Wikis can be, in my opinion, an effective collaboration tool. I say 'can be' because they seem to work best when they are used for a one purpose and when all collaborators agree to use the wiki (and only the wiki) for that purpose. A few years ago I joined a wiki that was set up for a small group of scattered librarians, whose common purpose was to create a coherent set of teaching sessions for a residential 'Teaching Evidence Based Medicine' week later on in the year. It was a successful substitute for email, because:
- The wiki had one purpose, which was defined and agreed before we started
- We agreed to use this as the only communication tool for this purpose - any parallel emailings on the topic were banned
- It was unintimidating to use - functional rather than flash
- It was simple to amend and update session plans and presentations, which cut down the temptation to procrastinate (I speak for myself)
- It was easy to see and re-order session plans and presentations, with instant access
- The alternative (email) would have resulted in overstuffed mailboxes, version mismatch, and general confusion.
Wikis can be, in my opinion, an effective collaboration tool. I say 'can be' because they seem to work best when they are used for a one purpose and when all collaborators agree to use the wiki (and only the wiki) for that purpose. A few years ago I joined a wiki that was set up for a small group of scattered librarians, whose common purpose was to create a coherent set of teaching sessions for a residential 'Teaching Evidence Based Medicine' week later on in the year. It was a successful substitute for email, because:
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Lovely bluebells Jo. They look familiar! Funnily enough, I've just started doing 23 Things for myself and have posted a bluebell pic (before I saw yours!): http://jaxscrapbook.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteNice one, Jax! This is inspiring me to complete these 23 Things, eventually. I've added you to my Reader too. Good luck!
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