TOPIC 6 DESIGNING FOR USABILITY, SOCIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Exercise 6.2 Wiki and Moodle design







According to Wikipeadia a moodle is 'designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design mean that people can develop additional functionality.' The major features of a moodle are:
Activities (including word and math games)
Resource types
Question types
Data field types (for the database activity)
Graphical themes
Authentication methods
Enrollment methods
Content Filters



(Wikipedia accessed 19.10.09 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle)



For a simple and visual understanding on Moodles, see Moodle Presentation on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvCIv5KCbeE

I went to the Charles Sturt University Moodle and found it a bit daunting. It was another experience where I was unsure of what I was supposed to do, or what I was supposed to achieve :(.

A Wiki is a community website, it can be used for personal note taking or collaborative activities. To get a simple explanation on what is a Wiki go to You Tube and watch Wiki in plain English at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY .



To me Wikis have the following advantages. Once you set up your wiki and allowed your members in, then those members can edit the wiki. This allows the other group members to refine and expand on each others ideas. The end result highlights Ben Parr at (http://mashable.com/2009/10/04/business-wikis-guide/) is a 'cohesive idea by the group rather than a series of scattered thoughts"

I found the wiki useful for keeping track of past postings as a history is kept. Ben Parr also suggests that a wiki is useful as it archives information. Making it a repository for legal documents, old memos etc.


Both Moodles and Wikis follow the three underlying principles of Kim, as they are designed for growth and change, they create and maintain community feedback and the members do take control over the structure and direction of the community.


My Green Pod group have our own wiki at http://greeniespod.wikispaces.com/

We meet weekly at this site and are using this for our Assignment. I have found this wiki to be very usable and sociable and it is meeting the needs of our group.