Activity Wiki (OU)
The Wiki allows the collaborative creation of knowledge collections. It is particularly well-suited for documenting group work or learning content.
By default, one Wiki is used for the entire course, but it is also possible to create separate Wikis for groups or individual participants.
Teachers/Assistants can view all Wikis of a their courses at any time.
The activity allows the creation of areas that can contain pages. Within a page, you can link to other pages and areas. Additionally, a table of contents can be created.
Activate the “Editing mode” through the switch at the top right corner of your course page. Then select Add an activity or resource and choose OU wiki.
In the following menu, you must enter a name and can make additional settings.
Under the section Wiki settings you can set the following options:
- Sub-wikis: Here you have the choice between:
- Single wiki for course – One Wiki for all participants
- One wiki per group– Each group gets their own Wiki. To make this work, the group mode under Common module settings must first be set to Separate groups.
- Separate wiki for every user – Each participant has their own Wiki.
- Annotation system: This system allows you to comment on existing page content. The comments then appear directly within the page content and can be accessed with a click.
- Time allowed for edit: If you select a timeout, those who are editing the Wiki are only allowed to do so within the specified time. The Wiki locks pages while they are being edited. If this setting is not used, users can edit content in the Wiki for as long as they wish. The lock is lifted when the user, for example, closes their browser or loses internet connection. Lecturers/assistants can lift the lock at any time.
- Allow/Prevent editing: Here you can enter a date from/until the Wiki is read-only.
- Template: If you have already created a Wiki, you can use it as a template and import pages here.
- Lock start pages: This locks existing start pages and any start pages created after this point when a template is used.
- Show word counts: If this option is activated, the word count is displayed at the bottom of each page.
- Link to import pages: Here you can specify whether pages from other Wikis can be imported into this Wiki. It’s important to note that, for data protection reasons, this is only possible within a course. Imports of pages from other courses are not allowed.
If you have completed all the necessary settings, click Save and display.
After creating your Wiki, you first need to create the Wiki's starting page. Click “Create page” and add the desired content in the new window. Once the starting page is created, you can add a) sections and b) pages to your Wiki. (see screenshot “Adding Pages and Sections”).
a) A section contains one or more pages and helps organize your Wiki. To add a new section to your Wiki, enter a section name under Add new section to this page and then click Add next to it. After adding and saving, you will see a new entry with your section name in the upper gray box under Table of contens.
b) A page functions similarly to your Wiki's starting page. It can again contain sections and pages. To create a new page, enter a page name under Create new page and then click Create next to it (see screenshot “Adding Pages and Sections”). A newly created page will be subordinate to the last added section.
Editing Pages
You can edit a page by clicking Edit page (see screenshot above “Adding Pages and Sections”). Using the TinyMCE-Editor you can format your page by selecting different paragraph formats. Specific formats create pages, sections and sub-sections.
- Heading creates a new section. Adding a smaller heading after a bigger one, creates a sub-section.
- Double square brackets create a new page.
Add an Annotation
You can add annotations to your page content by clicking Annotate (see screenshot “Annotate”).
Note: This option only appears if the Annotation system is enabled in the Wiki settings.
Afterward, you can annotate specific points of the text by clicking on the blue boxes (see Screenshot “Annotate specific text”).
Editing Sections
Editing a section is similar. Click on Edit section. Unlike editing the page, you will only see the headings subordinate to the selected section. (see screenshot “Editing Sections”). In the screenshot, the section Sub-Section 01 is subordinate to Section 01.
Importing Pages
Clicking “Import pages” (see screenshot “Import”) allows you to import available pages within your course into Wikis.
Note: This option only appears if you have selected the “Link to import pages” checkbox in the Wiki settings at the bottom of the “Wiki settings” section.
On your Wiki's homepage, you also have at the top the following functions:
Under Wiki index you can display an alphabetical or structural overview of your Wiki, view the entire Wiki as an online reference or download it as a template.
Wiki changes shows you detailed information about when and by whom changes were made to the Wiki. You can compare different versions or compare any change with the current state of the Wiki.
Under Participation by user you can see who has contributed to your Wiki.
Print Wiki allows you to view a printable version of the Wiki.
