Melissa

Melanie

Karlie

Rhiannon

 

 

 

Issues: 

Contribution 

 1. Do you think that when using a wiki there is equality between participants? Why/Why not?

      No. i think that participation within the wiki is limited and the amount of content published is not equal. This is always a downfall to group work, especially when people are not accountable for the amount of effort they put in. Wikis are a colllaboration of intelligence, this can not be achieved without out ALL participants.

I think there should be equality between particpants, but specifically, in our group task - NO. Ultimately, in any type of group dynamic one person will do more than another, and this isn't fair to anyone. In order for group work to be effective and efficient, ALL group members need to contribute equally, so that they can be rewarded for their efforts (or lack there of) accordingly.

I think that with group work the distribution of work should be fair and reasonable between participants and i believe in our case this was true, no one person was assigned more work than another. But ultimately it comes down to being motivated to well and a drive to not let other people down or have the other group members pick up the slack. This is the same with all group work and ultimately as teachers this is a valuable lesson for us to learn from.

I Think that if a wiki is used as a structured, divided and assigned project then it can definitely be an equal participation between the members. For example when using a wiki within a project in a classroom then the group or even the teachjer will divide the project into sections and assign one to each member to complete. In these kinds of cases the effort put into the wiki can be both colloraborative and equal. Obviously though as in all group projects, problems will arise. There are bound to be members of the group who are not as motivated or encounter different problems to others.

 

2. Do you think that everybody put in the same amount of effort in the wiki? Why/Why not?

     No. often people will forget to contribute to the wiki, therefore leaving it up to other members of the group to finish it. this is an unfair aspect and unequal aspect of group "wikiing".

     No, not in this class activity (and this may be due to a variety of reasons), but ultimately it isn't fair to those who have contributed, and had to pick up the slack of others. A good virtual team member should be reliable, dependable and a constructive contributor.

    No, not in this activity, this is  due to a variety of reasons. Although if one person was having trouble with something we could have helped, because this assessment is all about collaboration with your group in an online situation.

   I think that it is difficult to determine the actual amount of effort that each person contributed in this kind of project. While it is a group project obviuosly most of the work is completed individually. I think there is a great deal of difference between the effort people apply and what others see in the final project. I also think it was difficult as we discovered late in the project that no one was actually aware of which section each person was meant to be completing.

 

3. Rate your contribution out of 10 and give reasons for your answer

     8/10 i think i have contributed a fair amount of infomation to the wiki. i have found quite a few video clips to explain the ideas of web 2.0. if i havent added things to the wiki, i have contributed to the discussion and formation of the wiki's floorplan.

     8/10 I too feel I have effectively and constantly contributed to the formation of our group wiki "SoyMocha", by not only implementing critical analysis and insights, but also incorporating a variety of multi-media onto our site, which will be beneficial in the classroom (the long term goal).

    8/10 I too feel that i have put a lot if effort into this wiki, not only through answering the parts that i was assigned, but also in incorporating a variety of multimedia aspects into our wiki.

     I actually encountered quite a few issues with the wiki as my computer is not compatable with the set up of the wiki page. This mean the research and contributions that I put quite a bit of effort into were for absolutely nothing as they did not save to the wiki and were lost. So judging on my own personal effort i would say 7/10

 

 

 

Accessibility/Compatability  

4. Do you believe that everyone had an equal amount of time on a compatibile computer? Why/Why not?

     the oppotunity to work on compatible computer was there, whether or not this oppourtunity was taken up is another thing. it does take time to do and whilst you are at a computer that allows access to the site you should do a little bit on the wiki.

I feel that we all had enough opportunity and time to contribute and work on our wiki, with time offered in class and with specific times we the group had planned to work in the computer labs specifically for the wiki. However, whether we made the most of these times is another question. But, yes, we all had access to the software and computers whilst on campus. Plus my laptop is compatable with the wiki program so I could also access it from home, where admittedly I did the majority of my contributing from.

I feel that we equally had enough time to contribute to this wiki in class. Whilst it may take a bit of time in the beginning to get used to, it doesn't take anytime at all once you're used to it. There are plently of ways around combating the accessibility and combatibilty computer, you could come into Uni to use the computers and/or come in early before a class or stay later after a class. 

No I don't believe so as I have already mentioned that my computer was NOT compatable. The time we spend in class is spent on lectures and and following on from the activities and processes that we have learnt about. It is all well and good for people to advise extra time on a compatable computer but uni, assignment and work time is balanced very carefully for all of us and all our scheduals are different and this is not always possible. Finding the extra time before or after class is in fact not particularly easy.

 

 

5. Do you believe that our wiki is user friendly? Why/Why not?

     of course!. our wiki is quite easy to navigate and very user friendly. interesting educational infomation is but a click away. :o)

     Our wiki is very accessible and user friendly, with all our pages linked in index form on the home page, plus all multimedia and links implemented are clearly explained and user friendly. The information and content in the wiki is also easy to understand, with little jargon, so that we could use again in the classroom.

I believe our wiki is very user friendly. You can navigate the whole way around the wiki from our home page. I can't wait unitl i an start one of these in a classroom i am teaching in.

The wiki is definitely user friendly! Its easy to read, follow and learn from. It is just the matter of compatibility that is an issue.

 

 

 

6. Do you believe that our wiki was accessible to everyone? Why/Why not?

   The wiki was accessible to all members. we all attened university and on the days we have class we are able to access and contribute to the wikis ever growing infomation pool. The days we are at the campus we have access to computers compatable to the site, able to edit the infomation, again whether this oppourtunity was taken up depends on the work ethic of members of the group.

     Yes, SOYMOCHA is accessible to all group members, plus is favourited amongst our entire class using del.icio.us- so there shouldn't be any excuse for a lack of contribution. We are able to access our wiki on all the computers at university, and has several designated times to do do in our lectures and tutorials under the guidance and instruction of Allan.

I believe our wiki is accessible to everyone who has a computer and the internet, it is on all of our delicious accounts and our wiki also has links to our blogs.  

I believe that our wiki is available to everyone to read. However as mentioned I had major problems contributing to the wiki and I believe this is where the problems arise.

 

 

 

 

Values

7. Do wiki's add educational value, stimulating new ways of thinking about learning and teaching OR are they merely supporting established pedagogical approaches?

     The wiki is the way education is heading. it is the future for all classrooms. so ideally a Wiki enables students a new, creative and ultimately constructive way of accessing infomation. they have to search the Net for the infomation they need and then in a group they are to collaborate their research and answers. The Wiki will stimulate new ways of thinking for students, in their education. No longer do they have to keep their infomation from others, they can share and learn from each other, the best way to learn. the wiki will definately have its pitfalls regarding education, such as lack of group/ individual contribution but in the long run Wikis have an educational value that is hard to come by, and they stimulate the students thinking, by way of challenge.

      I feel this is a really good question, and initially i only thought of the wiki as a different pedagogical tool, that the teacher might use for something different in the classroom. But now, in the 21st century, the digital classroom is all that matters and in this respect, the wiki not only acts as a new means of teaching but also a means of learning (for both the students and teachers). The wiki allows students to have creative freedom over their work and they can collaborate with others gaining further knowledge into a particular subject and they can share ideas, then they can journal their thoughts and reflect on their experiences as a group or as an indivdiual. The wiki means that the students get to actively get involved in creating the content and context of their learning, where they are able to generate the knowledge and share information online with their peers and teacher. What more could anyone ask for?!?

Technology is the way education is heading, i don't believe that a wiki can be used just by itself, i think that it should be used with a variety of other online resources. Wikis enable collaboration with other students in a group context, not only students though teachers can use it as well. I also don't believe that everything should be soley kept on the wiki, because if you are a subscriber, it can be changed and modified. I do believe that they do add education values and that they stimulate new ways of teaching and learning as it is all about collaboration. Not only is it useful for students within the classroom, but they can use these new found skills later in life when they may be trying to find a job etc. Not only are they good for group collaboration, but you can also see how much work each group member has contributed, by clicking on the page history on the bottom, this avoids a lot of fighting within the classroom and makes it easier to give out individual marks as well as group marks.  

I think that it is impossible to teach in an effective classroom these days and not involve technology. However I agree that wiki's by themselves are not that effective but used in collaboration with other tools then they are definitely a step towards the future of higher level learning.  The wiki is a great way of involving teh technological culture that our students will be familiar with, it is a fantastic lead in to the collaboratiopn students will continuosly face and it allows access to all. The contribution that the students are making can be seen by all and the wiki's will provide extra resources to the students as they will be able to view what their fellow students are writing.