Re: [seul-edu] SEUL/edu wiki test

[lp <prevettl@cochise.cc.az.us>]

Doug Loss wrote:

> Bruno Vernier has graciously set up a test wiki for SEUL/edu at
> <http://ess.vancouver.bc.ca/zope/bruno/seul/FrontPage>.  It's ours
> to experiment with and to figure out how we can best use a wiki.
> Please go and try it out!  The "Help" link in the upper right corner
> of the page will be useful for discovering how to add various things
> to the page.

This looks very useful! I can imagine a variety of ways to use it,
expecially
for math.

My first exposure to a wiki was under Bob Techentin's tutelage at the
TCLer's wiki. They have over a thousand pages in that wiki. Bob set up
a page there for some simple math programs using tcl/tk. It uses
wikit/Tclkit. I have set up many wikis using it. It's a good product
for collaborations that only requires text and links. Bob set up another

sample page for people to look at, but I've lost the link - it's some
where in the mailing list.

It looks like Bruno's zwiki has many more features for math. The math
notation used in the wiki uses Latex and is also similar to the markup
used in the WIMS message boards which is a plus for me. I haven't
used Zope but I plan to start investigating it.

If Seul is to use a wiki, I would suggest using it for rapid development

of special projects. The math teachers guide is a good example.
Because I am interested in math, I could take links and ideas that
come from the mailing list and put them into a section of a wiki
for math, (or even a special wiki for math.)

What I have collected  and the way I have it organized is very much
influenced by what I feel is important for my particular situation. It
would be great if what I have could be a subset of a much larger set
of documents that would address the contexts and needs of more
people. In a wiki, there's no need to have one global set of
organization of the pages.  Each page has a special name, but those
names can be arranged on other pages any way that you want.
So several 'versions' of a math teachers guide could evolve
naturally, with everyone contributing and pulling in material that
they think is useful for their particular situation and intent.

Seul could pull out sections of the wiki and put them into
docbook format for more stable and 'official'  documents
according to their own needs and interests.

I like wikis. They possess an 'organic' and a 'human'
element  unlike any other web application that I've
ever seen.

L. Prevett
Mathematics Instructor
Cochise College, Sierra Vista, AZ, US
prevettl@cochise.cc.az.us