Session 208 - Using Wikis in Instructor-led Training (Rachel Troychock)

What is a Wiki? A collaborative, sharing, creativity-based information community...they're editable, linkable, searchable, and, again, collaborative.

It all started for KPMG based off of two concepts - Web 2.0 and Going Green. Specifically, they used Sharepoint, as part of 2.0, which was, in essence a team blog. From there, there was a Kickoff Meeting, which consisted of clients and management. This spawned a design meeting and one of the initial kickoff questions was "Can we embed a PowerPoint on a Sharepoint page?".

Fast forward, acceptance later, Train the Trainer sessions occurred, allowing the training staff to illustrate their knowledge of the new 2.0 concepts. Once the trainers were trained, the actual participants received their training. With all trained and the functionality in place, the only thing left was to establish a Support Team for this new technology.

The way they utilized Wikis in four separate generations. These included:

1st Generation - Replacement of paper guides, Wiki pages, Document repository
2nd Generation - Glossary
3rd Generation - Online activities, capturing of feedback
4th Generation- Threaded discussion for question box

From an ROI perspective, using Wikis in instruction saves 10,000 sheets of paper per 30 person instructor led training session. Beyond this, the costs of printing and shipping were saved, along with there being a more flexible development period and development time was cut in half. User response was overwhelmingly positive, citing that the Wiki was great and that they enjoyed not having three ring binders.

Overall, for me, these are awesome concepts to listen to, but given the nature of my organization, it's hard to conceptualize where any of this will fit in. One thing that started circulating around my head again was the concept of Epic Forums...an online community that would allow Epic users to submit and answer one another's questions. But it comes down to, again, the life or death nature of a wrong answer - a lot can happen if something's not answered right in healthcare. Nervewracking, but I think there is something there that can be worked with...more to come on this, I'm sure. (And, BTW - Ideas always welcome!)