modify in some way the toolbox resources.I could see that if toolbox resources were authored into a Wiki type format, then modification of the toolbox for updating or customization would be easy.
A shining example of the potential for a Wiki type resource is Wikipedia ( www.wikipedia.org ). - and its sister project Wikibooks. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
I could see the potential for Toolboxes in this format with a community of interested practitioners actively involved in the creation and maintenance of such a resource.
One immediate problem I saw was that toolboxes inside a wiki would not have the portability of the HTML formatted toolboxes as most Wikis are designed using a webserver and a database.
So how could a toolbox (or any teaching resource for that matter) be authored in a Wiki format but still retain the portability and flexibility of a HTML based resource like a Toolbox?
Some web-surfing research provided some promising results. - In Wikipedia there is a page on the Wiki-on-a-stick project. ( http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_on_a_stick)
The page is quite comprehensive and provides how to install a true Wiki on a USB flash drive using only about 7Mb of space.
This was OK, but it was a little too technical for most people, I was looking for a simpler solution.
I found a solution in Tiddly Wiki
Tiddly wiki ( www.tiddlywiki.com) is an amazing piece of software – it takes the concept of a Wiki and encloses it into a single HTML file that can be carried around on a USB flash drive.
Instead of the usual Wiki practice of each topic on a new page - Tiddly Wiki breaks information down into smaller chunks (dare I say Learning Objects???) called Tiddlers.
I immediately saw an educational application for TiddlyWiki –For the face-to-face computer class I teach I could place all of the learning guides, lecture notes links to websites in fact any useful information in a Tiddly Wiki for that subject and the students could then annotate and add their own notes to the existing Wiki notes.
Instead of paper based learning guides I knew that you can get low cost USB flash drives - with software ( ie Tiddly Wiki ) pre installed.
And the great thing is that Tiddly Wiki will keep all of this information together in a single file – making file management and backup relatively easy.
Tiddly Wiki seems to inspire anyone that I show it to. Applications seem to spring to mind as soon as people see it.
It also seems that Tiddly Wiki has huge potential - according to this programmer (http://davidmercer.nfshost.com/article/7/TheHolyGrailofProgrammers ) - he sees Tiddly Wiki as an ideal web applications development platform – with open standards such as Javascript and CSS it is open to anyone to develop their own applications using the Tiddly Wiki framework. This means you aren't boxing yourself into a corner if you spend time and effort using Tiddly Wiki – in fact the macro plug-ins that have already been developed already add to the scope of what this little program – err... webpage can do.
To try out Tiddly Wiki , you can see what a basic Tiddly Wiki looks like at www.tiddlywiki.com
To see a Tiddly Wiki where the author has modified the style sheet, have a look at www.tiddlywikitips.com
To see a very nice Tiddly Wiki complete with background images, have a look at http://www.elsdesign.com/tiddlywiki/Once the page has loaded click on the options link on the right hand side of the page and work your way through the 6 or so stylesheets that this developer has developed .. and these style sheets are dynamically loaded .
Lastly have a look at http://www.tiddlyforge.net/ - this site lists all of the plug ins and macros that have been developed for Tiddly Wiki.
Tiddly wiki is Free and Open Source Software [FOSS]. – that means that the software is free to use and the developments for it are also free. You can use it and develop your own implementation of Tiddly Wiki – you don't have to pay anybody to use the software - but you must attribute the authorship of the software to the original author.
I intend to use Tiddly Wiki next year in class so I'm in the process of transferring a lot of my lecture notes in to Tiddly Wiki. - Of course when I have a more complete copy, I can then publish this Wiki on a website and then it can be downloaded. I also notice quite a few people are using Tiddly Wiki as a way to create a website quickly – after all it provides a complete framework for a website – all you have to do is flow in the content.
Tiddly Wiki does require some web authoring expertise at times, but I think in time many people will skill up to use it – its worth the effort in my opinion.
--
Leigh Blackall
+61(0)247827637
skype - leigh_blackall
http://leighblackall.wikispaces.org/
rgrozdanic
personally i wouldn't be applying to modify an existing toolbox. if you're going to do it, you may as well develop a new one. and most (if not all) toolboxes cover various modules or sections of specific training packages, so you'd have to select a specific TP to work on. or go the literacy/equity module path. but there's definitely potential there for a toolbox project, with the added bonus that you could design it in a way that actually provides a bit of a path for people to learn how to design their own stuff.
the other option would be to apply for a new practices project, which is basically permission to invent some new processes or a product or other type of innovation. which could be really exciting and (in my opinion) provides more scope. the hard part would be to harness the ideas into something robust and doable.
i speak bureaucrap fluently and love working on stuff like this anyway so i'd be happy to throw my hat in the ring too.
(both projects usually tender in january/feb and select projects in feb/mar so if it's a goer, it'd be good to get started soon)
r
Leigh Blackall
rgrozdanic
if i was making the next move, i'd be asking people in this group to put their hands up if interested and then organising a way to have a bit of a meeting to brainstorm various options, ideas and pathways.
new practices is about 60 - 70, toolboxes are much higher - maybe $250k? i'm not sure but the expectation/outcomes is bigger too. and there's no reason why you'd only apply for one or the other. at this point i think it'd be useful to
a) get info on the various opportunities in 2006 (even learnscope, networks, there's heaps of stuff out there) including criteria, focus, boundaries, time frames, budget etc
b) brainstorm various ideas of what people genuinely feel passionate and motivated about (rather than fitting the project to the funding) and see what comes up. select the best ideas or clusters.
c) map B to A and start getting the ideas into shape and proposals/tenders written.
we'd also need to partner with a registered training organisation to be eligible for any of these so there'd also be other steps but that needn't concern us now, the hardest part is coming up with the genuinely good ideas. (and by that i mean ones that can be turned into viable projects).
r
James Neill - Wilderdom
botts
cousin from the other side of australia. oh yeah and i work for an RTO
that is keen and supportive of innovation and would definitely stand
behind any proposals we might wish to put to the powers that be.
so lets do it. we can set up a wiki with an rss feed to use to record
our thoughts and collaborate. i've got supervisor access for
elluminate so we can use that for an online meeting space. and we've
got about 3 weeks before my college goes into its enforced christmas
shutdown.
come on you guys...lets share the love
have a great day
botts
Leigh Blackall
Have you set up the wiki? or should I?
Let's schedule an Elluminate session this weekend, or tonight (this arvo for you)
Consider that we also have the ed game Silence of the Terminals at our disposal too!