SlideWiki - Towards a collaborative and accessible platform for slide presentations

Abstract

OpenCourseWare platforms for educational resources have the potential to open new horizons for knowledge sharing and e-learning by reaching learners beyond the constraints of traditional learning systems. SlideWiki is a crowd-sourcing platform that aims to rethink the creation and sharing of knowledge by providing an environment where authors can collaborate, reuse, adapt and share slide contents for educational purposes. As an OpenCourseWare platform, SlideWiki intends to make Open Educational Resources more accessible for all users, including those with disabilities, within formal and informal learning settings. Moreover, the platform offers collaborative tools that enable authors and contributors to translate the slide content. To address the implementation, scalability, usability, and adoption of the platform, it has been designed and deployed in many different learning settings with large-scale trials across Europe. At the time of writing, 56 trials have taken place in different geographical and cultural regions, organizational units, and institutions, covering various teaching and learning scenarios. The experiences and feedback from the trials have influenced the redesign of SlideWiki in terms of accessibility and openness. This paper discusses the findings of the large-scale trials and how they influenced the technical redesign of the platform. It also shows how incorporating user feedback into the technical development process can improve accessibility and collaboration