General Reflections comparing WebCT/Vista &Wiki Spaces (Including our Class Wiki)
Now having some experience with wikis in various MET classes as well as in my classroom and threaded discussion spaces in WebCT/Vista, I feel that I can comment fairly on each of them. Personally I see similarities and unique differences among them which signify advantages and disadvantages in using each of these asynchronous communication tools.
- Asynchronous Collaboration and Communication – similarly, you can use both formats for these purposes which allow time for reflection and participation.
WebCT/Vista – Collaborating is easy to do using Chat rooms, course email or the discussion forum. It is clear and obvious who is participating and contributing.
Wiki Spaces – The long never-ending discussion on a wiki can also be one of the biggest advantages of using wiki spaces. If a wiki is set up using structure and sections, different users can add and edit relevant information under the same category, making it easier for users to collaborate, much like we did on our class wiki. - Structure & Categorize Topics/Discussions – again, similarly, you can use both formats for these purposes; however, each learning tool does it differently.
WebCT/Vista – You can easily categorize topics and create new discussion threads, which make it easier to search for a given topic and get a general idea of the topics by the thread titles.
Wiki Spaces – You have to manually insert your own sections and categories and pages to organize your topics and discussions. I believe it was Chantal who started this for us on our class wiki. I love organization!
- New Reply Notifications – This is different in each case.
WebCT/Vista – Uses two notification sections/buttons that notify you of specific new entries and specific responses to your postings which makes it much easier to follow a discussion and keep current with the discussions.
Wiki Spaces – They do not have these features (that I’m aware of). In our class wiki – I had to scroll and read through the entire discussion section by section in order to see if anything new has been added and if there are new discussions /ideas or continued discussions that I should be joining and/or collaborating.
- Contributions – similarly, you can have great participation in both online environments but each operates differently.
WebCT/Vista – The use of threaded discussions makes it clear and obvious who is participating / contributing and how much. Each message shows the date, time and author as well as the topic where it can be found which makes searching quite easy.
Wiki Spaces – It is difficult to tell who authored which contribution and when unless people actually type their name, date and time after each contribution which makes searching a specific topic or contribution more difficult. It was common on our class wiki that people added their name at the end of each of their contributions and comments. - Searching – again, similarly, you can use both formats for these purposes; however, it is done differently in each.
WebCT/Vista – Has a search feature. There may be many threads on the same topic which can make searching more difficult when you have to read through a lengthy set of posts to find what you’re looking for.
Wiki Spaces – I don’t believe wiki spaces have search features (that I’m aware of). Therefore, searching for a particular topic in a wiki may be more difficult and much more time consuming. Typically searching in a wiki must be done manually by scrolling through the all the pages and discussions to find what you’re looking for. I had to do this several times a day on our class wiki to check for new additions, discussions or changes.
Our Class Wiki
- First – I added my sighting to the wiki.
- Then I read through the sightings of my classmates to get an idea of the themes of the challenges and opportunities present for the majority of us so that I could form a general impression of what to post on the discussion page of the wiki.
- Then, I read through the discussion page of the wiki and added my comments where I felt appropriate in the conversations and added my general observations and thoughts.
- I believe Chantal got the ball rolling (along with the help of a few others) by adding some structure to the discussion page of the wiki by adding specific spaces and instructions for the class to input our suggestions for the challenges and strategies. Much appreciated by the way, I find it much easier to work in a structured environment and I found myself loving the addition of some structure! I think it helped us as a class organize our thoughts better so that we could collectively agree to our chosen top 5 challenges and strategies.
- I added a few ideas of strategies and challenges for the class to ponder.
- Then, as the discussion started to flow and more participation and contributions, a few of us started to organize the final strategies and challenges list.
- I noticed that others broke from the bullet format and went to paragraph format (I guess we all prefer different formats and styles). Then, later in the discussion, more bullets showed up.
I like using both WebCT/Vista and Wiki Spaces. I believe they each have their place and many times are used for different purposes. I love the functionality of wiki spaces where you can create new pages that you can add audio, videos, surveys and other plugins that allow you to customize and organize your collaborative workspace.