Using Collaborate, October 19, 2006

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    Script for Session: Using Collaborate


    Contents

    Slide 1 - Using Collaborate

    • Welcome and introduction of instructors
    • Remind participants that this is a 30 minute course
    • Remind participants to type their emails into 'Chat' area (lower left of screen) for evaluation purposes

    Slide 2 - Agenda

    • Overview of what will be covered in this course

    Slide 3 - Collaborate Wiki

    • Review points on the slide
    • Emphasize that the wiki is there for the participants; if they have a login name they should just go get started!

    Slide 4 - Tour

    • Review points on the slide

    Slide 5 - Keeping Track of Things

    • Review points on the slide

    Slide 6 - Demonstration: Collaborate Wiki

    Demonstration in the Wiki

    • Once at the main page of the eXtension Collaborative Wiki site, continue with presentation
    • Explain to students that they must create a log-in i.d. and password to use the wiki
    • Go to people.extension.org to create i.d. and password
    • Remind any late-coming participants to enter their emails in 'Chat' area

    Four Areas of the Wiki

    Explain a little about the content and purpose of each of the four areas:

    • Educational Content
    • Collegial and Ad Hoc
    • Organizations
    • States and Universities

    Remind students that these areas might change over time because of new content; some areas might even become subdivided

    Additional Section: Latest Changes

    • Explain that this is the area where you can see what people have been working on

    Quick Navigation Menus

    Explain a little about the content and purpose of each of these areas

    • Located to the right of the screen on the Main Page
    • Navigation
    • Views
    • Toolbox

    Menu Bar

    • Explain that this is the most important area because participants will use it most to get around the wiki
    • Explain where it is located on the Main Page (along the top)

    Summarize the content and purpose of each of the following links in the Menu Bar

    • User Page
    • My talk
    • Preferences
    • My watchlist
    • My contributions

    Search Bar

    • Perform an example search (something you know will be there)
    • Explain GO (for bringing up the exact title of a page)
    • Explain SEARCH (finds keywords in pages on the wiki)

    User Page - Creating/Editing

    Use your user page as an example of how to do the following

    • After participants have a log-in name, they automatically also have their own wiki page
    • Explain that to get to their own user page, they should click on their log-in name on the Menu Bar, this will take them to their blank user page
    • To add content to their page click 'edit this page' and begin typing!
    • Editing is simple!
    • Explain the different ways to visually change one's user page
    • Explain the things one can use their user page for

    Back to Main Page

    Explain in depth all the things one can do with the following

    • My watchlist: if one has an interest in a category or page on the wiki, here's how to mark it so one can keep track of what's going on with that page
    • Contributions: Shows any editing or contributions you make to any page on the wiki
    • History (under Views): To see what has been done to pages and what has been added or removed from wiki pages. It is possible to keep track of changes to a certain page going back through time using History. Can also compare the old page to the new page in the same window to see changes made.
    • Anyone can edit and contribute to the wiki!

    How to Start a New Wiki Page

    • Go to Main Page again, under Navigation click 'New Page'
    • Type text
    • Save changes

    Discussion

    • Explain that each page has a discussion page
    • A place where one can question content, the author, or ask questions about a specific wiki page

    Finish Overview

    • Wrap up the tour of the wiki
    • Touch on any section, menu, or link you feel needs more explanation

    Question and Answer Time

    Open the floor for questions and comments from the participants

    Example Q & A:

    • Is this open to partners who are not eXtension employees? Can they get eXtension i.d.s?

    Anyone with affiliation to eXtension is invited to join. Direct partners to get their log-in i.d. and password at people.extension.org

    • Does every wiki show up on the front end, or is there a password system for some wikis?

    One must have a user i.d. and password to log-in to make changes. In that way, the wiki is somewhat protected. Although there are reading and editing settings, they have not been used yet because it would be unlikely that someone would totally disrupt the wiki. It's a rather hidden site to begin with; hard to find on the web.

    • Is there a naming convention for additional pages within a wiki?

    Uppercase the first character in a title if it's a word more than four characters long.

    • How do you create a password-protected group wiki, and share word processing documents?

    The wiki is not exactly the place for a password-protected group. A much better place for that can be found at google.org. You can share documents at google as well (docs.google.com?). The wiki does not allow for the upload of doc files. The wiki is designed to share openly without using paper.

    Participants might have more questions you can answer

    Slide 7 - Next Steps

    • Encourage participants to exlore the wiki and become familiar with it.
    • Encourage participants to invite colleagues to the wiki
    • Encourage participants to attend MediaWiki training sessions

    End of course - Thank participants for participating!

    Slide 8 - Professional Development

    Briefly explain the URLs and what they can additionally offer to the participant