Prelude
Before I get started I would like to say that blogs and wikis are websites. A website is the patent category with blogs and wikis one of the many sub categories.
In this learning activity I think we are supposed to recognise that the tools differ in the level of community involvement and who can make a change.
Wikis enable community involvement and the members can view and change their own work and the work of others; the work evolves. The user interaction with a wiki is frequent.
Blogs offer a medium level of engagement with readers being able to leave a comment but not change the original content. The user interaction is periodical.
Static websites (in the context that I think we are supposed to think about it) is a 'read only' site; you can not comment on or make changes to it. The author may write the site and then make no or very little change to it and a user may visit only once.
More information on the definition and history of Wiki can be found here, on the popular wiki website Wikipedia.
Reflection on the use of wikis in elearning
As I work for a website development company (I do projects and admin, not developing or designing!) I thought I have a pretty good understanding of how websites can be used and given we are required to write this blog, I thought the logical topic to explore this week was wikis. Egh, 'wikis' (said with a grimace)...
Wikis
I had no experience with wikis prior to the mobile phone wiki and now that I have participated in the activity I am a skeptic. Surley it can offer more than that? What is it really for?
I thought it was a factual space. An evolving, interactive edditable dictionary or encyclopedia. There has to be more to it...
Wikispaces says that a wiki is simply a platform for sharing you creation (Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com/ accessed 13 March 2013). Ok, so that seems more useable....
I have looked into the login process for wikispaces and how businesses and groups have used a wikispaces wiki and it is just wonderful. I am converted. It offers more functions than a blog and is more novice user friendly than a website. Did I mention there are packages that are free?
Here is my wiki. You will need to have a wikispaces account to sign in.
There are a number of positives for using wikis in a learning context. First is that you can have a number of 'owners' in the form of multuple authors. Content evolves and you build a real community of users. Tasks can be broken into its componenets and small teams or individuals can work on a pice of a larger project. Wikis also enable students to contribue to the wiki page in different ways, for example with a video, written text or images. It also has the benefit of being able to be a one-stop-shop for a course or topic. Like the YouTube video above explains, you dont need to keep track of a project through multiple sources as a wiki can support the multi media.
Unfortunately a wiki does not allow concurrent editing, which seems odd for a collaboration tool. The wiki I created did not have a spell-check function, which is an enormous dissadvantage for me as I am a terrible speller! I presume it woul be somewhere in the system thouhg.
It is quite interesing that there is an unwritten code of conduct for the use of wikis, although it makes sense. One expectation I have of a wiki is that contributors reference their sources. It isnt always going to be appropriate to use Harvard or APA referencing but I would expect acknowledgement and links, taking care not to breach copywrite.
On this topic, I think most people (myself included) are not aware of their ethical and legal responsibilities. A great excersise could be set up at the begining of each blog or wiki that politely forces members to get to know their responsibilities. In a wiki this could be a set of scaffolded questions, like the mobile phone wiki that are edited by the group until the optimum response is achieved.
One feature that must be present to make a wiki successful is trust amoungst members. Having a common goal or interest would be beneficial too!
A wiki could be a fantastic tool in a learning environment, however I think it is best suited for use with a cohort who are likely to regularily engage with it, rather than for one off interactions. A class, interest group or committee, - a community.
Blogs
Now that I have a better udnerstanding of a wiki I think blogs are quite flat! Visually as well as functionally. I want more. For me blogs are person of interest/business 'news' sites or a private personal diary.
In a learning context I think a blog would be best when the focus is on the single author up to a small group. A blog would be a good way to record an activity or experience over time. It would also be good as a dissemination tool for example an orginisation could use a blog for each department to distribute news items, reminders, liks and event information to (compulsory) subscribed staff.
The course materials for this have quite a lot of useful information, including how blogs can be used in learning, particularily assignment construction (FAHE11001: Managing E-Learning, Digital Tool 1: Blogs for Learning, retrieved fom http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/302824/mod_page/content/8/blogs.html 13 March 2013).
Here is a blog I made some time ago in Wordpress (with no prior experience) for a friend who set up a foundation to raise awareness on organ donoation www.taylorsgift.org.au
You will notice that there is a lot more functionality than Blogger. I have created multiple tabs/pages and have used WYSIWYG functions like an calendar.
After note: Check out Katie's post with a great PMI on blogs in the classroom. I had some trouble with this link, so if it doesn't work for you try pasting this into your browser: http://katiebird3.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/blog-reflection.html
Websites
With my knew perspective I see websites as business orentatied tools. Businesses generally speaking want to convey a message and may have ecommerce functions. A business, personal or government website is less likely to foster an active community. Some websites may have functions like forums that allow a two way exchange however on the whole websites are a place to go for inforamation or to buy something. No doubt I am bias, given my work exposure to business websites!
Static websites
Here is my understanding of web 1.0 and 2.0
Web 1.0 = Old school static site where content changes only when the site master changes it. Many websites that I use would fall into this category, even though they are dynamic, and the owner (not the developer) can change the content.
Web 2.0 = Interactive sites that really have a life of their own. They can be changed by the users and therefore the experience may be different for each user.
Overload
I am feeling a little overloaded with sources. I have a friend with whom I interact in the following ways:
- fact-to-face (with kids, at events, happy, sad)
- phone
- text message
- picture messages
- face book posts, messages and functions (pokes etc)
- her cooking blog
- her personal blog
If you have this going on in your personal life, academic life, work life and then for every group and committee you are involved with it gets too much to keep up with. For me, I want a single summary from all the sources and a subscription to just a few of the best mediums. I guess this is part of the 'engage or enrage' debate. I couldn not be bothered with interactions that are not pleasant (I rate visuals highly), simple and to the point. Other people will want a different experience, and I will need to keep that in mind when planning and designing platforms.
Try an avatar
The talking avatars from http://www.voki.com/ are amazing. Easy to use and extremely customisable. I am so glad I gave them a try.
ICT in learning
The following quote comes from our Moodle resources for the week (FAHE11001: Managing E-Learning, retrieved from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?name=FAHE11001_2131 12 March 2013). Here is the page.
(I've used the Unis referencing guide here, so I hope this is right!)
"While the use of ICTs in schools is varied, there are two main skills that teachers should have. These are, using ICTs to teach, and, providing opportunities for student use of ICTs to facilitate, support, extend, enhance and transform learning".
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