Exploiting The Potential Of Wikis
Workshop Evaluation

Evaluation

This page contains access to the feedback received for the UKOLN workshop on Exploiting The Potential Of Wikis: Evaluation held at Austin Court, Birmingham on 3 November 2006.

Feedback: Numeric

A total of 39 evaluation forms were received. The average score for the content of the workshop (on a scale of 1 for Poor, 3 for Good and 5 for Excellent) was 3.92. This score included 10 score of 5, 17 of 4, 11 3s and 1 of 2.

The average score for the workshop organisation was 4.10. This score included 15 score of 5, 15 of 4, 7 3s and 2 of 2.

Feedback: Comments

The following comments were received on the "Overall Views of the Workshop" (please note that illegible text is replaced with ???:

• Inspiring and relevant
• Throughly enjoyed it and got a lot from the day
• Good pres. Of excellent proportion of time set aside to learn for colleagues at other institutions. Loved use of wikis to feedback from other grps
• Think a follow up in 1 year would be good. Most people at beginning, experimental stage with wikis-would be good to see more case studies in teaching/tech, where else have they worked? What worked well, what didn't.
• Came at perfect time for us
• Well organised and very useful
• Given us lots of food for thought and areas where we need to discuss things further. Had not thought of all the possible uses for wikis. Overall an excellent event.
• Very useful overall-maybe too long spent on group discussions. Would have preferred another speaker with their qualified experiences.
• Very timely. Much appreciated for opportunity to learn and share
• Definitely worth getting up at 4.45am for! It would have been good to take a more detailed look at the difference between the different wikis
• Enjoyable and though provoking
• Very timely and interesting. Might have benefitted from a short simple definition/intro to wikis at the start. Could have had more people?
• Overall this workshop gave plenty of food for thought on the use of wikis in learning
• Useful but not much consideration for absolute beginners or non-users hoping to start
• generally it was useful
• Although things were (unavoidably) rushed, very useful
• Very good venue. Central and easy to get to location.
• Well organised topical workshop
• Enjoyable and informative. Worth the effort involved in getting there.
• I like this aspect of pre-workshop gathering using the wiki itself 'Talking the talk!'
• V. good combination of talks and discussion, Good venue and size of groups. Good to have cross-sectional audience-agree with Brian!

The following comments were received on the "The Best Aspects of the Workshop":

• First hand experience of others was very informative
• What Uni is doing. Presentation by BK
• Time out to consider uses, ideas and experience of others, we are not lagging behind-everyone is exploring its potential use
• Group discussion, h rzepa's practical, p.wilsons comparison chart
• Enjoyed discussion groups.
• Slides being available, proximity to Nottingham and 1 day length.
• Extra tech info. Extra uses that had never occurred to us
• New ways to use wikis, chance to share experiences of others. Make useful contacts
• All speakers were very interesting
• Real examples of how a wiki had been used in an educational setting and also how an institutions-wide wiki service had been implemented
• Case study-P. Wilson-particularly selection criteria, process generally. Learning about the various uses. Consolidation of content in wiki-practicing what was preached.
• Finding out what other institutions are doing. The case study from Bath. Thinking about the issues which need to be considered when setting up a wiki service
• Discussion, networking and broadening of existing knowledge
• Networking. Stevens 'philosophical' ideas on e-learning and wikis. Discussion sessions. Good wireless
• Other experiences
• Time to see wikis in use and time to give thought to their use in local institutions
• Getting better clarification of what wikis are and how they can be used. Getting information on the different wiki technologies and their features
• Personal contacts. Online wikis to follow up
• Guidelines for evaluation. Discussion on data protection aspects.
• Presentations. Good range of issues covered.
• Discussion group, talks, being able to see a wiki
• Interesting talks. Group feedback on wiki. Chance to network with a range of people from different organisations and backgrounds.
• good overview from different user perspectives. Good range of discussion groups.
• Networking. Learning about practises in UK. Issues (knows and unknowns)
• Discussions and networking. The powerpoints you can read on web so not much value added.
• Learning about ? Wikis and ? Function.
• Variety of peoples backgrounds. Experiences of different wikis plus the using of a wiki. The food, thanks for special meal. Personal exp. Of taking notes and reporting back.
• General wiki update-what is happening where? Wiki evaluation talk by Phil

The following comments were received on the "Three aspects which were disappointing or could be improved":

• Seeing practical use of wiki from uni of bath. See what industry is doing now
• I could have been better prepared-would be useful to have pre-work e.g links to useful resources to explore. More examples would be good i.e what wikis are being used for apart from the obvious examples like wikipedia
• would like more practical examples of the use of wikis (like h.rzepa's molecule exercise). Need more water available at lunch and throughout the day
• Don't feel feedback sessions worked too well-very mixed. Rather than go through all points would maybe better to have 3 key points from the groups - we can all read the written-up points in detail afterwards. I would have liked more practical examples of wikis actually working in teaching/learning (but maybe they don't exist?but if not why?)
• Too long in discussion groups
• The report back sessions weren't very useful - it's hard to follow summaries of such wide ranging discussions when they haven't been formally summarised and we can read the wiki anyway
• Discussion area A2 but otherwise venue Ok. Insufficient seating for coffee/lunch
• Can't think of anything
• Not enough coffee! I don't think the issue of the use of wikis in learning and teaching was fully addressed.
• Speakers a little quiet. More drinks. Discussion groups could have been more evenly split. Issues of how to get people to use wikis never really addressed
• Lunch a bit too short for discussion amongst delegates
• Better facilities for lunch i.e had to stand to eat lunch and there was no tea/coffee. Expected the great discussions to be more interactive
• No water in discussion rooms. No juice or water. Not enough tea/coffee
• Seating at lunch
• Discussion groups were left hanging on a bit. At least needed facilitator to start it, come in the middle and wrap up
• Resources in Kingston lecture theatre
• Would like to have seen more about wikis in use. Would also like to have seen a feature comparison
• Maps and directions
• Would have preferred more relaxed presentations with discussion time built in. Would like to have seen some more real examples of wikis used in academic settings.
• Understand when to use wikis instead of other possible tools. Some general guidance needed.
• That this feedback is a piece of paper. How about using a wiki or online survey?
• Difficult to make report back sessions effective-perhaps set a task for reporters like '3 main issues discussed, surprises?' User experiences would be good and perhaps involving students. Also ask for 1 point from each group on particular issue and go around until all points covered.

The following comments were received on "Use of the Technologies":

• All excellent. V. pleased with use of wikis to write up discussions so we can see results immediately
• A PC set up for us to access web mail and train timetables would have been brilliant
• Groups were invited to use laptops and wireless to record results-however there was no warning of this (or did I miss it?) otherwise I'd have brought a laptop
• Good to make use of wikis themselves on the day will help to recall ??? covered and provide ongoing discussion. ??? Often at these events we miss out on info from these.
• If we need to use a PC then could these be provided-possibly supply ??? To input stuff on the ??
• Wikis worked well. Good to have a resource with notes from all the discussions to go back after the event
• Really useful to have the wiki to support the workshop since that's what we're discussing.
• Wiki a little difficult to edit-bit funny at times. Wireless v good, annoying to have to turn phone off
• Some of the slides/presentations were very difficult to read
• Venue very good
• Live link up for people attending ?/ was very impressive!
• Great wifi access. A very welcome addition!
• Good to have a wiki to look at
• Access to wiki beforehand interesting group feedback in real time and very interesting and useful idea
• It would have been nice to see wikis more during event though appreciate time was short
• Wireless seemed to go well.
• Would have liked screen in room so that person reporting could have displayed their screen for everyone to view. Discussions were done via flipchart to wireless pc
• Wifi good. Perhaps roaming mic would be good.

The following comments were received on "Suggestions for Future Events":

• How about setting up a permanent wiki to address the progress made by people from this event? Use of other web enabled technology within education i.e podcasting, instant messaging, blog/videoblog etc
• Emerging trends in HE sector with ? Websites seeing application of Web 2.0 technologies with real-world examples
• Follow up session-case studies of how wikis are being used in different academic settings/purposes. Best practice guidelines, using blogs, wikis, podcasts etc. Not necessarily an event but a resource, maybe a wiki?
• Pedagogical evaluation of wikis. Discussions/comparison of detailed use/implementation of some wikis such as mediawiki and ?
• General event on social technologies, comparing blogs/wikis/web 2.0 - what is good for using when/where. E-learning - where do web 2.0 techs fit in with more traditional ..?. Collaboration in online environments and education
• Integrating all the tech and real solutions
• Something similar on blogging. More detailed session on uses of wikis. Establishment of support/exchange of experience group
• More specific case studies of different types of use and actual wiki software. Legal aspects-copyright, DP, accessibility. How do we ensure we comply with appropriate legislation without compromising essence of wiki openness/freedom etc
• Something more pedagogic
• Would be good to have a follow up event next year to see how wikis are being applied-more case studies
• At least a re-run, Perhaps focus on deployments?
• Something more technical on wikis would be helpful
• Case studies of lecturers who have used wikis. What works? What doesn't?
• Follow on wiki workshop. More on collaborative tools.
• Linking wikis and assessment
• Would be interested to attend any event exploring web 2.0 technologies. Also more real examples of academic uses of wikis.
• A follow up comparing actual developments with a, ? And b, Institutional ?
• Same approach for other web technologies. Repeat this in 1 yrs time-get people to do case studies of different development approaches
• Whatever events there are please consider using wikis in the future for group discussions within the workshops
• Wiki users experiences workshop? Successes/failures?