Assessments

=What makes a wiki successful? = There are many factors that contribute to the success of a wiki site or any other website. Each time you navigate a website you are unconsciously evaluating it to determine quality. Below is a simple checklist to use when assessing a quality wiki to use in your class... **..... □ Is it attractive and visually interesting?  ..... □ Is the text formatting and page setup user friendly? ..... □ Does it provide useful information and resources? Does it contain links to them? ..... □ Is the site credible and well cited? ..... □ Is it easy to navigate? Is it well organized? ||  When you are developing your own wiki for use in a classroom, or having the students create them, a rubric is an excellent tool for establishing expectations. Using the national standards for technology published by ISTE ([|www.iste.org]), the following rubric outlines specific criteria essential to creating a quality wiki. ** Wiki Assessment Tool ** || Graphics add visual interest to the site.
 * **Simple checklist for a successful wiki
 * ** Criteria ** || ** Mastery ** || ** Proficient ** || ** Developing ** ||
 * ** Creativity & Innovation* ** || Organization || A Table of contents is used to streamline and categorize information. || Clear headings and titles delineate the information topics. || The information lacks organization. ||
 * ^  || Presentation Quality || Graphics are well placed and add visual interest. They are relevant and support the written text.

|| The site lacks quality in the presentation due to a lack of graphics and other publishing components. || Technologies may include;
 * ^  || New technologies || Web 2.0 tools have been used to enhance the usability of the site.
 * widgets,
 * sound and video,
 * RSS feeds,
 * file uploading. || Web 2.0 tools have been used.

Technologies may include;
 * widgets,
 * sound and video,
 * RSS feeds,
 * file uploading. || Few or no Web 2.0 tools have been used.

The technologies used have little or no function and do not enhance the site. ||
 * ** Communication & Collaboration* ** || Collaboration || Co-authoring is evident in the page history with 3 or more individuals providing content.

User authoring is promoted with ease in access to editing features, discussions posts and the ability to upload content. || Co-authoring is evident in the page history.

Users can provide feedback through discussion posts. || The wiki provides very little evidence of collaboration and/or user input. ||
 * ^  || Spelling & Grammar || Language used communicates clearly and precisely.

The entire site is void of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. || Language used communicates information provided on the site.

There are few grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. || There are instances of poor language use, which creates confusion.

There are many grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. ||
 * ** Research & Information Fluency* ** || Content || Issues are relevant and always relate to theme/topic.

Information is up-to-date and provides the reader with current news and pertinent issues.

Hyperlinks and other hypermedia aid understanding and add interest to the topic. || Information and research is well thought out and relate to the theme/topic of the site.

Some hyperlinks and other hypermedia is provided to support the content. || The information is somewhat relevant to the theme/topic.

The information provided is out dated and does not address current news and issues. || || Information is copied. ||
 * ^  || Originality || Information is original and provides new ideas and insights. || Information is summarized.
 * ** Digital Citizenship & Responsibility* ** || Validity & Citation of Work || Cited resources are correctly listed on the wiki page.

A bookmarking tool (ex. del.icio.us) and tagging have been used effectively. || Resources are correctly cited but not organized. || Cited resources are not listed on the page.

Readers have no access to referenced materials. || * adapted from: National Educational Technology Standards for Students, Second Edition, ................................................................................................................................................... J. Conklin 08/25/08 © 2007, ISTE® (International Society for Technology in Education), [|www.iste.org]. All rights reserved.