1. Tim Sawyer & Sheila Scutter Using a Wiki to Develop First Year Engagement

2. Developing a sense of community in 1 st year students is an important factor in retention and student performance (Jacobs and Archie 2008) Involvement in social experience at University is related to academic success (Zhoa and Kuh 2004) Academic & Intellectual engagement.. Peer engagement and Beyond class engagement (Krause and Coates 2008) First Year Engagement Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

3. Student Cohort Large class sizes Common courses More diverse student body Reduced community space Increased on-line learning Reduced student union activities … Limited interaction between students Modern University Environment Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

4. Y Generation 13 – 26 year olds Access to Technology 75% have a Facebook or MySpace TM account 74% of text messages are sent by Gen Y’s (McCrindle 2003) Majority of Students Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

5. Online community Mimic FaceBook/MySpace Easy to use text editor Import photos Allows discussion threads Private web site No distracting ads First Year Wiki – Student’s perspective

6. Online community Free Easy to use Password protected Easy to add pages Easy to lock pages Moderate/Ban users First Year Wiki – Educator’s perspective

7. 98% student uptake Within first 3 weeks Incentives provided 3 iTune Cards 3 LED Flashlights 7 Corporate pens First Year Wiki, 2008

8. It’s All About me Photograph High School Interests Sport Music Goals First Year Wiki

9. International Students Home Country Studying Abroad Challenges Achievements so far.. First Year Wiki

10. International Students Home Country Studying Abroad Challenges Achievements so far.. First Year Wiki

11. Calendar Academic Due dates BBQ, Pub Crawl, Camp etc. Social Events

12. Threads 59 separate discussion topics Pub Crawl was the most active! Discussion Board

13. Uni Holidays Mid semester break activities Academic Issues Study Groups formed Discussion Board

14. 2008, Semester 2 Usage dropped off after mid semester break Social groups formed Study groups formed New friends added to existing FaceBook Student Union activities increased

15. Division of Health Sciences Medical Radiation Physiotherapy Pharmacy & Med Sciences Nutritional Food Science Total of 354 first year students 23% International 77% Domestic (Australian) First Year Wiki’s, 2009

16. Features used by students About Me Discussion threads Events Calendar 2009 Results

17. Why students used the Wiki Get to know other students Find out about social events Student communication Tell others about me 2009 Results

18. Conclusion First Year Social Wiki Easy to implement Engaging Web 2.0 tool Attains social & study group formation Where to from here? Loss of more physical space there is even a greater need for a ‘virtual space’ More ‘FaceBook’ like interface