Wiki, Tools of Change, and ADDIE

This week our cohort was introduced to the concept of creating a Wiki which will present each individual groups ideas in the proper format. BJ Eib was the representative from Royal Roads whom explained the process that happens in creating a wiki as well as some tips that can be used for editing the wiki.

A wiki is a tool used to create a project that eventually takes the format of what you would see on Wikipedia. A beneficial aspect to a wiki is that a group of individuals can edit and replace information on it at their own schedule. The wiki can also be hyperlinked in order to join it to other information as it deems necessary or if it is related to the topic being described. The wiki is a fairly efficient formatting tool that can be especially useful if working in teams. Considering the large amount of team based exercises that we conduct in our course I believe the wiki concept could be expanded to much more projects and not just limited to the project for Dr. Kool.

Another project developing tool that we were introduced was www.toolsofchange.com. This resource also provided our group in developing our project of the RRU trail systems with community based social marketing in mind. The website revolved around a planning guide which included the areas of setting objectives, developing partners, getting informed, targeting the audience and also choosing the appropriate tools of change. Upon the completion of this “fill in the blank” style program, we had a much clearer idea of where our project was heading and what specifications we needed to address. The objective included what audience we were offering our idea to as well as what they would benefit from taking part in our idea, which would include personal health as well as enjoying a somewhat sheltered green space in Colwood. The getting informed section included questions relating to the resources used by the community as well as searching for other sources that would be providing the same service to the targeted audience. In order to effectively target the audience we were asked to decide on the targeted population as well as how we would reach out to this group to get them willingly adapt to our scenario. For the RRU trail maps, our audience is quite wide and ranges from young children to senior citizens. All groups can benefit from the trails here in both good health and learning about the vast ecology that exists in Hatley Park. The final tool of change involved choosing the appropriate tools in which would effectively execute our project with maximum success. This involved looking into appropriate incentives as well as effective agents of change for the targeted community. This was decided to take the form of brochures, media coverage such as newspapers, and putting appropriate audience specific signage on the trails.

Eventhough the tools of change provided us with a good perspective on where we were heading with the trail system project for Royal Roads we decided on following the ADDIE perspective that Dr. Kool shared with us in class. The five phases in the ADDIE system includes Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. We as a group felt that this system would be more effective in providing a better structure for our Wiki as each section is fully dependent on the other and would create a better flow for our project. The section that I chose to undertake involved the actual implementation of our ideas for the trails. This includes installing signage that appeals to an older audience by providing interesting facts about the campus as well as historical knowledge of the area. This can include a description of the numerous buildings throughout Hatley Park and what they were once used for when the Dunsmiurs inhabited them. Also there will need to be a implementation of various methods in order to attract the community of Colwood to come to Royal Roads and experience the trails that they have to offer. That was one main problem that our group agreed on with how the things exist now. The trails are not promoted in any way to the public. I’m sure that many people in Colwood are unaware of the amazing green space that Royal Roads is housed on. This would be solved by implementing advertisements in the local newspaper and also offering complementary maps to visitors to the campus. The newspaper could feature such a feature as “trail of the week” providing information on the ecology, animals, and trail difficulty. These are just a few of the many ideas we have thought up with for the Royal Roads Trail systems and hopefully they can end up from being an idea to actual reality.