Promoting Learning of Wikis through Video Tutorials, Mentoring and Hands-On Training Approaches

Technology is changing and at a very rapid pace. New tools are being developed and coming to the forefront on almost a daily basis. Instructor-led workshops that train faculty and students in the use of new tools can be expensive propositions for educational institutions. Scalability and ensuring uniformity in delivery of content become challenges. To address the problem of making the training cost-effective and to facilitate self-paced, independent learning in large groups, EnhanceEdu employed three different training approaches to provide hands-on workshops in the use of the open source tool, MediaWiki, to an audience of students and teachers from various colleges in India. This paper describes the three approaches employed in conducting the hands-on workshops. It also determines the factors that contribute toparticipants' engagement in learning and the likelihood that they will continue to use the new tool.